Last week I did something unusual: I went out. At night. Without the kids.
I was invited to the Bloggin Mamas “coming out” celebration hosted at Hialeah Park. As a member and big believer in the organization, I was excited to go. The “Pink and White Havana Night” was held in one of the gorgeous rooms in the historic clubhouse (a National Historic Landmark) not too far from the flock of the racetrack’s famous flamingos.
The evening was full of (adult!) conversation, networking and general schmoozing with other bloggers, PR people and local small business owners. The night was certainly a nice break from my usual routine of screaming, dinner making, dinner eating, whining, bedtime drama and lounging on the couch!
But actually getting OUT of the house was quite a challenge, as it always is! Hubby worked from home in the afternoon so we had a large afternoon snack before I headed off to get ready. And, as usual, I didn’t leave nearly enough time to get everything done.
I had planned to drive the 45+ minutes during rush hour with a fellow local blogger who lives close to me so was extra rushed to get ready as to not make her wait for me and us both late.
30 minutes until I needed to leave: The girls always get excited to see me all dressed up so I invited them to help me pick out my pink and white ensemble. The secondary theme focused around the racetrack’s historic heyday in the 40s and 50s so I attempted an appropriate hairdo which caused more trouble than it was worth (the hair is what always hangs me up!) but I ended up with an ok ‘do.
15 minutes until I needed to leave: makeup, which I hardly ever wear anymore and always results in gaping mouths and “you’re so pretty!” From my girls. I asked to girls to try to find me some pink or white jewelry. Big mistake! They went through everything and found nothing but did a great job of mixing everything up and pulling out stuff I didn’t need.
10 minutes until I needed to leave: I pick out jewelry and have everything set out on the bed, ready to put. Doodle needed to nurse before i left since He would be in bed before I arrived home (he was fine with pumped milk, but I didn’t want to be overly engorged by morning!). While I nursed him, I let my fellow blogger know I was going to be late.
Time to leave: I put on my clothes, jewelry, shoes. And it hits me, I can’t take my falling apart everyday purse! I pull out a handbag that was my Nana’s and proceed to try to stuff all my necessities inside (wallet, lipstick, bandaids, two phones…)
5 minutes after I need to leave: I make the rounds, saying good-byes and giving kisses. Doodle grabs his shoes and proceeds to tell everyone bye-bye and I tell him Mommy is going bye-bye and Doodle is staying with daddy. Chaos ensues with screaming and shoe throwing.
10 minutes after I needed to leave: I’m sitting in the garage pulling up my fellow blogger’s address before pulling out of the garage while Doodle screams and my GPS boots up.
Not too shabby for a night out without the kids, I’ve been much later to much more important things in my mommy life!
