Funny Faux Pas Follies #3 - A Nice Trip

In every family, there seems to be at least one person who keeps everyone else on their toes.

In our family, it was always my darling daughter, Asheley.

I suspected from the start—even while she was still in the womb—that I was going to have my hands full with that child.

From very early on in my pregnancy, she seemed to be in constant motion. 

And it didn't stop, once she was born.

As a matter of fact, the older she got, the more active she became.

I think Cyndi Lauper wrote Girls Just Wanna Have Fun specifically for Ashe.

When the time came to plan for her 18th birthday, we asked her what she would like to do to celebrate.

After all, "18" is one of those major milestone years.

Ashe knew that I had a business trip that was scheduled a few weeks after her birthday and asked if she could tag along, as her present.

I know what you're thinking, "Awww!  How sweet!  She just wanted to celebrate her birthday by being with Mom."

And while we are extremely close, and we've always loved spending time together, the venue of my business meeting was what she was really after.

Nope, that's not Paris; it's Las Vegas, Nevada!

To make this occasion even more memorable, I even let her choose the hotel we would stay in. 

After spending countless hours on the computer, pouring over numerous hotels, she decided The Aladdin Resort would be the "perfect place" to celebrate her birthday.

"See, Mom.  This would be the perfect place.  I could stay by the pool while you're in meetings," she reasoned.

Yeah, right!  Like I would let my gorgeous 18-yr-old daughter be anywhere in Las Vegas all by herself!!!

The condition for her tagging along for her birthday was that she would have to be in the company of some of the other adult ladies from my group, when I was in meetings.

  

From the moment the plane arrived in Vegas, Asheley was determined to "see the sights."

Remember the introduction to this post—the child who was never still?

A place that "never sleeps" is the perfect environment for someone like Asheley!

So, needless to say, when I wasn't in business meetings, I was walking the Vegas strip with my daughter.

On one such day—as we were touring the strip—we noticed a decent-sized crowd gathered in a grassy area near the sidewalk.

Of course, Ashe had to find out what the buzz was all about, so we began making our way to the crowd.

Still dressed in business attire, from my morning meeting—including high heels—made traversing the sidewalk full of people rather tricky.

Just as I started stepping off the sidewalk into the grass, my heel got wedged in a crack and threw me forward into the crowd.

Thank goodness, there was a kind man standing right there to break my fall.  Of course, he didn't know he would be breaking my fall—unfortunately, with his back.

The whole crowd turned to see what the new commotion was all about—including the entertainer, who was the reason for the crowd.

As soon as I could compose myself, and, as graciously as possible, apologize for "dropping in" unexpectedly on this nice man, I was out of there!!!

Of course, once Asheley knew that I hadn't hurt anything—other than my pride—she was in hysterics.

In the midst of her hearty chortle, she jokingly asked, "Mom, did you have a nice trip?"

Which caused us both to break into hysterical laughter.

That night, there was entertainment provided at a function hosted by my company, and Ashe was invited to attend.

Any guess as to who the entertainer might have been?

It was none other than the very same Elvis impersonator whose impromptu sidewalk show, I had crashed!

Like being humiliated in front of this guy once wasn't enough!!!

And since that day, every time someone asks whether I've "had a nice trip,"  I think back to Vegas and Elvis...

and especially to my darling daughter—who made it a very nice trip—

and I smile!  ; )