Today was the first day in over 5 and 1/2 months that I spent the entire day by myself! I love being home with Maya, but everyone needs a day every once in awhile to relax, regroup, and reenergize. Will had arranged a "date" for me with some girls that he works with in Muskegon. He was off work, and he planned on taking care of Maya all day! He was very excited to get her to himself for the day... some Daddy-Maya quality time! It would be interesting, I was sure of that.
I met up with the girls in Grand Haven at 6am (yuck), and we drove to Michigan City to catch a train into Chicago. I had a chance to get to know the girls while traveling to the city. Mel is a unit secretary and student, and she has a 4 year old girl, Stephanie. Jen is a nurse and has an almost 8 month old girl, Isabella. And Carolyn is a respiratory therapist with a preteen granddaughter, who she loves to spoil! They all thought I was very brave to go on a trip with 3 people I had never met before. I just told them, well, I figure that we'd be in Chicago, and if we didn't get along, I was still in Chicago! I could find plenty of things to do by myself in the Windy City. But, we got along just fine. I knew we would. I didn't think Will would set me up with a bunch of ya-hoos to hang out with for an entire day! I was right. He knew I'd like them, and I did!
When we arrived in Chicago, we hit Michigan Ave. for some speed shopping. I got Maya a really cute outfit at Gap and some other clothes at H&M. She made out like a bandit. She always does. We ate lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen. I had Thai chicken pizza, which wasn't near as good as my homemade Thai chicken pizza, not even close! Will called me during lunch to let me know that all was well at home. Maya and him were doing great since he got the bottle situation taken care of. Uh, bottle situation? Yeah. Apparently, Maya wouldn't take the ONLY bottle she has EVER had in her life! Will said he was freaking out until he scrounged around our cabinet and found another type. Thankfully, she took that bottle without protest! Problem solved!
After lunch, we cabbed it to the Ford Theater, where we watched the Broadway production of Wicked. It was freakin' awesome! I loved every second of it. I had never been to a musical before today, and now I want to see them all! It was the most fabulous performance. The actors were amazing. They had beautiful voices, and they were so good at being the character, not just acting like them. The music was so good that I kept forgetting that it was live! The timing couldn't have been more right on. The story was great, too. I had read about 1/2 of the book a few summers ago, and I quit reading it because it was too bizarre. I didn't know how the musical would compare, but it far exceeded my expectations! I LOVED IT!! After the performance (and purchasing a souvenir sweatshirt), we walked back to the train station to start our trek back home. We were beat. All that walking and shopping had worn us out! When we got to the train station, I made a mad dash for the bathrooms. I thought my boobs were going to explode! Thank goodness I had brought my pump! They started hurting during lunch, but we were too rushed for me to pump before the musical. I couldn't wait to relieve some of the pressure! I had never been gone from Maya for an entire day, and I never thought I would become so engorged! Anyway, I was relieved to finally pump, and I felt a ton better afterward! I met the girls back at Cinnabon, where we enjoyed a quick snack. When we boarded the train, we grabbed 4 seats that faced each other and chatted the whole way back to Michigan City. The car ride home was long... we were tired and wanted to be home in our beds! I finally made it home around 12am, and I couldn't wait to go to sleep!
Will reported that Maya and him got along very well. He enjoyed his time with her very much. They even ventured out of the house and took a trip to the bowling alley! Will wanted to show her off to the people in our bowling league, and they were very happy to see her. I guess she was passed around from person to person like a little hot potato! He fed her cereal for breakfast and again before bed. He had to change her clothes a couple of times (because of a cereal incident), and he changed her diaper! Uh, more than once, I'm assuming!
We all survived the experience, and I'm sure we're all better for it. I may even have to make this a once-per-month event! Well, not necessarily going to Chicago, but going somewhere. The Chicago girls and I did discuss going back sometime in the spring, possibly for another show. We're planning on staying the night......
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