Mommy-cation!!!

My fantastic mom is visiting.
Reuel is a wonderful share-the-labors husband.
Result?
Mommy-cation!!!!

My first 2 nights away from both kids, and it was such a wonderful break!  Best of all?  I got to see the big city with NYC veteran and fab friend Megan!!!  Headed down Saturday morning and stayed at her apt. in Brooklyn.  I don't know if I could love the city life on a long-term basis, but it was temporarily tantalizing to this suburban hoodie-and-sneakers wearin' momma.  The food might do me in...fresh bagels, Little Italy cannoli, brioche-encased egg covered in perfect melted cheddar brunch, Chinatown dim sum, killer Vietnamese sandwiches 2 steps from Meg's front door, bubble tea, *GOOD* sushi (mmm, spicy crunch tuna), fresh well-roasted coffee and a choc chip hazelnut and rosemary cookie to top off.   Good thing we did some walking, though I think I'm going to hop on the treadmill tonight to get back to my pre-vacation discipline.  The population density juxtaposed with small spaces always surprises.  I feel quite crunched in Boston compared to the midwest, but we have elbow room to spare compared to the real cityfolk.  It is just shocking how many people can pile into the tiny foyer entrance of a <500 square foot restaurant and wait 30 or even 60 minutes for one of 30 or 40 seats to open up.  I was also surprised by just how friendly the folk seemed...guess I'm more used to the New England cold shoulder than I realized.  Among other diversions we karaoke'd (well, I'm a chicken but Megan of course blew them away ;), got pedicures, and Chinatown shiatsu massages $20 for a 30 minute session.  Wow.  Let's just say I'm glad I got a woman masseuse because she was strong enough...yeowch!!  Some of the time it was crazy intense, but mostly nice.  Dim sum with throngs of Chinese people around big tables is always fun, and the food was good.  Stay away from the little custard tarts that look like yummy dessert for the end of your meal though...scrambled egg flavor is not great when you were hoping for vanilla and sugar.  Chinese desserts always do that to me.  Red bean paste is another sneaky decoy that's gotten me in the past.

Finally, an unrelated observation.  I think one of the things that makes us (or indicates that we are) singularly human must be guilt and shame.  This occurred to me as I was using my mom's GPS to navigate to Megan's place.  Not having used one before, I was nervous to trust it.  I had printed a google map of the route, and at one major fork in the road the GPS directed me differently than my map.  I decided to defy the GPS, figuring it would just recalculate from the new route I'd chosen, which of course it did.  What does it tell you about my upbringing and personality though, that as the GPS said , "Take exit so-and-so to interstate so-and-so" about 6 times in succession, I felt like I was breaking the law ignoring it, and I was getting seriously stressed out and had to really set my mind to disobey after the multiple warnings to comply!!  The interesting thing, though, is that after going my own way and passing the recommended exit, I felt the surprising silence of having only defied a machine.  I kept expecting to hear the robot-voice say, "You idiot.  Why did you do that.  Now you've done it," or "Great.  Now we're going to get stuck in a traffic jam.  If you'd only listened to me."  Well, computers don't rub it in.  I kept disobeying and the little box just forgave and recalculated every time.  It was a kind of therapy!  I think we need to do that more for each other.  Sad that we have the automatic impulse to expect condemnation and blame from even an electronic voice, don't you think?  That sort of after-the-fact rub-in doesn't do much good, especially thinking of parenting.  Some empathy over the results of the mistake probably aids my kids' learning more than trying to make them feel bad over it.  Maybe this doesn't make sense to anybody but me.  Wouldn't be the first time...don't call me an idiot, please!