Timing. It was my friend last week. Momma Debi and I had planned a long weekender to their house in Arizona during Christmas break. She texted me on a Monday morning, "Do you want to come with me to AZ the end of January?" I sent back a "Hell yes." Having no idea how perfect the timing would be for my insides. Because sometimes a physical separation is necessary to help with an emotional one. And no one is better suited to squeeze you and wrap you up in goodness than your mom. No one. So the long weekender to the sunny desert was soul fixing before it even started.
As I put on my jewelry Thursday morning, I knew airport security would love me. It is rare I get through without a beep or a pat down. Rare. This time, two guys passed me in the tub line while I de-accesorized. But I made it through the detectors without a glitch.
Once through security, Techno Momma whipped out her ipad complete with keyboard and felt it was time to go over some Keep Amy Safe guidelines. She showed me where I could for runs and made me put their address in my phone map to use in the case of me becoming lost. And then she put the monkey backpack on my back and velcro-ed the other end of the leash to her wrist. It's like she was worried I'd get distracted by something shiny and wander off.
My mom and I were on the same page of the Vacation Expectations handbook. The first stop she wanted to make upon leaving the Mesa airport? Total Wine. An entire section was devoted to Pinot Noir. Be still my heart.
I tried to explain to her that I would behave and she would indeed not need a time out. But my behaving ability is questionable.
Like when I was done loading the back of the car with our purchases, I grabbed the cart to start pushing it back to the total wine amazing-ness. A gentleman who was walking by gave me a nod and said, "I'll take that from you."
I told him, "Well aren't you the nicest? Thank you. Now, would you like a hiney tap for the road?" And proceeded to act out tapping him on his hiney. I'll just say he was a sport about it and didn't call the police.
Momma Debi probably wasn't too far off in needing her time out.
After our wine pick up, food was next on the list. I kept saying I wanted to find somewhere with real pizza. The kind that is cooked in a brick oven and has a thin crispy yet chewy crust. With fresh mozzarella melted into the off the beaten path toppings. I knew what I wanted. Momma Debi and her sister who picked us up from the airport agreed it sounded delicious.
Then it was simply to find a place who did that kind of pizza. Enter a Barnes & Noble. The place where my aunt pulled the car up to the curb. I jumped out, bolted inside, found the nearest employee who appeared like they might know their way around the kind of pizza I was jonesing for and said, "I don't need help finding a book. I need to know where to find real pizza around here. Like the kind with weird toppings and real mozzarella cheese and a thin crust cooked over a fire or in a brick oven." Do you know what I mean when I say that?"
The poor girl with her Barnes & Noble name tag simply nodded her head.
I kept going, "So...ummm...where would be the closest place?"
She told me Grimaldi's was right around the corner and she assured me I wouldn't be disappointed. Out the door I went to jump back in the car to yell in excitement about hitting pizza gold. Except...Momma Debi and her sister had already found the place in their driving around waiting for me. Turns out they were the real winners in the finding pizza game.
In a few short minutes, we were sitting in the warm sun visiting. And I was noticing how my boots seemed to fit right in with the table cloth. I love a theme. I can't help it.
As we waited for our pizza to arrive, the visits were flowing and it was just on this side of fabulous. I even piped up to the server with that very line and he told me he liked me and then we all looked to the inside bar area and noticed an audience watching us. I'm pretty sure it was because we were having a server to eater magical moment.
It was the best pizza I've ever had. Seriously. I am going to go right ahead and admit to eating three pieces as the sun sank lower in the sky.
I'm also going to go ahead and admit I became mildly obsessed with the boots and red checkered pattern. I see a shirt in my near future. Very near future.
Next stop. The house. I hadn't been there before so I did some exploring and digging around. And I came to two realizations. Number one being the house passed my inspection. More than passed actually. It received the amazing sticker of approval. Number two being I now have two cameras in my life. Watch out people. Watch out. If you thought I was trying to capture every single moment before, well this brings it to a whole new level.
After the complete tour, Momma Debi and I got down to the business at hand. Picking which bottle would be enjoyed first.
Our choice was this one. In addition to the sassy name, the bottle sports a Blends Have More Fun slogan. We couldn't argue with that.
Before long, our feet were in the warmly heated pool water and our hands were holding a smooth wine glass. I convinced Momma Debi to just this one time break her No Glass By the Pool Rule. Promising her we wouldn't let them out of our hands. I wanted the cool feeling of glass. I wanted calm. I can't speak for my mom with complete certainty, but I'm going to bet she was feeling what I was while we visited the night away. That being a full and content heart. I know I was.
Timing. It was my friend. Dangling my feet off the edge of that pool in the Thursday dark night with my mom sitting next to me gave me the it's all going to work out and I'm going to be fine - just fine feelings I had been so wanting to find. Being states away from my real life was an extra check mark. Yes, the timing of our mom and daughter long weekender was spot on. Almost as if it came swooping in wearing a cape to save the day. Momma Debi might have been wearing her supermom cape too. But that's because she always does.
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