Weekend in a Nutshell

On Friday my children were scheduled to head off with their dad at 6pm.

Sharp.

I was beside myself with joy.

If I were a better mother, I would fret about the fact that they wouldn't see a bar of soap or a tube of toothpaste all weekend. But alas, my selfish desire to spend some quality time in my own tub with some bubbles, a good bottle of merlot and Dallas, a good book superseded any maternal instincts I might have possessed.

Notice that I said "was" in reference to the whole bliss thing. Well, at about 2:30 Friday morning, Dallas rolled over for a little spoonie and it felt like I had lain down on sticky black asphalt in the dead of summer. He was on fire. Then, he started talking but he wasn't making much sense. I didn't need a thermometer to diagnose the fever but I stuck it in his ear anyway to give me a guide as to how much I needed to panic. It was 101.4, which is pretty high in a guy whose resting temperature is somewhere between 97 and 97.4.

So, he was in the doctor's office before 9am where they took his blood pressure, a hundred bucks and sent him on his feverish way. Turns out his elevated temperature was caused by a nasty tooth infection, the pain of which became excruciating right after 5pm when most dentists close their doors. Friday was a rough one for Dallas. Saturday, we went back to the clinic, got an antibiotic script and by Sunday morning, he was feeling loads better.

Sunday afternoon, the sun came out and the temperature rose to over 60 degrees. There's only one thing to do with weather like that: RIDE.

It was incredible. I have missed my big bike. The roads were full of other riders and for a moment, I could have fooled myself into believing that spring was near. But the weather report predicts that our mild temperatures are coming to an end. No matter, though. At least we had Sunday.

Tonight, we are attending a school event for Dallas's son. It will be the first time that his ex wife and I have met face to face. I wouldn't say that I am worried but I'm something. Anxious? Nervous? Hyperventilating?

And what is considered appropriate affection between the two of us in front of her? Is hand holding insensitive? I have a feeling that we'll be doing the grade 7 dance thing and standing at least two feet apart at all times. No touching. Instead, we can smile at each other and give the thumbs up. I'm making light but the truth is that this meeting is important. I want it to go well because it would be so much easier on all of us if it did. There has been a tangible bit of tension with his ex since Dallas and I became serious about the course of our relationship and I look forward to the day when that is behind us. Divorce is never pleasant but it can be especially painful when love still exists because sometimes the rules get bent and the lines get blurred. Expectations are continuously redefined until inevitably, someone draws a line in the sand. Only then, can the wounds heal. I hope that tonight works more like a Band Aid and less like a handful of salt.