bunco babes and babysitters

Last night I went to my second bunco gathering since moving here. Lots of fun and I love it! I consider it one of the constant comforts of military living as it seems that every place we have moved in the last 6 years I have been fortunate to play bunco with a great group of ladies. In case you've never played, let me tell you it's not about the game (which is great fun on it's own), but about the getting together with fun, diverse women who always bring great food, drinks, and conversation! One of the big (OK, maybe only) things I missed when I left the army was the comraderie or instant bond of people in the same situation and place and I guess I've found much of that same feeling with each bunco group I've been a part of. I don't make friends that easily (see previous post about talking to strangers) so it's easier for me to walk into a group of women who I know want to get together and just have some fun and get to know other ladies. Another great thing is all the connections you rediscover. So many ladies last night had seen or known each other from past assignments or friends of friends or people we know in common. It just makes our community feel so much smaller and not so lonely! Kind of like a huge extended family of cousins you haven't heard from in a while...

So, with J gone I needed to get a babysitter for last night. This is her second time watching the kids and they wanted to make sure they had some fun with her and not just clean their rooms, watch a movie and go to bed (mother's dream, right?). After the first time she was here, J was a bit concerned (he's more paranoid and tends to read people better than I) because BB and BG didn't have a super great time and he thought she might be a bit too controlling with the kids. But, after last night they were asking when she could come back! They were all asleep when I got home, she said everything went well but she couldn't find her keys and her friend had brought her spares. She was very nice about it, since I knew right away one of the little stinkers had taken them and I thought it showed great restraint on her part to not wake them up and ask where they had put her keys! After checking the garbage can (LB likes to throw things away!), I asked BB and BG this morning if they knew where her keys were and right away BB got the 'busted' look and went and got them from his hiding spot. Little clown boy was trying to 'play' with the babysitter and then forgot about the keys when she didn't notice them missing right away... We've been reluctant to leave all 4 kids with a babysitter in the past, (they're just not the same as mommy & daddy(or wonderful friend Victoria!) so I'm hopeful that this babysitter will continue to work out.