I cannot decide if the party was more special to me or if my "girls day out" meant more...

Today, B's mother came over to join us for some escapism. A while ago, she sent me a card to let me know that I was welcome to call her "Mom" if I would like since my own mother is not much on mothering. I bawled over the card, yet have struggled to accept her gift in total. Thus far, I've managed Mom Boyles. Last night, I tagged her with a new nickname "Arnie 2," based on her maiden name and birth order. Her sister, now "Arnie 1," was playing Dominoes with us when I hit upon the names.

Anyhow, today we took ourselves out to lunch at Applebee's, where we ordered nearly half the menu. The whole table was just filled with food, and we managed to clear away most of it. We then did a bit of window shopping and judicious purchasing, before finishing up our outing by having pedicures.

My own mother never would have pigged out or tried on silly hats. She would not have picked over keychains or dug through discount movies. She never just hangs out. Each moment has to be scheduled and purposed and filled with "acceptable" behavior and a good bit of criticism.

I savored every minute of today for it was filled with peace and love and restful moments.