A special surprise

I am finally able to sit down and type more than a few sentences. I am not sure where the time has gone, but it seems to have been more than a week or two since I last wrote. Two weeks ago, I had wanted to write about the arrival of Nana and Papa, but I was unable to share that news since my mother is a frequent reader of this blog. This would have tipped her off to the fact that it would be a possibility for me to join her and my sister in Vegas. This was a surprise we did not want ruined. Here is how it was all planned out: My mother recently celebrated her 60th birthday (sorry, mom had to share the special occasion). She also made the jump to retirement. Since this was all happening just after Christmas, we decided to combine the three gift giving holidays into one big one. My sister came up with the idea to fly our mom to Vegas for a long weekend. This event was shared with anyone who was willing and able to join us there. The big secret... she had no idea I was part of it. She knew I was helping pay for it, but that was where it ended. Why would this be a big deal if I was there? Well, for starters it would be the first time, I would be away from the boys. Not the easiest thing I ever did either. Secondly, Brian and I are usually not quick to throw a couple hundred dollars out there without a lot of thought given to it. Thirdly, Brian's job does not exactly allow me to just go out of town, since his schedule can change at the drop of a hat. By planning three months in advance, we were hoping to have covered all of our bases, the hard part was trying to keep my mother from finding out.

We bought my ticket, arranged for my in-laws to come for the weekend (well, Nana would be here longer, but that was just bonus time), and even coordinated with my sister so that the flights would be arriving in Vegas within an hour of each other. After everything planned and ready to roll, I had to prepare to say good bye to my two little ones for the first time (I had tried to go on a trip once before, but ended back home before going to sleep). They seemed to be doing better than I was, I guess it helped having Nana and Papa and their crazy Saturday Morning Activities to keep them busy and distracted. There were very little tears, which surprised me that I was not crying.

I arrived to Vegas just a half hour before my sister and mom arrived. It was close, because their flight was almost an hour early. My sister was able to get off the plane before my mom and friends. We made eye contact and then I watched as my mother exited the plane. She looked right in my direction and never saw me. I proceeded to follow behind them. Our friend, Cindy saw me and pulled my mom into and hug so that she was forced to look back in my direction. After she backed away she finally looked right me and completely started to turn away and then turned back and before anyone else knew it she was screaming. I am sure we got the strangest looks from passers-by, but mom did not care. She actually had tears in her eyes. I don't think in all my years, I have ever seen such a look of surprise on my mom's face. For the next hour or so, she kept pinching me to make sure I was really there. I guess we were all able to keep it a secret. It was the best surprise we could ever have given to my mom.