We started by anticipating the pleasure for several months
leading up to her visit. Anticipation is a great simple pleasure, don’t you
think? After we made airline reservations, I started making lists of things I
wanted to do while she was here. Mostly what we wanted to do was talk and be
together, so we didn’t plan activities for every day. We spontaneously chose to
do what we felt like doing, whether that was taking a swim in the pool,
shopping, or going out to lunch. I put aside my usual chores and activities so
that I could sit and talk. And watch movies in the afternoon—decadence!
Some
other highlights:
We had a family gathering so she could reconnect with my
husband’s family who live locally. We used this get-together to celebrate two
milestone birthdays: my son’s 21st and my father-in-law’s 80th.
They share the same birthday!
We headed over to St. Petersburg for a Tampa Bay Rays
baseball game. My mom loves to go as much as I do, and Nick joined us. The Rays
have been having an up and down season, but they won the day we went—go Rays!
(Maybe we should go more often?)
Entrance to Tropicana Field |
Nathan Karns pitching |
We all went to Cinebistro for dinner and a movie on my son’s
actual 21st birthday (Cinebistro is a 21-and-older establishment),
one of our favorite outings. (We saw The Man From U.N.C.L.E.—a fun movie we all
enjoyed.)
Now Mom is safely home, and I will be playing catch up on
household chores and writing tasks. I feel refreshed from slowing down and
enjoying the moments we spent together. It’s September, so I’ll be thinking
about how this year has gone, and what I still would like to accomplish in
2015. (After all, September is the New January.) And trying not to think about how long it will be before I see my
mom again.
Mom getting ready to go home. Isn't she cute? |