A New Week Dawns

So there are just two new episodes of "The Sopranos" left. A Sunday night tradition ends on June 11. During the three months or so a year that "The Sopranos" was on, cooking up a big dinner and settling in for a good hour of television was the perfect way to end a weekend. No matter if your Saturday and Sunday were filled with errands, activities or general malaise, "The Sopranos" was always there for you at 9 pm.

I'm not going to draw a forced parallel between the finale of my favorite mob drama and the end of weekends like the one I just had. Unlike most of the past few weekends, and surely unlike most of the upcoming, the past two days had a errand/play balance that was quite relaxing and nearly 100% baby-free.

I don't want to sound selfish or cynical, but a good amount of free time has been spent on baby-related issues, particularly of late. But the past two days -- if you can look past my wife's waddling and my obsession with studying every stroller I pass -- were a weekend I haven't had in a while. And ya know what? It was pretty nice.

I know that the coming weeks will be hectic and the coming years more so. I'd like to think that I'm able to reflect on a semi-spontaneous weekend, one that saw my wife and I in two different places, 20 miles apart, for a few hours without coordinating who was going to be where and when. Today I spied a few couples, walking behind a stroller, laden with diaper bags and other accessories. I know that pretty soon - twelve weeks to be exact -- I will join their ranks.

In twelve weeks, leaving the house becomes a multi-step process; getting in a car comes with instructions. Twelve weeks from now, popping into a coffeeshop means having to find stroller parking and enough space to put a carrier. In twelve weeks, I'll no longer be travelling alone. And I eagerly await that. But this weekend, it was nice to be just a couple.