Sweet, Sweet Relief

NOW I remember why the Portland metro area made it to the tippy top of our "relocation location" list.

On Saturday afternoon, Shaun's mom came and picked up the boys. We retrieved them on Sunday evening.

Sure, it was with a little trepidation in my mother's heart that I waved as they drove away. However, the relief of having a break from the responsibility of doing my best to help my children develop a sound moral character --and the relief of having a break from the guilt of feeling like I'm not doing the job as well as I should-- quickly melted away all worries.

Finally I was left with only the thought, "Why, yes! I DO like my kids. I don't want them back yet, but I do want them back eventually." And that was a relief.

Now, if you aren't all green with envy yet (really, it's a strange and remarkable thing to just be home without any kids), just wait. We went out to dinner.

We had tapas at Toro Bravo in Portland. It was small and lively, thanks to a no reservations policy. While we waited for a table we had a cocktail at The Secret Society, a bar that had opened upstairs the night before. It felt so lovely to be an adult. In a room full of adults.

I won't bore you with the details of our meal, except to say that the ox-tail croquettes were one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten in my life. Who knew? You can check out the menu here for yourself, so you can plan what you're going to have when you come to visit.

And, after all that good food, you should be so lucky to do as I did: take a nap on the couch for an hour and then make it official and go to bed and sleep for another 11 hours.

Moving to Vancouver was a fantastic idea.