MY BIRTHDAY SURPRISE - REVEALED

First off - my RGBP's page is somehow corrupted and I can't access any blogs through the RGBP's page. If anyone has any ideas on how I can deal with this, please let me know! I miss everyone, terribly.
Now, to the Birthday Surprise. My dear sister planned a get-away this past weekend. Through the past 4 weeks she would email me weekly with little hints:
weather between 60-80 degrees, what to pack - sandals, swimsuit, dressy dress, casual wear, and finally last week - my itinerary to a point: Miami.
So, last Friday I boarded a plane which flew me to Atlanta and then on to Miami.
I arrived in Miami around noon and waited in the baggage claim area for my sister.
My cell phone rings and by 12:30 pm, my sister and my niece are with me in the baggage claim area. I'm the only person on the flight from Atlanta to Miami without a clue where I'm going from there.
At long last, I know! We were going on a cruise to the Bahamas!!
The three of us took a cab to the ship and checked in with is quite a process. We found our room and stashed our bags. The whole thing seemed so unreal and I was just thrilled to be with my sister and my niece - an entire weekend together!!! Just us girls!!! Whoo Hoo!!
It was rather cool in Miami, too cool, in fact. We never were able to get off the ship on Saturday at the private island where we planned to snorkel and lay on the beach sipping fruity drinks. The water was so rough that they weren't allowing the tenders to make the trip from the boat to the island. We landed in Nassau later that evening.
The three of us sat in deck chairs reading and talking and sipping fruity adult beverages wrapped up in sweaters and our beach towels. We lasted until 2:30 pm when it simply was just too cold.
We enjoyed the shows and the great Latin music in the one lounge. We spent a beautiful day in Nassau walking to the Fort and Water Tower, then past St. Andrew's Presbyterian Kirk - it was afterall, Sunday! From there we walked to the public beach and put our legs in even though it was very cool. The water was beautiful green and blue and beckoned me, but simply too cold to really go in. We sat on the beach a bit anyway. Then it was further up the beach to where there were local Bahamian snack huts where we lunched and sat and soaked up some sunshine. After lunch, we walked back a stopped in a couple stores. The Straw Market was somewhat disappointing unless you were in the market for fake Prada, Coach, D & G, B & R, purses.
We had a most wonderful time together. What I had longed for most, some time with my sister and my niece was the best gift. It was the most precious, extraordinary, most treasured birthday present ever. And somehow, turning fifty, doesn't seem quite so traumatic. A little celebration seems to help make more acceptable.
Too bad that I could not have a gentle week ahead just to savor.
Our oldest member passed away Monday as I returned home. So, on top of writing a sermon and all for Sunday, I have a funeral service to work on and I am simply exhausted from not enough sleep. I will lose my day off on Friday and will have to work Saturday, have a 12 hour day today and I'm supposed to be at 3/4 time. Sigh. Maybe, I'll be able to take my birthday afternoon off next week!
In the meanwhile, I'm still getting my land legs back!