It’s still early here…according to this house’s standards, and I am laying in bed in my perfectly quaint room with a diet coke and nutella toast for my breakfast.
Because that is what my aunt does.
And this week, I am living her life with my sister by my side.

But really, it’s almost 10 am, and I think in just a few minutes I will start to hear some stirring upstairs and if I wait to go up until I hear footsteps in the kitchen, I know I will find my aunt….
with a smile on her face and look of cherished love for us in her eyes.
I love when her eyes light up with love.

This has been my every morning this last week.
Someone greeting us with love in their eyes, not needing a thing back except our love as well.
It’s kind of amazing.

Today is my 7th and last morning of my little winter getaway, where for the first time ever I traveled without either my husband or my kids.

There are so many stories of this trip that I want to share.
So many lessons that were learned unintentionally, ones that will always be remembered and treasured.
And who am I, and what is this blog, if I don’t share with you all?

Selflessness:
This lesson all began from the moment my sister gave up the double bed guest room for the twin bed guest room because I arrived with the flu/WORST COLD EVER and she wanted me to be able to get good rest.

And then on the first official full day when I curled myself into a ball on my uncle’s recliner all achy and sick, I remained surrounded by my sister and aunt, and TON of beauty books and magazines (my aunt is on the up and up) and Goss on YouTube (hello Goss, I love you, *wink*), because it was our first day together and we all wanted to be together.

Except for when they went to TJ Maxx and Walgreens later in the day, (because I urged them to “leave and have fun, but not TOO much fun and to DEFINITELY do not go to the shopping stores that I want to go to when I felt better, but go, go, have fun.”), and they came back bearing gifts of NyQuil and glitter nail polish and shampoo and conditioner free of sulfates.  Because even when I wasn’t with them, I was with them.

And so I forgave them for going to to TJ Maxx without me the first time.
{we visited many stores many times over.  it’s quite exciting, the life we lived}

Unconditional Love:
Sometimes with family, you get hurt.  And people’s issues and problems creep into their actions and their love is misunderstood.  It happens, almost always.  But, this week, there was not one time we pretended to be anything other than what we are.  We openly shared of our struggles, our issues, our weaknesses, as well as our joys and loves and slight obsessions.
And we cried and hugged, and laughed so hard we may have peed a little, and did our best to find the funny where we could.
We are absolutely imperfect, and we loved and enjoyed every minute of it.

You’re never too young/old: 
Between the three of us there are the four decades….but you would never be able to tell because we are one in the same.

We all like to sleep early, and wake up late.
We all like to have soda and peanut M&M’s for breakfast.
{okay, heather likes coffee.  she’s one of those.}
We spent hours cutting up T’s shirts the Adam Saaks and Kat Von D way, and never once felt that we were too old to be doing it.

And then we had no shame in wearing them to our first ever Zumba class the next morning (the ONE time we worked out…but you remember, I WAS SICK!!!!), where we all THREE made it through to the end of class without even once stopping.
{except me, who had a mountain of snot rags piled behind me.  sexy zumba goddess that i am.}

There is no shame:
In shaving your face the Michelle Money way, while laying your legs across the bath trying out Nair on one leg and Sally Hansen on the other for “research purposes”, all while waiting on our own homemade Biore strips to work even though it may have smelled like feet, and then finishing up with PMD to even out our skin issues.
And especially no shame in doing it all together in the same large bathroom all in one night of beauty.

And then there were the little lessons of patience, while one particular thrift store shopper (it may or may not have been me) who feels the need to search the ENTIRE store AND take pictures of even the duds {this post to come!}, while other thrift store shoppers are done and finished and waiting…and waiting….and waiting….and still smiling.
Kind of.

It’s all this and more, that I’ll cherish as I board my plane home tonight.
The HOURS we spent between the THREE different trips we made to Ulta.
The HOURS we spent in my aunts bathroom listening to Glee and Worship Music while getting ready for our day with no real set plans.
The what felt like HOURS walking up and down two flights of stairs from my room to my aunts room, and getting winded because Colorado is as close to space as one state can get, which makes breathing quite hard to do.
Especially when I had spent HOURS of being so so sick.  {did i mention this yet?  cause i was sick.}
The HOURS we spent eating out.
The HOURS we spent shopping.
and shopping.
and shopping.

At one point my Uncle suggested we take some time and go visit the tourist attractions, and I gave him my most shocked face.


“Well, I thought that’s exactly what we have been doing!!!  Why, I’ve seen the TJ Maxx, the Super Target, Ulta, every Goodwill in town, and I think tomorrow we may even go to Chick Fil A.”

He didn’t smile.

But my heart is smiling.
My head is rested and I am feeling loved and accepted.

And now as I finish this post I am one hour from boarding.
Three hours from being home.

And I just pray that I can remember the look of love and joy I saw every morning from my aunt and my sister, and pass it on to my kids tomorrow when I see their shining faces.
{it’s been a week, but i’m pretty sure they wake up with shining faces….right?}

And yes, I am WELL AWARE that there is a MIGHTY good chance this good feeling will last all of five minutes into the car ride home.
But let me have my moment.

© 2011 “Le Musings of Moi”