this week's adventures in motherhood: vacation.

My husband (aka The Professor) is still on break in between his semesters -- which meant we got to eat out yesterday at our favorite brunch place. Dining at a restaurant on a Wednesday at noon feels like skipping school somehow -- which makes the food taste even better than usual.

We haven't been there since before L was born -- it was awesome to be back. L spent the whole time staring at the ceiling fans, the orange juice machine, and another baby two tables over. I don't know why we were so afraid to go out to eat with her! I guess it's a carry-over from her early days when breastfeeding was so new and scary and I didn't feel prepared to do it in public. Now that I feel confident about when she wants to eat (not to mention that I feel confident about using my trusty nursing cover!), it's just a matter of getting over the "we're bothering people" worries. Though our town isn't necessarily a mecca for foodies, we are lucky that most restaurants are very family friendly -- which means we can start getting back to our old routine of a fun dinner out once a week.

The weather has been totally ridiculous, in a good way. The sign outside the bank said 54 degrees when we were driving back from brunch, so after L's really short afternoon nap we headed outside for a hike along the river.

It felt like spring, which was intoxicating and bittersweet, because they're predicting a major dumping of snow this morning and then the winter doldrums will set in. But we've been so lucky to have such a gentle start to 2012 -- I'm feeling awfully grateful even as I watch the flurry of snowflakes starting to drift down outside my kitchen window.

My mother-in-law has been in town this week, and my mom comes this weekend: more gratitude for dishwashers, chefs, dusters, vacuumers, and babywatchers other than me. If you're trying to find me, I'm hiding somewhere with a mug of tea and a trashy magazine or two -- don't bother knocking.