Today started in a bittersweet sort of way - I took Sonia, Claire and Tessa to the airport for their trip home. Sonia has been here since last Thursday, and we've spent several hours together most of the past several days. There are few people in the world with whom I can fall into an effortless comfortable relationship, and Sonia is truly a friend of my heart. I was so glad to be the person to drive her and her girls to the airport, since it gave me some additional time with her, and some quality conversational time at that. But I was so sad that they were leaving; I haven't had NEARLY enough catch-up time. For whatever reason, being with Sonia lets me drop all of the external responsibilities and roles that I've taken on as an adult here in my community, and allows me to be my most true self. It's been so reassuring and fulfilling to get back to what's most essential.
At any rate, after I pulled over in the parking lot and had a little cry, Lauren and I headed into Wichita proper to explore a little. We started with Hatman Jack's, as a surprise to Lauren. She's been dreaming of a "real" cowgirl hat for almost a year, and what better place to find one than Hatman Jack's? We tried on dozens of hats - fascinators, cowgirl hats, bowlers, derbies, top hats... Lauren's favorite was a steampunk-themed leather top hat with a big metal gear on the front.
After that, we went down the block to Twist, a yarn & knitting store. The proprietor was fantastic and spent quite a lot of time helping Lauren, talking to her about knitting for beginners, recommending websites and other resources, and helping her choose some new yarn. (Tonight, Lauren finished her first knitting project - an afghan for the dollhouse!)
After that, we went to the Old Tasty Mill for lunch. It's in Old Town on Douglas, and is worth the wait in line! Lauren had a cheese quesadilla and I had pork verde monterrey - it was amazing!
After eating, we headed to Hannah Bananas to look for some new school clothes. Jill and the kiddos came to meet us there, and we found a few cute things! I love, love, love my adorable nieces and nephew!
We then went to The Donut Whole, and that might be a transformative experience for me - they are a tiny, quirky shop that has about 30 or more different flavors of donuts each day. They are well known for their maple bacon donuts, but they were out by the time we got there. There were 6 of us, and we got 12 donuts and shared bites - my favorites were Caramel Sea Salt, Citrus Cherry, and Double Cinnamon. We stayed and taught the kids to play pinball and enjoyed the atmosphere, until the littlest one frustrated herself playing games and the crying began. :)
Lauren and I headed to one last destination - Trends, a consignment store that specializes in teen clothing. That was a fun find for us, and we stayed until they closed - we'll be going back!
We are relaxing now, eating some cheese & crackers instead of "real dinner", since I'm still full of donuts, and watching the Olympics.
I feel so blessed that my life includes my amazing daughter, who I LOVE spending time with and who still likes to spend time with me, my sister & nieces & nephew that I can't wait to see again, a best friend who truly brings out the best in me and who helps me remember the blessing of opening your heart to another person, and a husband that I can't wait to come home to each day.
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