Mother's Little Helper

Yesterday I discovered something that might make me feel as good as therapy or recreational drugs, and is probably cheaper. I am talking about a babysitter. In the middle of the week. For no reason. Well, there is a reason, sort of. The reason is to keep me charming and personable the rest of the week.

You may remember my glowing post about Nicole, the magical Craigslist babysitter. She was away on a road trip (ah, road trips! those were the days!) for a couple weeks and lo, we suffered mightily. At least I did. Now she is back, and if all goes well, she is going to hang with Jarrah every Wednesday afternoon for 4-5 hours.

And how did I spend this precious block of time? In the most frivolous ways possible, of course. I went to lunch, and ate something complicated. (Soup!) I read an entire magazine. I did a couple errands. I drove over to Hillcrest because I vaguely remembered hearing about some fabulous new store where you can get a massage with only two hours notice but I didn't remember what it was called. (Funny, I've already forgotten! But I have the brochure. :)) I went to the gym and worked out for a long time, followed by a long, leisurely stretch. Ahhhhhh. I showered. I shopped for clothes. And the grand finale was browsing for books, followed by a coffee with another ENTIRE magazine. Do I know how to enjoy myself or WHAT?

Now came the moment of truth. The afternoon had left me relaxed to just above coma level, but how had Jarrah felt about it? She had been trustingly asleep when I left. I walked in with my teeth gritted slightly. No one met me at the door. Eventually Jarrah appeared, resplendent in just a diaper. She and Nicole had been swimming. She was glowing and smiling and told me a long, complicated story that sounded something like, "Nicole is awesome! We had fun! I kicked a ball! I threw Elmo in the pool! I kicked another ball! Watch, I'll do it again! Did I mention Nicole is awesome? And she didn't check her e-mail the whole day!"

It was the icing on the cake, Readers. And I savored how sweet it was.