So one of the perks - the BIGGEST perk - of living in Portland now is the close proximity to babysitters. Specifically, I mean my sister B and my mom. I'd include my sister A in this category, but she was Belly and The Bug's nanny from when they were 3-months-old to 8-months-old and she's fairly over it. Don't get me wrong - she loves to play with them but she's not so into the whole free babysitting thing. Anyway, Dude and I have been out alone THREE WHOLE TIMES already. That's about two times more than we'd been out since the girls were born.

This dating thing is going to take some getting used to, though. We're still not convinced that the girls will go to bed for anyone but us, so we've been getting them to sleep before we go out (leaving our babysitters with nothing to do but watch tv and fall asleep on the couch). And then when we're out, we talk about the girls. We went to a concert last week and we actually spent the time between the opener and the headliner looking at pictures of Belly and The Bug first on my phone and then on Dude's. How lame is that?

Last night we did a little better. We went to my favorite wine bar in the whole world - Noble Rot. They have excellent wine and delicious, delicious food. We had a great time and kept our conversations about the girls to a minimum. I didn't even call home to check in. Now THAT'S progress. Of course, it might've been because I was getting a little schnockered (I can use that word - I'm from Wisconsin) and was slightly out of focus. In any case, last night actually felt like a pre-kid date. SO FUN!! Dude has already informed me, though, that next date will be my turn to be the designated driver. I suppose that's fair, but I still feel like I need to make up for all the time I couldn't drink during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

In addition to going out with Dude, I'm hoping to go out with some of the women that I kinda know here soon. I really miss having good girlfriends around. That was my largest complaint about living in DC. I had a couple friends, but only one that I really count as a GOOD girlfriend - and she and I grew close pretty much after we'd decided we were moving away. In an interesting parallel, my older sister E moved to Nashville shortly after I moved to DC. She was lonely for her girlfriends, too, and was having a hard time meeting new ones. We'd constantly commiserate on the phone with each other. Well, several years later, she's gotten over that hump and now has a best bud there. I'm so jealous! She tells me about stuff they do together and I feel positively green. For instance - they're starting a monthly supper club with three other couples. Um, hello!! I want to play, too! I'm really happy for E, but I still feel jealous (and maybe slightly desperate).

The problem I have is meeting women who are in similar circumstances but also have similar interests. You know - mothers of young children who are interested in drinking wine and eating good food and are funny, creative people. I was a member of our neighborhood's parents listserv in DC and I went to a "mom's night out" event one time. All of the other moms just wanted to talk kid stuff and didn't seem to have any outside interests. "How old were your daughters when you first gave them solids? What kind of diapers do you use? Do your kids walk yet?" Blah blah blah. I was so effing bored. I was about to go but made a point to thank the organizer before I left. She and I started chatting and she was actually kinda cool - and on her third glass of wine. We exchanged email addresses and swore that we'd get together with our kids soon. I emailed her and she never wrote back. I emailed her again and nothing. I can't even begin to tell you how typical that is of my experiences in DC. I have higher hopes for Portland just because I think it's less of a tight-ass city. We'll see.

In the meantime, I'll just keep dating Dude. He's funny and fun. He likes to drink and eat good food. And he'll grind the coffee beans for the morning before tucking me into bed. Now THAT'S a good friend (and husband).