A Midnight Working Mom

A's backpack - check
A's carry-on - check
Mommy's backpack - check
Mommy's luggage - check
A's booster seat - check
A - check
Mommy - check

This is how I started and concluded my most recent business trip.

I had to go to San Diego to visit a customer.  The order had come from above from the Director of Sales.  Of course, I always jump at any excuse to go to where my dear R.N. is anyway; right now it happens to be San Diego.
The meeting was set for a Monday afternoon at the beginning of A's Spring Break.  Add to all these another fact: The Legoland is just north of San Diego and A and I had never been there.

So, a mommy and sunny son weekend getaway was engineered to be followed by a business meeting.

A and I left Bay Area in Saturday afternoon and headed straight to R.N.'s house in San Diego where I got greeted by a cup of artfully made chai, mmm mmm.  R.N. and one other friends of hers had crafted a surprise birthday party for yet another dear friend.  Soon after our arrival we started getting ready for this Hawaii themed surprise birthday party.  At one point me, R.N., and the birthday girl, who thought we were just heading out to dinner for her birthday, were standing in front of a mirror making the last alterations to our make ups and hair dues.  We make recommendations on colors and liners once in a while; we learned new tricks and tested new trends; we all looked sharp and nice; such fun time it is to be spent with all the girls!

The joyful Hawaiian-themed birthday party had Persian food, Indian music and dance, and all sorts of people from around the globe.  This is California!

The next day R.N. made me yet another cup of artfully made chai and A and I headed to the Legoland.  We got there just a few minutes past the opening time and spent more than 7 straight hours hopping from one ride to another.  A particularly enjoyed the Build and Test time where he made several different kinds of cars and raced them and won the race 90% of the time.  He learned the concept of symmetry and the magic it imposes in guiding the car to slide down straight rather than biased to one side or the other.  He got to ride a junior car all by himself which was such fun he rode it twice.  We rode the dinasour ride and the dragon ride and the free-fall ride.  I realized that I am not as fearless as a few years ago about the rides.  Yet, after overcoming my anxiety in the first ride, I like to have more and more adrenalin pumps.  Still, I doubt if I would appreciate many of the Six Flag rides in a few years when he prefers to go there. A played a game and won a stuffed animal, a green turtle.

The next day I worked for most of the day while A made himself busy with different activities and many episodes of Wallace and Gromit on Netflix.  We enjoyed an ocean view lunch in The Goldfish Point Cafe.  A got to see his favorite sea animal, the seals.  My business trip meeting got conducted successfully and finally R.N., A, and I had dinner in a local diner by the ocean.

Tuesday morning we headed back to the Bay Area.


A's backpack - check
A's carry-on - check
Mommy's backpack - check
Mommy's luggage - check
A's booster seat - check
A - check
Mommy - check
Turtle - check


I hope my A reads these one day; just to know how I marvel in being with him, and how I am filled with happiness when I see joy in his eyes.