It got better from that point

Here we are, at part 2 of my odyssey to Baltimore. And I promise, there are no ambulances or crashing trains or Coronas involved. That I can remember.

At this point, I met Maven and the adorable Boobah in the Minivan of Destiny in the kiss and ride part of the parking lot of the Amtrak station. She didn't make me slip her the tongue, but she did give me a nice, warm, chatty ride to her house where GMan, Esmerelda, and the kids were waiting for us. As a matter of fact, GMan met me at the door with pizza and some Cabo Wabo tequila. Now, that's a man after my own heart.

While GMan got Princess Drama Queen and Boobah ready for their own trip up to visit GMan's sisters in New York, I got to chow down with Maven and Es. Now, I've known Maven for, oh probably five years - while Es is a new addition to my stable of friends. She's been friends with Maven forever, and I love reading her blog...she's really an excellent writer, not to mention the fact that she is EXACTLY in real life like I envisioned her from her blog. Funny, honest, smart, you insert an adjective and that's what you get. We had a lot of fun chatting. Her boys, A and D were also there and they were truly adorable and sweet.

Once GMan and the girls departed (although we found them still in the driveway 20 minutes later, not sure what that was all about), followed shortly by Esmerelda and her boys, Maven and I settled in to catch up. See, we met on a bulletin board on Baby Center called Working Moms - there was a group of about 60 of us that ended up splintering off into a private group that still exists today - although admittedly, it's not as active as it used to be since most of us are a lot more secure in our mothering skills than we were when the kids were infants! Anyhow, I met Maven in person at one of our reunions and we really clicked - we have a lot in common and we enjoy emailing and seeing each other when we can. I'm proud to call her my friend!

On Saturday, we both slept in, showered and ate some yummy scones, and then one of the other PIM's showed up - MPP's Mom. The three of us headed off to the mall where we indulged in some yummy food at Nordstrom, plundered our way through Sephora, and then zipped off to a spa where we got pedicures. The three of us laughed and talked the entire time - it's amazing to me to this day that the PIM's, who only see each other in person once a year, fall right into easy conversation every single time. I've met some of them from all different parts of the country, and it's always so much fun.

MPP's Mom left in the late afternoon, and Maven and I got dolled up and headed to a wonderful restaurant named Trapeze that had great martinis and even better filet mignon. Seriously, it was really delicious. Then we headed back to the house, changed into our sweats, and hunkered down to talk ourselves silly - I can't believe I wasn't hoarse by the end of the weekend.

Sunday morning we had a great brunch, ran to Costco so I could get some new reading material (I had obviously used all of mine on the train on Friday), and then it was time to go. The weekend went by way too fast, and we're talking about when we can get together next time...I know that Monkey Man was pissed that he didn't get to see Boobah and PDQ, so hopefully we can rectify that early next year!

Now, what I didn't get into was all the drama of Saturday. Joey had committed to taking customers to the Hokies game. Monkey Man was supposed to go to a slumber party that afternoon. So we had hired the reliable Miss Heather to come babysit him from 7:30 until noon, take him to Josh's house, and call it a day. Seems simple, right?

So I'm in the Minivan of Destiny with Maven and MPP's Mom when the phone starts ringing. First, it's Josh's mom - what can Monkey Man eat, any special sleeping routines, etc. etc. etc. We go over it in great detail and we hang up. Then my phone rings again - it's Miss Heather, and we have a problem. She has locked all of her stuff in our house by accident - including a bag with important medication in there. We don't have a key anywhere so I'm forced to call Cat Door to beg him to go by the house and let Miss Heather in. Meanwhile, Josh's dad calls and leaves a voice mail that he needs to talk to me as soon as possible. I call him - and it's the same damn questions I just discussed with the mom. Then I call Miss Heather and let her know that the house will be unlocked so that she can go by there...then Josh's dad calls me and asks if they were supposed to pay Miss Heather because she kept hanging around like she wanted something....ARGH. I was on the phone for like 25 minutes trying to get all the shit straightened out.

As it all turned out, the boys at the slumber party slept from 11 PM until 4 AM. Methinks that Josh's parents won't be having another slumber party anytime soon.

So that's my weekend. There will be a quiz tomorrow.

Thanks to Maven for a really wonderful weekend - you are a true hostess and a great friend! MPP's Mom, it was so nice to see you and get that hug you owed me from last February! And Es, I'm glad I finally got to put a person to put with the persona - thanks for taking the time to chow down with us!

*****

I am grateful for my PIM friends - you guys mean the world to me, and I'm so glad that I met such a great group of ladies!