24

What would you do if you had 24 hours away from your children?

The following is a chronicle of the 100% child-free hours between 1:00 p.m. Saturday May 14, 2011 and 1:00 p.m. Sunday May 15, 2011.

1:00 p.m. - Hooray! They are gone! Much joy and dancing ensue.

1:10 p.m. - Lets pack our bags and get the heck out of Dodge.

1:30 p.m. - The car backs out of the driveway. We are headed to Chicago.

1:30 - 2:15 p.m. - I 94 eastbound.

2:15 p.m. - We are hungry. Hey there's a Wendy's at the next exit. Spicy chicken and french fries.

2:45 p.m. - I 94 eastbound

3:00 p.m. - "Honey do you mind if I sleep for a while?"

3:20 p.m. - I 94 eastbound. Hey it's raining.

3:35 p.m. - I 94 eastbound. Man there's a ton of traffic. I don't think we'll make it in time to visit the Art Institute before it closes at 5.

4:15 p.m. - The Hyatt Regency in downtown Chicago.

4:30 p.m. - It's still raining. "What do you want to do now?" "I guess we could walk on Michigan Ave. In the rain."

4:45 p.m. - Um it's really cold. And wet. Hey a Starbucks! Hot beverages for everyone.

5:00 p.m. - Nordstrom's shoe department. A heavenly choir sings in the back ground. I pick up shoe after shoe and cry a little bit when I see the price. "Honey I don't want to have a ton of money. I just want to be able to buy some pretty shoes regardless of the price." "Someday, honey. Someday."

5:30 p.m. - "What do you want to do now? Do you want to shop some more?" "Um no it's cold and raining and my ratty old shoes are wet. Let's go back to the hotel."

5:45 - 7:00 p.m. - Hanging out in the hotel room and getting ready to go out.

7:00 p.m. - Head to the car. In the rain. And the cold. "Uh oh!" "What uh oh?" "I forgot the parking ticket. It's in the room." "You go get it. I'm going to wait in the car. With the heat."

7:20 p.m. - Frink gets the ticket and we head out of the parking lot.

7:40 p.m. - "I'll drop you off and find a place to park."

7:45 p.m. - Happy Birthday Michelle!

7:55 p.m. - The phone rings. "I'm lost. Where is the bar again?" I hand the phone to Michelle and she gives him directions.

8:00 - 10:00 p.m. - Fun and friends. And birthday cake.

10:00 p.m. - "I'm kind of hungry. Are you hungry? It's been a long time since Wendy's." Get directions to a restaurant nearby. Walk in the rain.

10:45 p.m. - Dinner arrives. Yum.

11:20 p.m. - It's still raining. "You go get the car. I'll wait here where it's warm and dry."

11:40 p.m. - Back at the hotel.

Midnight - Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

8:45 a.m. - Wake up. Wonder when the last time you woke up this late. Decide it was probably 5 years ago.

10:00 a.m. - Breakfast. Decide to skip eating in the hotel in favor of a walk to West Egg cafe. In the rain.

10:45 a.m. - Walk back to the hotel. In the rain. Check out.

11:00 a.m. - Wheels up. Time to drive home. In the rain.

12:10 p.m. - Welcome to Wisconsin. "Hey it stopped raining."

1:00 p.m. - Moooooooooommmmmmmmyyyyyyyyy!

A night with . . . Adults?

Every year my mom and I get tickets to a women's lecture series. We use this as a reason to go out to dinner at a nice restaraunt and catch up.

Yesterday was a fairly challenging day for me and Bunny, highlighted by two separate 45 minute periods where she refused to get dressed (once in the morning and once after using the potty). So I was ready for our night out.

We went to this nice restaraunt in Milwaukee's Third Ward. The Third Ward used to be just old warehouses but the have re-done it so now it is filled with shops, bars and restaraunts. I found a few new shops that I wanted to visit on my next day off. The meal was wonderful, punctuated by a creme brule trio. That's right three different kinds of creme brule - vanilla, chocolate and pistacio. I was in heaven.

Last night's lecture was by Lisa Ling. She talked about her experiences as an international journalist and the different stories that she has covered. She showed a few clips too.

It was during the clips that she showed a clip of her story "The Lost Daughters of China." The clip was of all the families going to the Civil Affairs building to meet their daughters for the first time - Gotcha Day. It perfectly caught the chaos and emotion of the day. And it sent me right over the edge. I started bawling openly in the middle of the theater as I remembered the day that we first met Bunny in China. My mom was crying too but she tried to comfort me. I think the lady sitting next to me thought I was crazy but I really didn't care.

I couldn't wait to run home and give Bunny a huge hug, but she would (or should) be asleep when I got home at 9:30. But she wasn't and I was never so happy. I went into her room and got to hug her and read her another story. It was almost as if she was waiting for me. She drifted off to sleep soon after.

It was the perfect night.