3 Hours Was All I Wanted to Waste

This weekend was epic.

After much anticipation, a group of adoptive mama blog friends converged in my hometown to spend some time together. Most of these women I had met in the flesh before, but some I had not, including two from across the country. However, I feel like I already know these ladies so well, so it was easy to fall into a natural rhythm.

I was trying to think of the best way to capture this weekend here. I could give a play by play or perhaps hit some highlights, including getting upgraded to a fancier lake view suite, watching our soon-to-be-holding-their-baby mamas open the small, but much planned out shower gifts, "closing down" a fancy restaurant, staying up chatting to a hour where we couldn't be sure if that was just fog or daylight breaking over the lake (functioning all day on 3 hours of sleep was like modeling the future that awaits my waiting friends), attempting and conquering a dreaded "free day" at our aquarium with 6 little boys, or the fact that my husband, who is generally salty about these sorts of things, told me very genuinely that he was happy I had such a fantastic time.

But overall, I guess I'm just left with this sense of peace and excitement from this weekend. As an adult, it is not easy to make new friends, especially friends that fit both your individual personality and your family life. Being surrounded by these women who could identify with me on so many levels (new mama, adoptive mama, wife, shoe-focused woman, and some with infertility) made me feel so peaceful. To have a group of women I can turn to that "get" me on so many levels is very exciting and refreshing. I look forward to the future and to seeing these women and their families again and again. Many of them are eventually going to continue to grow their families, so we've got even more awesomeness to look forward to.

And ultimately, it's so important for me to take the time to still be "me" sometimes. Not the on duty wife of Appa and the mother of Little Bug, but to be able to focus on enjoying time as a woman. It allows me to return to my boys happy, refreshed, refocused, and more grateful than ever.

That = awesome.