60 Years Young

"I don't want a surprise party!" was my dear man's only request as we prepared to celebrate his 60th Birthday. I threw him a surprise party at 40, another at 50, and I guess at some point the predictable is no longer a surprise. So I set off organizing something he really wanted...a weekend away from the circus we call our life.

It is embarassing to admit that we have never been to Stratford despite moving to Ontario 18 years ago, so I decided that this was the place to celebrate his birthday, and despite my best attempts to keep in a secret, he did find out. Our staff and 78 year old babysitter were on board, big kitty was gassed up, reservations made and so we decided whatever fresh hell could happen at home, we were only a few hours away and reasonably accessible.

We had a Garmon, ipad, 2 i phones, and a state of the art computer in the car, and we still got lost. But it became part of the fun of escaping our crazy life and in just a few hours, we became big kids again. It was a decadent weekend. We saw the play "Tommy", ate at fab restaurants, shopped and sampled too much chocolate, sipped wine and latte's and slept in. We visited the beautiful gardens of Stratford and admired the swans and their gorgeous chicks. We took the long way home and got lost again but were reminded that it is the journey, not the destination that makes life sweet and committed to doing it all again very soon. And then we got home.

We absolutely love our sitter, Miss Donna, because she has the patience of a saint and really is a surrogate grandma to our girls. However, it would seem that 48 hours of parenting might have been a tipping point for her as she had a glassy eyed look when we walked in the front door. "I don't know how you do it" was her greeting. The dogs were throwing up, the toilet plugged, Grace had stayed up all night crying and Lil had elected to take the weekend off from brushing her teeth or taking her Ritalin. It was looking a little ugly.

I've got my boot camp momma hat back on and all my ducks are back in a row. Tony and I are back to working harder than we should and longing for a few extra minutes together. But the afterglow of our week-end....my boy's 60th birthday celebration...keeps us smiling and connected through the toughest days. And when that glow wears off....we're going to hit the road again!