So Much To Be Happy About...

I've been busy. Busy with happy things and busy with things which need to be taken care of. Let me begin with my datenight last week. It was Wednesday night, the night off he planned for me for Mother's Day. It was a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful evening. Grandma J came over to look after the children around four in the afternoon which gave me time to get into a fresh pair of jeans (my uniform of choice) and a cute new top I purchased for the event. Hubby and I left at five, relaxed and happy to be out of the house together while the sun was still up. I can't remember the last time we were out alone without the kids when it was still light so this alone felt pretty darn special. We made it to our old familiar stomping ground in L.A. with enough time to enjoy dinner at a favorite Indian restaurant we used to frequent.

We sat and waited for our food to come and it was still light outside. I smile now as I write this and can see hubby's face with his goofy smile, along with slouched shoulders and seriously old but much loved tee-shirt. The food was up to its usual scrumalicious standard and it was a great treat not to be asking for the cheque to go before and entrees hit the table. Spending quality time with hubby and enjoy each others company as we did when we first met, if not more so, was the a biggest reward of the entire evening. It is a very comforting feeling to enjoy your partner of ten plus years without the chaos of life for distraction.

The show, "Wicked", was far from a disappointment too. Hubby went all out and got some super tickets. We were thirteen rows from the front and pretty much in the center of the front stage. There were a three little girls around Maggie's age sitting in front of us looking too cute for words, donned with their best dresses and hair pinned up -- sitting next to their equally cute L.A. style mothers. Eric and I looked at each other and I'm sure we were thinking the same thing -- We have to take Maggie to the theatre this summer. But the show, the show, the show. More about the show. It was a musical so had lots of singing and dancing and jumping about the stage with a little bit of flying and special effects thrown in. Overall it was a great show to see and it was interesting to see the how the plot unfolded if not a little predictable for my analytical mind. The singing was exemplary and some of the songs were particularly touching -- I can foresee many a high school putting on their own production. I think though, I may have outgrown my love for musicals and might just prefer to see a play instead but hey, I'm not complaining. We had a great time. It was a lot of fun and a great date night. One I shall not forget.

Moving on to this past weekend -- it was a lot of fun too. Hubby has been out of town and no, that is not as the reason why it was so much fun. One of the other trillion reasons I have a lot to be happy about is the graciousness of my in-laws. I really couldn't ask for a better pair. This weekend my father in-law fulfilled a promise he made to me on my birthday back in January. He came down to paint my bathroom. Let me say that again. My father-in-law came down to paint my bathroom, a bathroom that has been on out list to do for about three years now. We supplied the paint and all the tools and he did all the hard work of sanding, prep and painting. Wow! What a guy.

Though I couldn't do much to help out with the actual painting and prepping part of the bathroom it has been great to have his company. My children just adore him and its been truly splendid having him around. He bought out a different side to Maggie that I don't get to see that often and caused my son to spin around on his stomach with excitement just by knocking at the door in the mornings. And for me? For me, he has given and shown me so much more than a painted bathroom, so much more. I don't mean to sound so pathetically sappy here but my father-in-law has shown so much integrity and class it has been inspiring and quite frankly, a life learning experience. I am and always will be grateful for the love and respect he has shown me. I am truly honored.

Last week Maggie also had her own art show at her pre-school. This is her last week so it was quite a poignant moment to attend her school's annual art show. Maggie had four pieces on show complete with a little photo of herself next to each piece. Sparkling apple cider and lots of great finger food was provided by the parents of the pre-schoolers and overall it was a great evening with a chance to thank the people who had made Maggie's year of pre-school a memorable and positive one. I was also more than happy to part with my dollars to pay for Maggie's art work. Believe it or not, and with biased aside, her pieces are frame worthy. I'll be sure to look out for some good deals on frames and if I knew how to scan and upload photos I would be posting them on here too. Her collection consisted of a blue collage on canvas, a Pollock inspired canvas piece, a sand paint on black canvas piece, and a Picasso inspired portrait piece. It really was amazing to see what creativity the teachers were able to pull out of my little Maggie and the high level of art work many of the other kids showed. It was lovely. If I didn't think I was robbing another parent of their kids work I'd be buying some of the other kid's work too. This week is Maggie's last and final week of pre-school. I am sure it will whip round to Friday before I know it. I can tell already that I'm going to burst some water banks. My big girl is just growing up too fast.