One Last Getaway... and then Reality in all its Craziness

I need to preface this post by saying that I am utterly exhausted. I have a list of things I need to do that is a mile long. Most things on that list are not important (this post being one of them). However, I need to start somewhere. Tonight, a long overdue post and possibly replying to some emails. Tomorrow, grocery shopping, bill paying, and maybe returning phone calls to some people who may or may not still be my friends at this point.

So this past weekend Shimmy and I went to Las Vegas for a much needed getaway. We saw Love, which was amazing, and Jerry Seinfeld, who seriously almost made me pee my pants (even more than usual). The weather was awesomely mild- mid-60's and sunny. We spent all shabbat day in bed sleeping and reading. I want to cry with longing as I remember that for the first 4 years of our marriage that's how we spent every shabbat.

And then we came home. We arrived back in Baltimore late Sunday night and the wintery cold slapped me in the face. Somehow my body had set itself to west coast time just in time to leave, so I was all out of whack. I got almost no sleep Sunday night. Monday morning Shimmy packed up and left for NY on business. I saw Sophie for the first time since Thursday morning. (She had been staying with my parents while we were away, but my sister brought her home Sunday night, put her to bed here, and waited for us to come home so that Sophie would be able to go to school the next morning.) We hurriedly got ready and left for school. Sophie had not been at school since the previous Monday. Wednesday school was closed- stupid snow day- and Friday she was with my parents, who do not live here. So I really couldn't blame her for not wanting to be left somewhere she hadn't been in a week after also not seeing me for a good 4 days. At some point I said "screw it," and sat at the table with her. We stayed at school for an hour and a half together and then both went home. I had planned on going to the grocery store while she was at school, so that got abandoned (we now have NO food in our house). Instead, we just played all afternoon. One game in particular was fun while it lasted. I was folding laundry in my room, while Sophie played in my walk-in closet. She would go in, close the door, knock on it, say "come in," and then open it. Until she couldn't open it. I heard her rattling the knob and saying "Mommy open!" And then I saw it- a keyhole on the outside of the door. Why my walk-in closet had a door that locked and could only be opened by a key (Key? What key? I have never seen this key in my life.) I could not tell you. But I knew at once that Sophie had somehow locked herself inside. I was pretty calm at first. She's a smart cookie and I thought I could just explain how to turn the lock. That did not work. I tried picking the lock with several objects, but that didn't work either. I tried breaking into the door jam with several objects. Didn't work. By this point Sophie was starting to panic and listening to her favorite TV shows through the door was not helping anymore (but thank goodness for On Demand). So I called our friendly neighborhood locksmith and within 5 minutes he was here and within another 5 minutes he had the door opened. Sophie was beyond freaked out to see a strange man pop through the door, but she was otherwise okay. I had him completely remove that damn door knob. After the stressful day Sophie had had I didn't even argue with her when she insisted that she wanted pancakes for dinner.

They say "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Apparently, for some of us, that applies to rest and relaxation as well. My getaway is already a fading memory. And in approximately 7 weeks when I am lost in a fog of exhaustion (the kind that will make my current state of exhaustion seem trivial) and deaf from the cries of a newborn and a toddler, I'm sure I will have no recollection of my getaway at all.