Lean On by Major Lazar

It was almost a year post divorce and after trying, unsuccessfully, to date, I had decided what I really needed was some fun.  And by fun, I mean young.  I looked amazing, thinner than I had ever been, and I wasn't ready for some heavy duty relationship.  I just needed an escape from the day-to-day, full time mom gig.  Enter Matt.  He needed a diversion from studying and living with his parents.  It was the ideal situation for both of us.  He was a welcome distraction and happily texted me all day long.  He would come over in the evenings to hang out with me and watch tv.  After the first week, he left on a road trip, sending me pictures of all the fun things he noticed and did along the way.  I noticed that he was a lot of fun, so I asked him if we could go out some weekend and look for some fun.  His response:  Napa, wine tasting, hotel, massages?  Mine:  Are you kidding?  YES PLEASE.

Now you never know how a trip with someone you barely know is going to work out. The good news is that it was a fantastic weekend, devoid of any awkwardness.  Matt was a member of several wine clubs, so we received the royal treatment at the wineries.  Everything was low key and easy, relaxing and fun. Relaxing and fun was the key to our entire relationship and exactly what we needed.  Matt introduced me to meal sharing.  No matter what we were eating, burgers, meal entrees, we would always split everything and share which is really the best way to go.  He was considerate and thoughtful throughout and it was a memorable trip in so many ways.  One of them was when we were getting ready to go somewhere, perhaps the hot tub, and I was playing one of my many playlists.  He started singing along to a very popular song of the summer.  It was cute.  It will forever remind me of the getaway to Napa and the start of finding the old me, buried underneath some rubble. 

La Isla Bonita by Madonna

You would think I'm going to be digging into the memory archives on this one, but you would be wrong.  After an entire week of overcast weather, we're going back to the sunshine filled days of summer.  Specifically last summer in Belize.  It was turning out to be the perfect celebration of my 40th birthday with my now very dear friend Carli M.  Upon hearing that we were heading to Ambergris Caye for the second half of our trip, our delightful tour guide Walter starting humming La Isla Bonita.  That lyric:  "last night I dreamt of San Pedro"?  I'd always thought it was just some made up island that Madonna created for her catchy tune.  Nope.  It's a real place. And we were headed there. You better Belize I totally dorked out about it, too.

I had decided that since I had scored such a deal on our hotel that we would fly to the Isla Bonita.  Honestly, a 15 minute flight vs a 90 minute cramped boat ride?  There was no choice really.  The island lives up to its name.  It IS beautiful, laid back, truly the island life.  The plan for the island was no plan at all, save for renting a golf car to tour the island, however we initially balked at the price.  That is until I was sitting in a hammock, sipping on my welcome rum cocktail, and the delightful Deepak K and Larissa M who had just checked in turned to me and asked what the plan was for tomorrow.  The 4 of us embarked on an adventure in the morning to the "Secret Beach" on the north side of the island.  Carli braved the potholes and suffered the embarrassment of being passed by local golf cart drivers.  In her defense, she had the pedal to the metal, but maybe their golf carts were turbo charged? 

Following the secret beach, we continued on our lop-along day, stopping for lunch.  Deepak wished he could just find someone to take us on a short trip out to the reef.  Done and Done!  I negotiated a quick trip out to the barrier reef for some snorkeling with Captain Chip.  After getting up close and personal with some sting rays and sea urchins, we returned to our hotel and eventually home.  Last night I dreamt of San Pedro.  I prayed that the days would last, they went so fast.