friends and fellow country[wo]men

I had a glorious weekend and I must tell you why:

*I left home Friday (toute seule) at 10:00 a.m. and drove to San Fran. The drive was so beautiful. No traffic. Greenest of green. February is one of the most beautiful months in California, and so I felt obliged to document the verdancy on the way down. I was taking pics with my camera as I was driving 85 mph on 80 (and even 90+ once). Oops. not a good idea. But I enjoyed every minute of it. (The pictures didn't turn out very well, but that's o.k. The act was more important than the result.) As I neared the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza, I realized I was accidentally in the FAST TRAK (intentional misspellings drive me crazy!) lane, and since I don't have a fast trak pass, I needed to get over--and quick. I guess I used my best pleading eyes, and a nice gentleman in a blue truck waved me in. I felt so thankful to this stranger . . . and then I remembered that I've always wanted to pay someone's toll, but really never had a good excuse to do so. (NOTE: sometimes no excuse is the best excuse, but somehow i had never thought of paying someone's toll for no reason while I was at the toll booth before.) So I told the worker that I wanted to pay the "guy-behind-me"'s toll; he totally got this happy look on his face and said, "I'll be sure to let him know you did it!" After I was let through, I went pretty slowly, staring intently in my rear view mirror. I saw the incident play out behind me and I was so happy. Like almost dancing-a-jig happy. And then I sped up really fast because I didn't want to see the guy in the truck; the anonimity was somehow more refreshing than an awkward wave on the bridge later on.

*I spent a day at the SF Gift Center, hobnobbing with other buyers and the agents of some of the lines I intend to buy for my darlybird biz. It was fun and envigorating to feel like I was entering the world of business, even though I kind of feel like a sham. Meanwhile, Jonnie was being a fab husband and father---taking sick girls to the doctor, and then to the wildlife refuge in Davis, then to In-N-Out Burger (have I ever told you how Estie sees the in-n-out sign and starts frantically giggling? First time it happened, she was barely 12 mos . . . says no words, but can sure express pure joy and anticipation for her favorite patty joint. [No buns for these wheat-free girls.] I started laughing hysterically and had to call jon at work immediately. He was a proud father---even though he goes vegetarian-style every time!)

*Tho it was fun to be alone, I was so thrilled to pick up Susannah, my fabulous older sister, at the CalTrain station (fresh from Palo Alto) and then meet up with Phoebe, sister in Zion, and Eroo (emily ann cox, another friend for life) a little bit later. A delicious dinner at La Taqueria (forgive the frighteningly drab name and go there next time you're in san fran . . .25th and Mission . . . the tacos DO NOT disappoint!) After saying hasta to the eroo, the three of us drove to North Beach and drove around for 30 minutes looking for a parking spot. We would not be denied Stella Pastry!!! We found a garage that charged $3.75 for every 20 minutes. After telling garage attendant to take good care of Phoebe's "ghetto mobile" (she named it, I just repeated her)--and not do anything Ferris Bueller style, we enjoyed patisserie---but quickly. Time is of the essence when you're paying through the nose for parking. And then the attendant tried to rip us off by over-charging us. We didn't realize it until we were pulling away, but I still got out of the car and confronted him about his oversight. He tried to hold strong on his claim of more-minutes-than-we-were-actually-there, but I won out. Ah yeah! Fight the parking garage attendant power!

*The hotel room was so quiet that night. It was surreal to sleep a night without children, and the sleep interruptions thereof. Divine!

*Next morning, back to the Gift Fair with a few serendipitous moments, or at least a lot of great possibilities, and a whole lot of fun to be with my chica-friends/sister. And then a good karma moment at the parking garage with a lost ticket refound, and a great ride home singing at the top of my lungs along with my special "San Fran" mix I made the morning prior.

A few truths found out on this trip:

--Practicing "random acts of kindness" makes me so happy I could scream.
--It is ESSENTIAL for ME (all women? maybe not) to get out and away from my normal routine every once-in-a-blue-moon or more and just be me--no kids=no restraints.
--Absence makes the heart grow fonder. I totally missed my cute little family---in a very GOOD way. It was actually the longest I've ever been away from my children. EVER. Isn't that bizarre? On the way home I saw a white owl flying over the causeway, and it reminded me of Esther. I think the only similarity is that they are both ? I don't even know if there is a similarity.

And now that I'm back in the grind, with Leah giving Esther zerbs on her naked butt (oh my!) right now, and Esther screaming (and barfing and coughing in the night), I kind of miss my hotel room. But there will be more opportunities for freedom. Right now, I've got to go tame the wild things.