So, for the past, I dunno, 6 weeks, we've been working on plans for Saturday, July 10th, 2010. As you might remember, last month was my 50th birthday. Just before that was Mother's Day and My BIL's 47th birthday. In the 3 weeks since my birthday there has been Father's Day, My parents' anniversary and most recently. my Mom's birthday. So, we have been planning a special day, to celebrate all things...together.
First, we planned a beautiful spa day for the three girls, and then we were meeting up with the guys at 8pm for dinner at our favorite Boca Raton Italian restaurant, originally from our hometown in New York, "Matteo's". Yummo!!!
Since the girls don't live here, I was put in charge of getting spa day arranged. My favorite Spa in Boca is The Maui Spa. You walk in and you feel like you're in, well, Hawaii. It's tranquil, serene, and so peaceful. So we made plans to go there. Hubs ran over to Costco to buy us $300 worth of Spa Finder gift cards. ($240 for $300) You can use them at 11 spas in Boca. Maui is one of those 11. Nice! Already saved $60 bucks and we didn't even get there yet! I love a bargain! The girls were gonna pick me up at 10:00am. We would arrive at the Spa and change into our robes, sit and unwind in the Kipahulu Relaxation Room under the stars of Maui, (Fiber-optics in the ceiling) and relax, laugh, reminisce, and just be together. Mommy and her two little girls. We looked forward to getting served some organic snacks and cool mint tea, while having an aromatic foot soak. At 11:00 we were going to move into the "Hana Room", Maui Spa's exclusive hydrotherapy treatment room. A unique water retreat with two private copper soaking tubs, Swiss and deluge showers, an aromatherapy steam room, state-of-the-art infrared sauna and a Feng Shui designed cold plunge pool. After the "Hana Room" experience, we looked forward to our 90 minute delicious massages and more relaxation. We made plans to go to the "Tin Muffin Cafe" for fabulous homemade soup, sandwiches and quiches after the spa day. Doesn't this sound like it would have been the most perfect day?
You may be reading this and saying to yourself, "Hmmmm, I wonder why she's writing in the Future Simple tense?" You did ask that, right? I figured as much. Well, lemme share. At 8:30am this morning, I received a phone call on my cell from the Maui Spa. Our Spa plans had fallen through. Overnight there was a fire. Yup. The spa we've waited weeks to go to had an electrical fire the morning we were scheduled to go! LOL..It's sad, but all we could do was laugh. The Spa we were going to had to close. I called the cell number they left me, and spoke to Shana, the nice young girl who had helped me make all the plans. She told me there was an electrical fire. Everyone was fine. No one was hurt. ...and the Spa would be opened again in a few weeks. I called my sister. Told her not to rush over. We laughed until we cried.
Then I remembered that I had laid out the $240 for the discounted gift cards. Mommy and Sis aren't gonna pay me back for theirs if we don't go to a spa! I'm not laughing anymore! LOL...I got on the internet and typed 'til my little finger tips were bleeding. I called those 10 other spas on the list to see who could take three stressed out women, last minute, for a spa day. 3 hours later, I found one little place that could take us, but not til 3:00pm. OK. So we met at 1pm for lunch at the "Tin Muffin", had our soup, quiche and tea sandwiches as planned, and then headed over to the "spa". It was more like a hair and nail salon, than a spa. There was no water room, quiet room, or even lockers, but we all got great 50 minute massages and we loved it. And the owner really went out of her way to get us all in. She was great. (Thanks for treating us Ma!)
All through the massage I was dreaming of Matteo's ...Yum. Matteo's. Linguine and white clam sauce. Fried calamari, chicken Scarpariello. Yummo. Can't wait! As we get in the car after our wonderful massages, feeling completely renewed in not only mind and body, but spirit too, we all check the cell phones, messages, emails. All the regular modern day techie stuff...and guess what? Sissy had a message that BIL had to take Big neph to the ER. His fever spiked up and they were concerned. So, after massages, Sissy ran to the hospital. I went home with Mommy and waited by the phone. About 7pm, they decided he should stay the night until his blood work came back from the lab. We got in the car, and headed over to the hospital. On the way I cancelled the Matteo's reservation. (Oh well, guess that's not happening anytime soon.) Big neph looked ok. His Grandma (My Mommy) tickled his back, and I rubbed his feet. :) (His two most favorite things in the world.) Hubs, went over to Sissy and Bro in laws house to swim and hang out with Little neph. (He's the best Unckie.) After visiting hours were over, Mom and I went to get Hubs, (Little neph didn't want to join us for dinner.) and we had a sushi feast at "Tempted". Quite delish. Came home. Hung out. Talked. Laughed. Cried. Packed. And went to bed around 2am. Night night.
...and how was your day?
I hope my blog post sounds funny, and not sad, 'cause really, all we did was laugh. (...and eat) We laughed so much we almost peed. We love Big neph so much, and wish he felt better but really, spa fires, massages in the back of a beauty parlor and the ER? Seriously? You just can't make this shit up!
Whether things are good, or whether things are sucky, as long as you are with your family, you can get through it all. Blessings, as well as burdens, are all better when shared with the people that love you.
I loved spending the day with you two crazy girls! Thanks for the fun.
