Our night at Maison Marban was very restful. At 2 am, Nina rolled over and wrapped her sweet pudgy arms around my neck and gave me a kiss right on the lips. My heart melted! Even though I've been making her do things she doesn't want to, taking her places she'd prefer to avoid, she still loves me. In spite of all the times I've had to hold her arms downs as nurses accessed her port or made her swallow pills in apple sauce or pudding, she still loves me. That is the beauty and innocence of children. At the end of the day, the love their mamas and dadas, regardless of how many times during the day they were disappointed or hurt. Such forgiveness is astounding!
While the Marbans returned to the normalcy of work and school, Nina and I lounged around in the morning. We leisurely ate breakfast then took a steam bath. Boy did that ever make an impression with Nina. She didn't want to get out and declared that she wanted one at home :) I want one too! Around 11am we borrowed Megan's Prius. In all honesty, I never thought I'd like to drive a Prius, assumed it would feel like driving a golf cart, but boy was I wrong! It was a blast! I looked around Megan's pristine tiny car, with the hip hop blasting on the radio and laughed. What a contrast to my ghetto, fung-a-fied, cheeto-encrusted, hub-cap missing mini-van! HA!! Before this all happened, I'd find myself on occasion driving the kids somewhere and wondering how I'd ended up being a 33 year-old mother of two, running around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to juggle 5,000 things, all the while trying to make a meaningful difference in the lives of my children and the lives of those around me. Aghhhh!! Life just goes by too fast!
All of the sudden, Dynamite by Taio Cruz came on the radio. I looked back at Nina and she was already doing her famous jig, smile a-beaming. Dynamite is one of Nina's favorite songs and she has most of the lyrics memorized. I blasted the radio and lowered the windows. I threw my arms up in the air (just like the song commands) and danced like a fool. Nina laughed!!! That most amazing and delicious laugh! We cruised down Whilshire, loving Taio, and have a good time.
After lunch, Nina and I headed over to Vons. I had decided that I needed to do something. Two days of pampering was wonderful, but I'm a work-horse not a show-horse. Therefore, I was beginning to get ancy because I wanted to have a purpose. So....I decided that Nina and I would make dinner for the Marbans. Linda fussed at first but then saw the light. I'm a giver by nature. They had showered Nina and me with mounds of love so now it was our turn to give back.
Nina suggested that we make her favorite grilled Asian chicken (awesome soy, garlic, onion, ginger, and peanut oil marinade) and rice pilaf. I decided to add a smorige of grilled veggies (peppers, onions, asparagus). By the time Nina and I returned from the store, Cristina was back from school. The three of us proceeded to prepare dinner and the girls had a great time making the marinade. Around 5 pm, Linda and I served the girls dinner. Eduardo and Megan had sweetly said that they would watch the girls while Linda went to the gym and I got a massage...what a great surprise!
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| Happy girls cooking! |
At the gym, Linda took me to the massage center. She introduced me to a gorgeous African-American man (totally gay! my father is probably cringing at the thought of a man giving me a massage :) how I love my father!) and said, "This is my sweet, tiny friend Rosy. Please give her a gentle massage." I smiled and said goodbye to Linda, and then I turned to the masseuse and said, "I adore Linda but what I need is a deep tissue massage!" The masseuse smiled and led me into a relaxing room where apparently the stress I've been under was totally obvious! Eighty minutes later, I woke up from the best nap ever but boy oh boy did my body ache! I had asked for a deep tissue massage and Bard didn't hold back :)
I found Linda and we went home, where we joined Eduardo and Megan for dinner. Linda was pleasantly surprised at how tasty my meal was :) While we ate, Nina taught Cristina how to play with Photobooth on her MacBook. The girls laughed and the adults enjoyed each other's company. All was good!
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