Why does someone automatically believe there are four billion stars, then still check to see if the paint is really wet?

I have talked about Life's Perfect Moments before, but this weekend, I had a perfect weekend. Seriously - it was just perfect.

Friday - went to an open kid's gym thingie to meet my sister and Only Niece. While there we met up with a cousin's wife and I met someone new - my doctor's daughter-in-law. She was really nice and perhaps, I will run into her again. It is fun meeting new people and something I miss from my professional days of public accounting and at the Federal Reserve when I traveled to clients/bank branches all the time. Anyway, after the gym, my sister and I met our grandma for lunch. Then, I went up north to the Briarcliff area to my favorite yarn store, Urban Arts and Crafts, to pick up some yarn. The kids had fallen asleep on the way there, so I parked to read a book and people-watch for awhile. The kids woke up and I threw caution to the wind - I carried Anjali on my hip and had Arun walk. Folks, this was a HUGE risk. But it went great! Arun did not run away a single time and stayed nearby (or somewhat). We went to a baby boutique where he charmed the owner's pants off, then we went to the yarn store where he played with the store cat, then went to a specialty grocery store. This is where I realized the potential fatal flaw in my plan. I needed to the use the cart, but where would I put Anjali? I put her in the front seat and she was thrilled to be riding up there - she kept looking back at Arun as if to say "See ME, see ME - I am in front now, suckah!" I think it tired her out by the time we were done, but she did fine. After the store, we went into a pastry store to get my husband some treats. Did our day end there? Hell, no. We then went to Mojavi's to meet her and Chocolate Covered Susan for our Wine and Chocolate Playdate. After that, we went home to a house filled with wonderful smells of chicken saag since X was cooking that night. The rest of the evening was spent playing with the kids and then we watched Real Time with Bill Maher before packing it in for the night.

Saturday - I loaded the kids up in the car and took them to my mom's house in Lawrence where we were meeting my sister and her brood. My sister and I dumped the kids with my mom and then hightailed our asses outta there to go have lunch to celebrate her birthday - we went to the Mad Greek - an old favorite of mine from when they were just a hole in the wall on 23rd street. It was just the two of us - no hands to wipe, mouths to stuff, except for our own. We have not done anything with just the two of us since before Anjali was born. Um, you know that thing were you and another person talk without interruption? Yeah, that - we had one of those. I believe it is known as a conversation, something like that. After lunch, we went shopping a bit and each bought a wicked cool necklace made with Japanese origami paper at the Phoenix Gallery with gift certificates that we both gotten recently. After the Lawrence outing, I brought the kids home for a peaceful afternoon and evening. X cooked again - he pan-fried some marlin, Kerala style, and made a cucumber and tomato pachadi. X watched the NFL playoffs while Anjali slept. Arun and I hung out playing, reading, wrestling and then watched TV. I even got a little bit of knitting done and made quite a it of progress on Sue Grafton's T is for Trespass (which is awesome thus far, per usual for Grafton.)

Sunday - No plans today, which is a treat. I did take the kids to the gym ("Mama's gym" as Arun calls it, as opposed to the kid's gym that we went to on Friday.) I did not do a crazy workout, my goal for the next few months is to just make it a habit of going. Period. I walked a bit, did some weights and some toning. Nothing major, but it was really, really peaceful to get lost in my own thoughts for a change. The rest of the day should work out to be uneventful, just watching some more NFL playoffs, which is fine by me.
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I think the best part was walking around Briarcliff with the kids. No stroller, no stupid baby bucket. Just walking. Instead of my usual status as Beast of Burden hauling a good 50+ lbs of stuff, I felt like a person. A mom, just wandering around with her kids. I do not say it often (what? me brag? Never), but I was so proud of Arun. He was patient and polite to everyone he met. He did not run crazy or get into things that he should not have. He said "Hi" and "Bye" to everyone he met as well. Hot diggity damn, y'all. I think I see the light at the end of this tunnel I have been barreling down for the past 6 months.

I just cursed myself, did I not?