Priceless

Flight from Kansas City to D.C. and back: 25,000 frequent flier miles
Cost to check one bag with U.S. Airways: $15
Cost for gas in Jen's Prius to drive from Reston, VA to Easton, MD and back: $26
Rack rate of hotel room on the club level of the Annapolis Sheraton: $325
Amount spent at Annapolis Sheraton: J's hotel points + $12 in tips
Quality time with friends: you know, priceless

I had a wonderful long weekend, visiting Jen and Deanna. Here are the highlights:

Thursday, August 21st: I flew into Regan National Airport, Jen picked me up and we went back to her house to put together Deanna's diaper cake for her baby shower. I love making them, so maybe I'll do a post about it later if anyone is interested in instructions. Then her hubby, John, came home from work and we went to the Melting Pot for dinner. It was actually not awkward being a third wheel, because I enjoyed sharing a bottle of wine with John since Jen is PG and not drinking. It was sad not to see Eric because his grandpa had come to pick him up that afternoon and take him back to Crozet for the weekend.

Friday, August 22nd: Jen woke me up by sitting on the side of the bed and crying like a newborn baby. :) We packed up and drove to Annapolis, where we checked into the Sheraton, walked across the street to the mall, saw Tropic Thunder (in which Tom Cruise is hilarious) and I introduced Jen to The Children's Place and Lush. Then we took the hotel shuttle downtown, walked around the harbor and ate dinner at Aqua Terra, which was delicious.

Saturday, August 23rd: We woke up, did our hair and makeup, put on flowery dresses and felt like we were about to attend a wedding! We drove over the bay bridge (beautiful!) to the eastern shore of Maryland and to Deanna's baby shower. It was, without a doubt, the most lovely baby shower I've ever attended. It was at a country club, mimosas were served (first time I've seen that at a baby shower, and I loved it) and the brunch and desserts were fabulously yummy. Even better, Deanna's friends are all wonderful people and it was fun to chat with them and celebrate Snippet's impending arrival. Being there, you could feel how happy everyone was for Deanna and her husband, and how loved Snippet will be. After the shower, Deanna and her husband went home and Jen and I went to the local outlet mall, where I spent money on clothes that Clio doesn't need (but the Baby Gap onesie was only $2.99!) and Jen spend a couple of hours on her cell phone, calling in her draft choices for a fantasy football league. Please imagine, if you will, a 2-months pregnant woman in a flowery dress, sitting on the carpeted floor of a Carter's outlet store with her fantasy football magazine and a notepad in front of her, speaking intensely (and sometimes colorfully) on her cell as her husband participates in a live drafting event at a friend's house on the other end of the line. Hilarious. After the draft was (mostly) over and I was done shopping, we drove back to Deanna's house, where Jen finished her draft and I got to see Snippet's nursery. Deanna's house is adorable and the nursery is beautiful. They still have work to do with carpeting and decorating the walls, but when it is done, the nursery is going to be like the rest of the house: cozy and inviting. Then Jen, Deanna, a friend of Deanna's and I all went out to dinner at Out of the Fire, where I had a scrumptious crab cake. I like to take advantage of seafood when I'm on a coast, since fish in the Midwest can be a little questionable sometimes. It was so sad to say goodbye to Deanna after dinner, because soon both of us will be moms and it won't be as easy to see her every summer like we have for the past 4 years. I *hear* that traveling with babies can be a tad stressful. I'm determined, however, that at some point we'll introduce Clio and Snippet and celebrate overcoming both of our infertility!

Sunday, August 24th: Jen and I woke up, ate breakfast at the Sheraton and drove to Crozet, to her parents' house. I got to see Eric for the first time since he was 2 months old. He's now almost 8 months and absolutely adorable. Babies at that age are so much fun because they are easy to please; all I had to do was kiss his cheeks, sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to him or even just smile at him and he would reward me with a big, genuine grin. True, he is a bit fussy right now because his top two teeth are coming in, but he is a "good" baby; Jen and John are blessed. We ate the famous Crozet Pizza and watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. Is it just me, or did they seem especially bizarre to anyone else? Especially the memory tower and the London 2012 bit. I got a bit weepy thinking that the next time I watch the summer Olympics, Clio will be almost 4 years old and might ask me for gymnastics lessons.

Monday, August 25th: We drove back to Reston with Eric and did some shopping. My favorite moment of the day was holding Eric in his diaper as Jen prepared his bathwater and sang to him "It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes, if you want to take a bath, you gotta take your clothes off" to the tune of Nelly's "Hot in Herre." Jen was funny, but Eric was even more hilarious, giggling and squirming in my arms. It is precious to see how much he loves his mommy singing to him, even if it is a hip-hop song with rated R lyrics. ***ETA: Jen did not sing any colorful lyrics, of course!*** :)

Tuesday, August 26th: I went house-hunting with Jen, Eric and a realtor, since Jen and John need a bigger place with a second baby on the way. This experience made me grateful for the reasonable real estate prices in the Kansas City area and reconfirmed that J and I have made the right decision by staying in K.C. and not looking for a job for J in D.C. J's boss is in D.C., he travels there all the time, we love Virginia and we have friends and family there, but it is just not worth the financial pitfalls of living in NoVA. We are definitely staying here as long as possible, but we want to retire in Virginia eventually. Then John came home early from work to stay home with Eric and Jen drove me to the airport, where *I* ate sushi (*and she, being preggo, ate dumplings*) before I went through security. It was hard to say goodbye to her, because we don't have firm plans for "next time" and she might be a mom of two the next time I see her. Long distance friendships are hard enough, but long distance friendships between mothers of newborns are...I can't find the words to describe how hard it will be to have intelligent phone conversations when we're both busy and exhausted. I'm thinking we'll be doing a lot of e-mailing?

I'm grateful that I had a chance to spend a long weekend with good friends. Friendships like the ones I have with Deanna and Jen are nourishing to the spirit. The love I received and gave on this trip will sustain me through these next few weeks of waiting for Clio.