Category: FAMILY MEMORIES REDIRECT

Note: I wrote this Monday; however, didn’t have the energy to log in and publish.

This week, for a moment, I felt like a failure. I had planned out a whole weekend of fun for my husband and I before our almost 2-year-old came home from an extra week of vacation with her Grammie and Pappy in Canada.  About half of it came off successful; however, as a person who tries to strive for perfection, it was tough to swallow “failure”.  You be the judge if we did the right thing.

We successfully went to a Pirate game on Friday with some of my family for a cousin’s 6^thbirthday. The evening then turned into date night of firsts as planned—the Duquesne Incline (something I, a Burgher by birth have never done—shame!) and the Rivers Casino.  Maybe I am partial to the Mon Incline (since I’ve done it a gazillion times), but I felt a lot safer on it than I did on the Duquesne.  The view, as always, is breathtaking, but next time I’d prefer to drive up or just settle for the Mon.  The husband wanted to re-live “She’s Out of My League”; however, I told him over and over they were on Mon Incline overlooks. Point proven. Ha! Next was the Rivers. A great time, but Friday night at 12:00 is not the time to be getting signed up for a Players Card. Good thing we waited, it made me tired AND we got $20 in free play, so that kept us satisfied for about 30 minutes (plus $6 of our own).  We ended up tired and ready to go $46 of winnings in at 1:15, but there’s always room for breakfast on date nights, so we went to our local Denny’s. (Why no 24 hour Eat N’ Park is near us is beyond me!) Came home and our dog was sick in his crate—NEVER good for a woman who suffers nausea all 9 months of a pregnancy…good thing I have a stellar husband who can handle messes.

Saturday morning we slept in for a good while then I got to catch up on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Reader (couponing FTW!).  After a bit, I started to feel nauseous and emotional (part of my blames my anti-nausea meds, the other part the pregnancy), so I laid in bed a cried a good cry.  Frankly, my brother sent me a picture of my daughter hamming it up at a Wendy’s and I realized how much I missed her little face.  So I talked to my husband and we decided that there was no doubt, we needed to meet up with my parents and get our little girl.  That meant, unfortunately, missing out on a date night with good friends—a tweetup slash reveal party for @SecretAgentL.  I was torn, but in the end a night of further bonding with our daughter, enjoying Big Bear Pizza (my cousin’s pizza shop in Ford City—you must try if you haven’t), and relaxing in the pool (she’s swimming with wings!) won my heart.  (This is where I felt like a failure because I broke plans, but to see the look on her face and hear her say Dada and Mama when we walked in the door meant a million dollars to me!)

Sunday morning I had a minor shopping list (including replenishing diapers—oops!) that kept me awake all too early, so off I went, barefoot, in a downpour to shop.  Being pregnant, my four stops got me more tired than I’d expect, so the afternoon was spent watching “If You Really Knew Me” and “Extreme Home Makeover [from Loris SC, circa 2007]” (thus making me miss my past life as a teacher of less fortunate kids in South Carolina but so glad for the blessings we now have).  Next it was off to a cookout at a co-worker’s where I pretty much just sat in a daze because I was so exhausted.  We got home and took the sweetie for another swim then she and I crashed early. My husband woke me in the middle of the night (he’s VERY nocturnal) to show me pictures of our friends twins who are in a NICU and OMG they’ve overcome so much and gotten so big since we saw them a few weeks ago—life is a great miracle!

All in all, I think that spending time with my family was worth every second—I just wish weekends wouldn’t go so fast and weekdays go so slow!  The princess is growing by the inches and talking a mile a minute. When I look up at her baby pictures (the desk SERIOUSLY needs updated), I tear up because she’s not the little helpless being she was not so long ago.  Good thing I have a good dose of baby coming in less than 5 months (19 weeks pregnant today)!