This morning was an early one – I set my alarm for six am and got out of bed without disturbing Spencer. I made my way downstairs and sat down in the kitchen, making necessary phone calls. A holiday weekend was a call for celebration, and I was not going to waste it; I decided to surprise Spence with a beach getaway.

 

For almost two hours, I called various travel agents, car services, and airports. By eight-fifteen I had all our arrangements made and I was creeping around the house trying to put things together to pack. And after forty minutes of searching, finding, and folding, I decided that there were enough things in both our suitcases. Anything else we thought we would need, we would have to buy when we got there. As I set our things by the front door, all ready to go, I let a smile spread across my face – Spencer was going to go crazy!

 

I walked into our bedroom and saw Spencer’s body, still sleeping, in the middle of our mattress. I stood still debating how to wake her – I had a few options but didn’t know which was best for the occasion. I took the ‘safe route’ this morning, and went to sit next to her.

 

“Morning, baby.” I whispered as I leant over and kissed her on the cheek. I felt her move as my weight shifted the bed, but she didn’t open her eyes, instead she just smiled a little.

 

“Spence! Come on, baby, wake up! We have to get ready!” This got her attention – Ms. I’m-always-on-schedule shot out of bed like a jack in the box thinking she had forgotten about something on her [very long] to-do list.

 

“Wait, what?! We didn’t have anything planned today! How much time do we have? I can’t believe I forgot about this!” As if on autopilot, Spencer went around the room flinging clothes out of the closet looking for an outfit while brushing her teeth and looking for her planner so she could remember what it was she was forgetting. I sat on the bed laughing quietly and watching her. When she noticed me sitting calmly, she stopped, confused and spoke, spitting toothpaste.

 

“What? Why aren’t you getting ready!? We’re going to be late! And why are you laughing at me?”

 

“Probably because you’re running around like a chicken with its head cut off!”

 

“Hey! You just said … and I still can’t remember … Ash – what exactly am I running around getting ready for right now?”

 

I laughed through my reply, “Spence, baby, calm down. You’re getting ready to spend the weekend with me. But you do not need to be running around. There is no way that you can be late for this kind of thing … but … we should be out of here by twelve.”

 

“Ash, what are you talking about? Where are we going?”

 

“Hawaii.”