Mark Friday Sept 9, as the best Friday. EVER

Harry skipped downstairs bright and early. He usually thumps down, falls on the sofa and is a bit lazy until I start commanding orders. "Breakfast?!" "Clothes?!" "Get dressed!" "EAT!". Yesterday he asked me if Pants X and Shirt Y were good to wear to school. He was walking on air. Pants X had a hole in the knee, and I needed to chose an alternative. Harry needs new pants. I did not get him any last year because he would only wear orange pants. There was no point to buying new pants, because its not easy to find new orange pants. So he had only old orange pants. So, when he brought me jeans to wear to his first day of school, I immediately dashed upstairs to find a pair of wrinkled blue dockers rolled up in a ball beside the orange pants. They were ironed and we gave Harry a new first day of school shirt. It was orange. He was thrilled. Then started the countdown - how many minutes left? How many minutes more? When I made the announcement that its time to get our bags and shoes on, he was ready, out the door and in the van lickedy split. That kid was so excited. It was so cute.

We dropped off his brothers, Owen being a bit jealous because his first day attention was over. Aidan is now just registering that its drop off time is imminent, and his amygdala is intructing the rest of his body to demonstrate all signs of torture and distress. We keep drop off short and sweet in these circumstances. It decreased my anxiety and cuts down his requisite cry of desperation.

The three of us wait on the playground of Harry's new school for the bell to ring. Other kids were running around, Harry was pointing out the architectural features of his school. "Look at the Window...thats on the (name of the school), this is MY school" and "Wow there is the DOOR to my school"..finally, the teachers came out and Harry's name was called. He ran right over and gave her a hug. Oh, what a good first impression that was.

My day went just as well. My second first class went without a hitch. I had a lunch date with a friend. We met at her house (she lives in a gorgous old home in the downtown area built in the 1920, with much of the original wood work and details.) Patsy and I met last year. It was one of those rare occurances - when you meet someone and 5 minutes later you feel you've known them forever. It's like that with her. The other cool thing is that she's probably the same age as my mother - but we gab like teenagers. Patsy is an artist, former pychiatric nurse, former Religious Studies grad student. We started lunch around 1:00. She's also a first wave feminist, which for me is an amazing thing to witness. The conversation was as good, if not better than the food. Although it came a close second. (Thai Mango curry) - an no wine!

We walked home in the glorious sunshine, stopped and chatted with friends we met along the way - and then I noticed the time. It was 4:30! We had a four and a half hour lunch. Oh. My.
It was simply sublime being completely submerged in good conversation with a new good friend and finding out you've spent 4 and half hours doing it. Without children! Without having to think twice about who needs to pee, or if Aidan is going to take another trek up yonder. I think every woman needs to take a four hour lunch with a friend at least once a year.

My lightened spirit followed me home. Eric started constructing our new dining room chairs, which are of appropriate height in all concerns. I took the kids to rent a movie, and I rented Disk 1 and 2 of the first season of Lost. The kids and I hunkered down with some snacks and I pressed 'Play". I know Desperate Housewives is a raving success. And sure it has its moments. But the itty bitty thighs and all that money somehow makes that word "Desperate" sound like a close affinity to "Debbi Does Dallas". It's not my cuppa java. Lost on the otherhand, is like Survivor meets the X-files, or Gilligans Island on steriods. The creators of Lost must have been some serious Gilligans Island or Swiss Family Robinson fans. Except in Lost there are no architecturally perfect huts or amazing inventions made with coconuts, vine and roughly hewn wood. I have not even finished disk 1...and there are 5 more left to watch! What luck!

And some of the Friday charm has spilled over to Saturday. I'm going to see The Brothers Grimm (again!) tonight...