The Boy and the Bulldog: Another Overnight with Grandma & Grandpa

Our weekend started with Ian packing up and heading to Grandma & Grandpa T's house for yet another overnighter. A mere 6 months ago, I had to be begged and bribed into letting them take Ian overnight, but I'm over it now in a big way and am glad to let them take him for that ONE night every once in a while. A big part of what eases my mind is that Ian loves it at their house and is 100% comfortable to sleep alone in his room there with zero issues. It's another day in the life for him when he's there.

This time, Polli went too, so we truly had an empty house. Before Polli came along in Dec. of 2005, it was what our house was like all the time. I don't remember the quiet being so quiet then or the hollow feeling I get now, that something important is missing...like a limb that is suddenly unusable or diminished eyesight. I missed them both terribly, even for just that one night, but I especially missed Polli. Yes, I know that's horrible. I admit it here (and expect the backlash) that I missed my dog more than my son Friday night. Normally when Ian goes to Grandma's house, I have Polli to fill the gap... She warms my lap and is my ever present best friend when Ian is asleep or gone. She makes me feel necessary and valuable in a way that no human ever could. For this reason, having her gone too was a big letdown. I make it sound like Shawn and I were on other ends of the planet this weekend, and we were a bit of the time. We each had our own reasons for wanting the night off Friday, and it wasn't for a date night this time.

Friday night, I had arranged a "IT Girls Night" for my department. There are only 9 of us ladies on site compared to 3 dozen guys, so I got the OK to arrange a round of drinks and dinner. Six of us were able to attend and we had a great time learning how each of us got our start in IT and at SanMar. It was a ton of fun. I haven't been out with gals for...well almost never... so this was a treat for me. By 8pm, we were ready to break off and get back to our lives, many of us moms and wives with long to-do lists waiting to be completed...and I'm sad to say we didn't get a single picture although I had a camera in my purse.

I decided to go see "He's Not That Into You", but it was sold out in the 3 closest theaters for most of the evening's showings...so I walked around the mall for an hour and then closed down Target. I can't say that I've ever heard "Target will be closing in 10 minutes". It was a new milestone for me but a sad one, right? I mean, it was Friday night and I was loitering in Target. I walked out with a windbreaker for Ian and a bag of dog snacks... Is it obvious who I was thinking about the whole time?

Why was I doing this, you ask? Well, while I was having my girls' night, Shawn was hosting a guys poker party at our house. I couldn't very well go home and be the wife who ruined everyone's dude fun. I did eventually go home to sneak upstairs and watch TV while the party raged, and yes it raged... I heard lots of swear words and "between hands" arm wrestling tournament. Oh, the fun I was missing, right? And although they didn't smoke in the house, there was a lot of cigar smoke finding it's way back in from the garage somehow, and it smelled like a bachelor pad throughout the house.

It started disbanding at about 1AM and Shawn came to bed silly on beers and thankfully had already cleaned up after himself; my kitchen sink was actually empty! I was pretty impressed. It sounded like fun though, and I like poker, so the next time, I'm hoping it can be a co-ed event...I guess that means I'll have to invite my department guys to the next girls' night! Hmmm. We'll have to think this through a little more.

So, I woke early Saturday and went to the gym while Shawn slept. We went and had a nice lunch at Panera, my favorite lunch spot, and then headed to see our kiddos. We stayed the night, drank wine, and watched movies...and then headed back home in time for Ian's nap today. It was great to be reunited with my kids. I missed them so much, eventhough it is truly nice to have a break every once in a while...even if the highlight is simply a break from tiptoe-ing the halls after 7pm.

While Ian napped today, Shawn and I watched my beloved Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins... YAY!, and ate too much junk food. Now Ian and I are playing while Shawn is off playing hockey with his Sunday league.

Probably the most important event of the whole weekend is that today, Ian told Shawn "uh-oh daddy, toots" and asked to go to the potty. We sat for a while and low & behold, there was pee pee & poo poo in the potty when he stood up. It was a big celebration, with the big finale being that Ian FINALLY got M&M's for going. He got 2 for #1 and 2 for #2... and couldn't have been more thrilled about his 4 M&M's. He savored each like it was caviar and obviously doesn't take that luxury for granted.

Below are several pics from Ian's overnight stay including a few with cousin Ashleigh during his last stay, 2 weeks ago. She's so great with him.

I've also been trying to upload a great video of Ian singing with Grandpa Tom, but Blogger's video upload is terrible and I need to figure out what's wrong. Stay tuned for that soon.