The Gallery - Me

This is me.  The one on the right. Very small and behind the camera.

That's not supposed to say anything about my state of mind.  Just that Tara set us Me as the challenge for this week's gallery, and although I could have reposted the one of my tummy, or found one in which I look relatively presentable, or found a more representative one with babysick and unwashed hair, I've decided to go for this.

Because this was taken on a day, in a weekend, that was all about me.  Not L, A and S's mummy. Me.

For Christmas 2008 my Mum and Dad gave us a weekend away.  The intention was that they would have the girls and would contribute to a hotel so that we could have a weekend off.  Of course at Christmas 2008, S and A were 14 days old, so it was some while before a weekend away was a real practicality, but we started thinking about it the following October and I realised that what I really wanted to do was have a weekend at home, no children, to do the stuff that I like doing when I only have myself and B to think about.

So we did.  I took the Friday off work to do the laundry and clean and pack for the girls (so as not to have to do any of these things over the weekend) and my mum came and picked them up (she's an angel in human form, as I may previously have mentioned).

And on Saturday morning we woke up at 6.  And it was bliss.  Because we went "Oh, it's 6 o'clock", rolled over and went back to sleep... We woke up again, in our own bed, a bit later, and got up a bit later still (ahem).   It was a glorious day and we had no plans, no children and no responsibilities.

We had breakfast sitting outside in a cafe, with big cups of milky coffee and fresh croissants, then we went to the Anish Kapoor exhibition at the Royal Academy (which is really what the picture is of, of course).  We had lunch in the Japan Centre, followed by a wander around the antique print and bookshops on the Charing Cross Road. Then we came home again, had a little snooze (ahem) and went out for dinner and comedy...

And on Sunday we woke up at 6.  And it was still bliss.  And we went out for breakfast again.  And realised that what we really wanted to do on Sunday was see our babies.  So we got in the car and went and got them.

It was one of the best weekends ever.   It was just about us. Being adults and enjoying each other's company, the sunshine, some culture, some good food and wine.  And it reminded us that underneath the sometimes fraught and always tired parents, we, and I, still exist.

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There are, as ever, amazing pictures in The Gallery.  See them here.