Working Moms Lunch

Today, I attended the first NPN event I'd been to since before my fleeting membership expired in 2004. This time, it was a lunch for the Working Mothers Group. Embracing my new status as a working mom, and after a long time spent with the enemy in the mommy wars, I was eager to meet those women of which I had heretofore only caught passing glimpses during school events or rushing for the morning train.

Unfortunately, I didn't get much out of it. I know that networking is a process, and a reciprocal one at that. It was only my first event; I am not ready to throw in the towel just yet. But at a table full of mothers of infants, I really did not have much in common with anyone. I deliberately skipped the nursing-sleep-deprived-new-mother stage of working; except for a few months when The Boy was wee, I was at home to nurse my babies and nurture their babyhood. I have three children, the oldest of whom is already in elementary school, so I'm also largely past the school-tours-and-application-frenzy stage (not to mention past the juggling a toddler and infant stage). And I was also the only mother there who recently returned to full-time work after a long period of setting my own schedule.

I did get to have a yummy Corner Bakery lunch and spent 40 minutes listening and talking to other mothers, and I rode in a cab (twice) for the first time in recent memory, so it wasn't a total loss. I'll continue to watch the WMG events list in the coming months, but I may have to form my own working mothers lunch group.

My Eyes! My Eyes!

That's what The Girl was saying after Dr. Zaparackis, our pediatric ophthalmologist, put the eye dilation drops in and the irises of her eyes started to expand. Two weeks ago, when The Boy went to see the well-known Dr. Z (I ran into Christina from Tippy Toes on her way out of the office as we were entering), he put up a fight to get the drops in his eyes, but wasn't as bothered by the actual dilation. The Girl was pretty OK with the drops going in, but did not like the dilation itself and complained heartily that she could not see very well. I don't blame her. As a 33+ year eyeglasses-wearer, I've had my eyes dilated more times than I can count and the vision disturbance bothers me a lot. Fortunately, both The Girl's and The Tot's vision were pronounced fine. As was The Boy's a couple of weeks ago.

Once the dilation and exam were completed, we went across the street to have lunch at Corner Bakery. I have to thank Becky for the tip that 3 people can share a single order of Pesto Cavatappi, which is what we did, and have lunch for under $13.

Milwaukee

I didn't go to Milwaukee today. But my brother and sister-in-law did. As The Baby, The Boy, The Girl, and I were circling O'Hare Terminal 3 Arrivals waiting for Uncle Chris and Aunt J. to meet us after their flight from Seattle, they were, in fact, diverted to Milwaukee. And there was much crying (except from The Baby, who was asleep).

So we changed the plan, and went to get lunch. I got horribly lost trying to find Canfield Road from Cumberland, and by the time I realized my error, The Baby was awake and the four of us were grumpy from hunger. We stopped at the Corner Bakery on Touhy for some salad (me), pasta (The Boy), and a ham sandwich (The Girl). The Baby shared everything. Spirits improved immensely. The Boy told The Girl that she was a germ, and that he was a white (blood) cell, gave her a hug, and told her that he was attacking her. Maybe I should rename them The Germ and The Cell?

At the end of the meal, Uncle Chris called to say that his flight had landed in Chicago. And there was much rejoicing! So we skedaddled back to O'Hare and fetched them. We played around in the yard and the house, and then the neighbors came over and there was a mass of little kids running around this side of the block. That was fun!

We took Uncle Chris and Aunt J. to dinner at Curio Cafe. It was our first time there for dinner, and it was really good. Operating on the theory that it's better to do a few things extremely well than a bunch poorly, the dinner menu is extremely limited -- they offer a steak, a chicken, and a shrimp dish, plus the lunch items from their children's menu. The Dad, Uncle Chris, and Aunt J. ordered the steak, served with fresh guacamole and a mound of perfectly molded rice; I had the chicken, served with fresh sauteed carrots (and peas -- my only complaint about Curio is that they use canned peas instead of fresh or frozen) and a huge, steaming baked potato (which I gave to The Baby). Everything came with a side salad or soup of the day; I had the salad, which was served with a lovely cilantro dressing reminiscent of Indian cilantro chutney. Uncle Chris got the soup of the day, which was cream of asparagus and he reported that it was very light and creamy. They are BYOB, and they do not charge a corkage fee, so we split a bottle of white with dinner.