The Hangover

I wonder what kind of traffic that title will bring to the blog.

I apologize for my recent absence, I was detained against my will. Well, okay, not for the entire three weeks, but I’ve spent the past two recovering from the excitement of the first week.

I turned 40 a couple of weeks ago, and certain members of my family took it upon themselves to shake me out of my comfortable, predictable life and live it up a bit (I think I’ve mentioned that I’m a major creature of habit, and generally go to great lengths to avoid varying my routine). So when my mother suggested several months ago that I renew my passport so that we could partake in a little cross-border shopping, I thought “Sounds a little crazy, but why not?”.

When she picked me up on day one of our trip and we started driving across the city toward the border, I was ready for the adventure that lay ahead of us. Even when she said that we had to make a quick stop at the airport to “drop off something” that had been “left behind” by one of their B&B guests, I was still wondering what kind of trouble we were going to get up to in Seattle. So when my step-dad suddenly appeared out of nowhere (to pick up the car, it turns out), and my mom blindsided me with the news that we were in fact going to Las Vegas instead of Washington State, I couldn’t have been more surprised (or panicked). Las Vegas wasn’t exactly on the top of my list of places to visit, but it was fun to do something so removed from my usual life, and spending that much time hanging out with my mom, sister-in-law, and her sister (who also just turned 40, and was equally surprised to be going to Vegas) was a real treat. Thankfully, my husband managed to slip a pair of sandals into my bag without me noticing, as I had dressed (and packed) for drizzly west coast weather. Arriving to 80 degree temperatures wearing my usual wool socks and Blunnies was a bit of a shock to the system.

Contrary to what the title of this post would lead you to believe, I did not spend the entire two days in an alcohol-induced haze gambling away my life savings. We did pack as many activities into our time there as we could, but unfortunately didn’t have enough time to head out into the desert, which was a little disappointing; I can’t imagine a landscape more different than the one I’m used to. The highlight of the trip was taking in a Cirque du Soleil show (Mystere). We’ve seen a few of their shows on t.v. and absolutely love them, but I’d never actually seen one in person. Needless to say, it was amazing (as well as hilariously funny).

I’m not much of a shopper, but we did some of that as well. My lovely friend insisted that I should share my big purchase with you here, although I suspect she’s probably just making fun of me. Surrounded by the most glamorous of shops filled with clothing, jewelry, and baubles of every description, I came home with a…(wait for it)…

…egg holder.

I happen to think it’s a thing of beauty (don’t the brown eggs look so pretty next to the turquoise?), but according to my daughter, I’m lamer than lame. Apparently the lameness gene is a strong one, because my mom’s lone purchase was a door knob. Do we know how to live it up or what?

My actual birthday weekend was spent getting to know the partner and young children of one of my oldest and dearest friends. We’re old high school chums and were roommates at university, but have been bad about staying in touch over the years. Thankfully, our relationship is such that whenever we do manage to reconnect, we’re always able to fall right back into things as if we’d just seen each other the day before . I’m so smitten with her adorable boys that there’s no way she’s getting a moment’s peace from me now.

Long story short, the excitement of the trip, combined with time away from home and visiting with friends meant that there was a lot waiting for me when celebrations came to an end. You could say I had a lot “hanging over” me, not the least of which were weeks of missed blog posts, which were unfortunately relegated to the bottom of the priority list.

I’ll be back very soon with updates on recent projects, as well as some news about the loss of one of our dearest animal friends.