Lots of Napping and Gratis Dinners: Graduation & Mother's Day Weekend

I got to sleep in a black-out curtained hotel room for two nights.  All alone.  If I woke up early, I either consulted the clock and promptly turned over, or caught a delightful early 2000s RomCom on TBS.  I got up and showered, put on makeup (like, really put it on, in front of a well lit mirror, not in my car, while barking that everyone stay inside the vehicle until I had on lipstick and didn't scare anyone), got dressed, and curled my hair.  And sauntered down to eat a prepared breakfast.

It was glorious.  I abandoned any far flung ideas like "swimming in the pool," or "writing" or "reading a book," in lieu of napping. Oh, the napping.  It was strenuous, but I powered through.  With those heavy duvets, the air cranked down, and the aforementioned curtains?  There is no relaxation method that can touch it.

Basically, I had a fabulous weekend.  I flew out to Lexington Friday morning to see my sister Natalie's husband graduate with his PhD in Marketing from the University of Kentucky.  We sat patiently for 2 1/2 hours to see James hooded and his name on the big screen.  Natalie is, deservedly, incredibly proud of all he has accomplished, and they will be starting their new life around Houston, Texas in August as James takes his first position as a professor at University of  Houston-Clearwater. Natalie was my chauffeur for the weekend, so my responsibility level was at an all time low.  We ate out at several restaurants, and as both fathers were present to celebrate (and pick up the tab), I was basically a kid again.

I got to spend the weekend with my sister and parents and see my own family greet me when I touched down on Sunday.  It was great.  Nat and I had lots of girl time, talking about everything and nothing, even seeing a totally mindless chick-flick: Hot Pursuit-- completely formulaic, but with lots of silliness as we don't ask for much in Reese Witherspoon vehicles.  Basically, the plot was a Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous reboot.  I smell Oscar.

Alex, however, had both girls get sick in the car and his mom check in briefly to the hospital with stomach pains.  The kids came home with new toys from the Five Below store (apparently a thing in "big cities" that have stores like Costco, not that I'm bitter) and lots of candy.  The plan was to visit the grandparents for Mother's Day, but poor Alex was definitely Mr. Mom this weekend, cleaning car vomit TWICE (ugh), fetching take-out for the family, and generally rising to the challenge.

I've kinda gotten over the "let's see if he gets this right or not on Mother's Day" thing, and so I really didn't come into the day with a whole lot of expectations, especially since most of the day would be travel time, but he really did a nice job.  He had the kids make little notes and got me a beautiful watch.  He's a keeper.  I even got to eat breakfast on Mother's Day with my own Mom and Dad with Nat and James  and the ambience of Waffle House to set the mood.  No joke: I love Waffle House.

I'm back in the pjs at the start of another Monday: dishes to wash, floors to clean, kids to shuttle, appointments to keep.  And that's more than okay.

Insert picture of my family here -->

My mom got a pic of us together on her phone, so I'll update when she shares it :)

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day celebrating the special ladies in your life!  Women who nurture (basically women in general), you are special every day, not just the ones the designated on the calendar.