Birthday weekend getaway...

I was gearing up for some super sweet birthday gifts for Steve a month ago when he suddenly crushed all my ideas. He came to me and told me, "All I want for my birthday is a night away at a resort." Seriously? In my book that is a totally lame birthday present but it fit Steve precisely. He's all about experiences rather than things, and it was his birthday so I moved forward with planning a night away. Fortunately, resorts in Arizona in August are very affordable, and they even throw in added incentives.

We left our kids with some friends and made the 20 minute drive to the resort. After a nice dinner with great atmosphere and conversation, we lounged by the pool and enjoyed having the place to ourselves for the entire evening. The temperature sat at 111 degrees but with the sun falling for the night it wasn't too bad. We read, I slept, we swam, we relaxed. I forgot what conversation can entail when you don't have one of three children screaming or fighting or needing a drink or making a mess. We talked of what we looked forward to in the next month, three months, six months and a year. And although we varied considerably we were always on the same page.

We talked business, and home, and family, and vacations. We talked and talked. It was awesome. I am a fortunate woman to have married a man who likes to talk and analyze as much as I do. I could've sat beneath the stars all evening if the sun hadn't taken everything out of me and made me completely tired!

We enjoyed a breakfast buffet - which just so happens to be one of Steve's greatest pleasures in life. We looked forward to a movie before heading home but we couldn't seem to find anything that was worth our time - we tend to be very picky about movies. But we weren't ready to face reality, so we did some shopping - this just so happens to be one of Steve's greatest pains in life but he was great. He needed some things that he never makes it out to purchase so we were on a mission. Steve managed to find several dress shirts which will go in the win category if we were keeping track.

I, who wasn't in need of anything, also managed to score several pairs of shoes at Nordstrom Last Chance. I caught Steve in a weak moment and he cheerfully agreed to my unnecessary purchases. I will definitely do more weekends away if he is that compliant in his relaxed state. Perhaps if we extend a couple days I could get some new floors out of him...it just may be worth a try!

We came back relaxed and renewed but most importantly more connected to each other. It ended up not being a "totally lame birthday present" after all.