Adios Playa

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"Don't worry about a thing,
Cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin' "Don't worry about a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right!"(Bob Marley)

Ahhh, tropical vacation withdrawal. Many of you know the stages of it. You walk onto the plane in your sandals from your tropical vacation 'cause it's still 85F in paradise even though you know you're heading home to the frozen tundra, but you are not going without a fight. Then reality hits, you walk off the plane in your woolen socks and parka and are nearly blinded by this white thing outside called "snow". You shiver incessantly in the cab ride home convinced you are fully Mexican after almost 2 weeks away, and you swear you can't remember it being this cold before?

Then you slip slide up the driveway while pushing, pulling your &^%!$(MISSING)# suitcase (even you luggage doesn't want to go home), while struggling with your key in a frozen lock and then whoosh, you're back in your dark quiet home that looks eerily clean. The piles of mail and flyers are lined up a foot high, and the voice mail is blinking with messages about upcoming appointments, school updates and a voice mail from the one friend who didn't know you were away (that's because most likely you didn't want them to know you were away for a good reason).

I will say our flight was great with no one sitting between Al and I and no one between Ava & Rory so lots of room to stretch out. Mom got moved up to the front section and had no one next to her. We enjoyed a cheese platter, drinks, deli platter for the kids and a few snacks (hey it's our last hurrah, let's buy on board!!!). Next thing you know, Kate our flight attendant says to us, "You seem like good people, this round of drinks is on us". Well isn't that nice I said to Al. Next thing you know, not only was our round of drinks on the house, all the above food we had ordered including wine with our cheese platter was all comped & our credit card put back away. It was a really wonderful gesture after the pain of leaving paradise! Thank you Kate & Kim the wonderful generous stewardesses.

The only issues we had was poor Ava taking off her jewelry (her new ring she bought with her own pesos) to be scanned through security and then not being able to find it once it went through the scanner. We looked through the security bins but with no luck, and even the security staff helped us to no avail. Ava's bright little face went all dark and I knew she was trying not to cry. Finally we start making our way to our gate, and nana sticks her hand in the hats she was carrying, and guess what she found? Ah you are all genuises! There was Ava's jewelry and the crisis averted.

Then after arriving in Ottawa, Ava puts Mom's wheelchair away, and realizes shortly after she left her purse on the arm of the wheelchair. So there we are dashing through the airport, and I see Ava spot an official carrying her bag. My smart thinking saved the day because I had made Ava put a name tag on her carry-on so she told the lady her name, and the bag was handed over. Another crisis averted. (Watch for the next reality show which will be about our family events filmed at an airport).

So here we are home sweet home with an empty fridge, a sea of luggage all over the living room, but great memories of another family trip filling our hearts and minds. And I might add, when we woke on our last morning in Playa, we walked out onto our balcony and there was a large cruise ship just idly floating off the shore. It's rare to see the cruise ships come that close. It was a rather cool ending to our trip. (See pic).

Mom and I are SO grateful to you Cindy for holding down the fort with dad which made this trip possible because of the arrangements you did to do so. In Cindy's words, "I got more out of it than dad". She is always game for an adventure in kindness. Thanks Cin, you'll never know how much it meant but somehow I know that you do 😊 It may take a village to raise a child, but it sure takes a family to make for a wonderful life. (Gifts will be delivered to you for your kindness!)

Thanks for reading along on our adventure. Hope you all get a tropical vacation away, so you too can come home to the withdrawals. Misery does like good company.

PS Got out of bed this morning, put on my SPF and bathing suit, and grabbed my towel, then woke Al & said, "Ready to go to the beach"? Then I looked at the window and saw snow...WAH.

PSS Thank goodness for a PVR, I get to come home and binge watch Downton Abbey & Broadchurch. At least something to look forward to right?

*Add on note Feb. 9th. I am SO honored to be awarded "Blogger of the Week" for Feb. 8 by TravelBlog. Thousands and thousands of people blog each week about their travel journeys. I am very humbled that my blog that was to be for my kids and family/friends was chosen. Wow. Thank you TravelBlog. I will always cherish the award feeling that my words touched, amused, entertained someone somewhere else in this big world of ours. (Insert big smiley face here!). (Now there'll be no living with me because I won a "blogger" award! (Nah, I'll get shot down in this family trust me!)

Adios,

Sal & "The Rolling Stones"

Having someone to love is FAMILY.
Having somewhere to go is HOME.
Having both is a BLESSING...

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Comments

[zully]

Loving the Jeweled 'Wagon" ;-)
Absolutely priceless photo....and well adorned VW BUg!

[Monique in Motion]

Blogger of the Week and "Waking to this Cruise Ship"
Congratulations on Blogger of the Week! You have a nice, conversational quality to your writing, which is easy to read. Also, love your photo of "Waking to this Cruise Ship." Monique

[Playagal]

Adios
Thank you Monique, I appreciate you taking a moment to congratulate me. I'm stunned that someone saw my little family blog & thought it worth of an award! Keep up the good work to all the bloggers out there!