Night out on the town

The scene: Sanafir restaurant on Granville Street...trendy crowd of Vancouver sophisticates.

The cast: Eight girls (and me) from high school

Sore thumb: Me. Wearing brown cords and a puffy vest. The hostess, while leading me past countless beautiful people clad in dry-clean only clothes (not a single one with spit-up stains), managed to say this with a straight face: "May I check your VEST this evening?" I refused, simply because I was unable to picture my puffy vest flanked by Chanel and...oh my god, I can't even think of another fancy label. That's how sad I am.

Having said that, the mild embarrassment of wearing an Eddie Bauer sweater to an urban hotspot was more than worth it for the company of eight interesting women. Plus, the food, which comes in trios based on meat, was very good. The only obstacle was nine women trying to be polite as they split tiny bowls of food into equal portions. It isn't easy to divide a prawn nine ways. But hey, the breastfeeding mother (i.e. me) was not afraid to snag the last tidbit of braised savoy cabbage or breaded fatoush. Ain't too proud to beg.

The trip to Ontario was great. Lucas was a terrific travel companion to my mum and me. We had a really nice time celebrating my grandmother's 90th birthday at my aunt and uncle's house in Picton. It was great to see family and see how the next generation is growing. Plus, there is no more lovely place to spend a spring weekend than Aunt Mary's house. It was a blissful interlude.

I also have to say that all mothers of new-ish babies that are second or third children should take them away by themselves for a short trip. I really missed the girls, but it was a rare treat to have Lukey alone for while. We were able to get acquainted on a slightly different level than is permitted by routine life. And the good news is...I like him even more.

Almost a whole week away from the girls was a tiny bit hard. I was definitely ready to see them again. I was missing little arms around my neck. The honeymoon period was brief, though...oh so brief. I went to surprise them at the swimming pool. When I got there, I could hear them in the changeroom. I started to knock on the door, which terrified Finny that a stranger was trying to break in. She started to bawl. By the time she figured out it was me, there wasn't so much joy that I had returned as relief that I wasn't a hairy, ravenous beast pounding on the door. Eric told me that it was the most annoying homecoming ever.

Awesome.