Then, last Friday, for my birthday, we dropped Jonny off at Grammy and Papa’s (where he would stay for the next 2 nights!) and went out with friends and family for a night out on the town. We first went to Buca di Beppo‘s downtown in Seattle for some good Italian family style eatery. Dinner was delish.

Then, Mama and I had planned on going Salsa dancing following dinner at Rock Salt, roughly a quarter mile away. But as it turns out, 10:00pm is WAY too late to be out dancing for us anymore…and it was raining when we exited the restaurant so that substantially diminished our itch to cut a rug because neither of us had bothered to wear a jacket.

So we ended up getting a hotel downtown and spent a quiet evening indoors on a Tempur-Pedic mattress, watching “The Express”.

Then, the following day, Mama and I got up and drove down to Westport, on the coast where Mama’s Aunt and Uncle generously donated a cabin for us to use walking distance from the beach. We did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING…and it was everything I thought it could be. We walked out on the beach, drove into town, bought all fresh seafood for cooking, came home, ate fresh salmon, clams and scallops, and watched TWO MOVIES!

Then, the next morning, we slept in, took our time packing up, ate leftovers with a cup of coffee, and enjoyed the remainder of the time we had out there. It is a really big deal to have that free time to yourself when you are a parent (and that is exactly what I wanted for my birthday). THANKS to Mom and Dad for watching him (and for dinner), and to Mama’s family for generously letting us use their cabin for the weekend.