Not THAT young, apparently

It is amazing the difference just a few years can make in your age. Last night I hosted a particularly successful dinner party as a good-bye to one of the Diplomat's colleagues who is leaving for Niger in a couple of weeks.
The party must have been good since the last guests left at 3 am. And this is where age hit me badly--at 1.30 am, I had to excuse myself from the chatty Fledgling Diplomats and hit the sack. I could barely keep my eyes open. Back in my student days, I would have been able to stay and drink all night. Maybe that was because I spent a considerable part of the afternoon making chicken biryani, or that I drank a considerable amount of white wine, followed by a martini. Who knows. But it was fabulous to have a dinner table full of very smart Fledgling Diplomats and have a particularly intellectual conversation about buying sundries overseas, shipping your car and the budget for representational dinners. I think the State Department will be very happy with me once we go to post as I intend to utilize that budget to the maximum.
This morning Son woke up at 7 (which was great because after the summer time change, he was waking up at 5.30am for a couple of mornings), and soon came to our bed to jump around in it and on top of us while the Diplomat and I laid there comatose and sleep deprived. While Fat Cat frowned upon this frivolous conduct, Son was quite happy and did not mind our relative unresponsiveness. This is good parenting, no?

This has been a pleasant and quite warm week, where I even managed to play some tennis. It would have been even better if Mr. No, aka Son, really stops the habit of saying NO to everything, or repeating what he wants 578932854 times, or waking up every morning requesting to watch Elmo immediately (something he has NEVER been allowed to do before), or simply tossing his milk/food/cup/plate/snack on the floor as a sign of protest (not clear to what). And the worst part is that I cannot keep a straight face to scold him since every time he has screwed up, he stands with a semi-scared expression on his face, not sure whether I will be mad or not. The expression is hilarious and often I burst into laughter, which I presume cannot be very educational?

The good news is that it is Veteran's Day and for the first time in his life, the Diplomat has the day off. Son has been chanting "outside" for a good 15 mins now, so I suppose we will have to brave the whole wild world out here in Arlington and go to the park.