A Visit with the Tudors

So, somewhere between changing the millionth diaper and scraping pureed spinach out of my hair, I secretly hoped for an escape. I'm not gonna lie - being a momma is some tough work. Most the time, it is pretty thankless, too. I mean, I don't expect Oscar to thank me for playing puzzles with him or praise me for my daily singing of the ABC's. It's just that the day-after-day thing gets old. There are the highs of course, like when Oz wants to "help" me do something and he actually does help and also when you see that light bulb go off in his head and you know he understood something new. Those are great. But the broken record of "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" is something that could be the equivalence to Chinese Water Torture. For reals.

Mother's Day this year brought me a happy surprise and just what the doctor ordered though. Instead of a crusty corsage and a cheesy piece of jewelry (standards in the Mother's Day world - you know it's true), I got my favorite breakfast in bed, GORGEOUS peonies from Wave Hill, an adorable card (a collaboration piece by both of my boys), and a booked flight to North Carolina to visit my best friend Christie! Oh baby. Did he knock it out of the park, or what?!? And yes, I am completely spoiled for next year.

Well, this past weekend was my visit. And I gotta tell you, I sure do miss the South. I could tell the difference as soon as I landed and walked around the airport that I "wasn't in Kansas anymore" or New York, for that matter. When I went to get my bag, the Tudors were eagerly awaiting (with a sign) to give me car service. They even printed out an itinerary for the weekend! What fun! And I gotta say, we stuck pretty close to the plans, even though it wore the Tudors pretty thin. By the end of the weekend, their tongues were hanging out. I think they were sad to see me go, but thrilled to be able to take some naps again.

There really is nothing like old friends. Being with old friends makes you remember who you are and who you've become. It was so wonderful to be with people who you can just be yourself with and not have to worry about letting your guard down. I know the Tudors love me for me and don't mind that I needed to watch the Survivor finale and that I had a pimple the size of a walnut growing off my face (thank you photoshop). Needless to say, we all had a great weekend. There was strawberry picking, crafting, shopping, eating, more shopping, lots of cookies, "puzzle time," jokes, and even a bit of sightseeing.

There was so much to do and so little time, though. Parting is always sweet sorrow. I was eager to get home and see how much my guys missed me, however. Throughout the weekend, I'd get little messages of "Love yous" and "Miss yous" from both Tim and Oscar which succeeded in making me very homesick. There is nothing like a 20 month old saying "Love you mommy" to make you want to sprout wings and fly back home! So sweet.

And shock of all shocks, I came home to a clean house and happy smiles. What a wonderful way to spend a weekend! And absence DOES make the heart grow fonder. (Maybe that was Tim's intent all along?)