We've been working on some things

train kept a rolling, originally uploaded by toyfoto.

Oh sure. I had grand plans for the weekend. With our free Saturday we were going to go skiing or sledding or just somewhere outside.

When I got up at 7 a.m. and realized the wind was blowing, the temperatures were frigid and my husband was pretending not to hear me calling his name above the din of his snoring, I decided if anyone was going out it was going to be me.

As soon as he dragged himself out of bed and started to make pancakes, I told him unequivically, I was going out and I was GOING out to do some banking, shopping and lollygaging at the coffee shop.

Because he is a good man, and wined and dined a client without me the night before he did not protest. All he asked was that I "top off" the boy before I made my escape.

Oh, to be a suburbanite with Cabin Fever. (You can stop reading now, I know this is going to be as dry as the desert ...)

After I fueled up the car (without having to play peek-a-boo through the tinted window or endured the heart wrenching cries of a girl who just wants to help pump the gas, I decided to waste some of the petrified dinosaur juice on a trip to my bank's newest branch (approximately 12 miles from the nearest branch).

Ohmygawd. ... I think a little spittle escaped the left corner of my mouth as I stood in the vestibule of the banking establishment and tried to remember what I was supposed to be doing.

Smack-dab in the middle of the room were four computers (presumably hooked up to the internets) a huge flatscreen TV, some comfee leather chairs, a bookcase filled with reading material and



THIS.

I didn't want to look. I didn't want to believe.

That I could cash my checks, update my accounts AND get a cup of mochachino for FREE.

When I finally got home - after buying diapers and things we don't need at Target - I found that my children were enjoying their morning without the mom, too. ...

Silas was working on his mobility (as evidenced by the above photograph). He's currently bouncing his little being forward and backward and almost ready to take off.

And Annabel was working on buttoning her new sweater, a gift from a friend.

Maybe next week we'll go to the slopes.

And maybe we'll invite our NEW FRIENDS.

Because I think they like us. I mean really like us.

** And I saw purple snowshoes under a bench in their mudroom.