Round-up

I’ve been back from Chicago for several days and haven’t written why I went or what I did.

An online community I’ve belonged to since 2001 organized the trip to Chicago. Picture sixteen mothers taking over a hall in a downtown hotel. We talked, ate, drank, shopped, saw the sights, slept for a few hours, threw a baby shower, and bonded.

I arrived home thoroughly exhausted, but somehow refreshed.

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Today is May 1st and we woke to cold and snow, after nearing 80 degrees yesterday. Snow on plum blossoms is really beautiful, though. I had to go outside and shake the trees because they were bending under the pressure of the wet and very heavy snow.

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Aidan had a wonderful time in Albuquerque with the grandparents. Her flight home went well. I was in Chicago the day she flew home. While she was there, she baked cookies and homemade pizza, played with their Wii, went swimming, to the zoo, the aquarium, the botanic gardens, on a train ride, bowling, shopping, to the park, on walks with the dog, to see Nim’s Island, and—best of all—spent time with her grandparents.

On Sunday night, all eight of us were under the same roof again. As I tucked her in bed, she told me she wanted to go back to Albuquerque. Immediately.

I totally understood.