Wonderful Weekend

Cigi and I had a rare weekend off together, so we invited our good friend and blogging buddy, Purple Angel, to come and spend the weekend with us. We were delighted when she jumped at the chance to come and visit us, especially since a previous attempt to have her come didn't pan out because of issues that had nothing to do with not wanting to come.
Purple Angel lives about an hour and a half away from us (by bus) and so had to make travel plans. Cigi and I had to make our apartment fit for human habitation and quickly. We spent all day on Thursday working and then had to come home and do serious apartment cleaning. There was laundry to finish, carpet to clean (we have three cats, after all), and a host of other cleaning chores. On Friday, I had to work until five while Cigi got off at three. So, unfortunately, it fell to her to do the last minute things. We had decided to make stroganoff for supper and had decided to put it in the slow cooker that morning before we left.
At about 6:30, Cigi asked me if I would mind going downstairs to wait for her since she couldn't remember if she had given Purple Angel our apartment number. Cigi figured that it would be easier for her to find us if one of was met her outside. Even though I was tired, I told her I would do it. I couldn't have been as tired as she was. She had done the lion's share of the work and was no doing the cooking, too. I was afraid she was going to tire herself out and then wouldn't be able to enjoy herself. I worry a lot about Cigi's health, even though she hates it. She calls it "mother hen-ning" her and I really can't help it. I do worry.
It was a little before seven, just as I was getting set to go back inside when I saw a cab pull up. I knew it was her. I ran down the steps to help her with her bag and the look on her face was priceless---it was one of pure joy. She was very happy to see me. I helped her carry her purple suitcase up the two flights of stairs to our apartment. We both noticed that the cab driver had on a purple shirt. We thought it was a wonderful omen.
Since we don't have a spare room, the issue of where she would sleep had to be addressed ahead of time. I managed to borrow an air mattress from a co-worker and this fit the bill nicely. I wanted to make sure that our guest would be as comfortable as possible during her stay. I know she had told us not to go to a lot of fuss and not make a big deal about it, but I was raised that you give guests in your home the best of everything you have to offer. And we certainly tried to do that.
After heart-felt greetings and some quick catching up, we let her get settled. She's a very easy-going person and I think our fawning over her made her a bit uncomfortable. But we don't get guests that often and I'm sure that, in several things, she humored us.
We sat down to dinner. I hadn't eaten since about noon and it was going on eight, so I was hungry. Stroganoff is a family favorite, usually reserved for special occasions like company. Cigi also served one of her favorites---steamed asparagus. I really don't like it at all so I passed on it. However, I helped myself to plenty of salad. It was a filling meal; one that was especially enjoyable because of the company. I barely noticed that the chairs were rickety and the table wobbled at times. My friend was sitting at my table, sharing my food. That was what was important.
After dinner (and the dishes were washed and the cats fed) we decided to take a ride. It was a gorgeous night so we drove her out to see our old house. OK, maybe not the most exciting thing on the agenda, but, hey, it was an excuse to get out in the wonderful night air and let that meal digest.
When we got back home, we decided to watch the spanking DVD's she had brought with her. Now Cigi and I have plenty of those, but this was a chance to see something different. I didn't recognize the name of the company that produced this three-part epic, but I certainly recognized many of the players---Keith Jones, Steve Fuller, the always delightful Erica Scott and Sierra Salem, all of Shadow Lane fame. There were some minor criticisms involving costuming (such as a what a girl in 1873 Wyoming would be doing with a French manicure) and dialogue, but we were able to put that aside and enjoy the movie. Overall, it was wonderful. I would recommend it to anyone, except maybe a person who just wanted to see spanking without a plot or dialogue. It was really wonderful. But we were only able to watch the first two parts before we got so sleepy we decided to finish it the next day. It wasn't all that late, just past midnight. But I had been up since five that morning and so I was ready to turn into a pumpkin.
We got Purple Angel settled on her air mattress and then Cigi and I headed off to sleep, too. The original plan was to put the mattress on the floor in our room, but it was too big and we ended up having to put it on the floor in the living room. The next morning, we awoke way too late for the breakfast we'd planned so we Plan B'd it and headed for the local IHOP. We had a wonderful experience, mainly due our attentive waitress. Having been one in a former life, I remembered what hard work it is and I tipped her accordingly.
We were having a fantastic time. It was just like a real sleep over, except that we didn't do each others' hair or make any prank phone calls. But we still had a great time. We made a quick stop at the grocery store for some of our favorite ice cream to eat as we watched the last part of that spanking epic we hadn't been able to watch the night before. It was a great stroke of luck that it happened to be on sale so I bought two cartons. When we got home, we were just in time to take a call from a CM friend who lives in New York. I was glad we hadn't missed him. I hadn't talked to him in quite some time. Even Purple Angel spoke to him for awhile. After hanging up from talking to him, Cigi found herself worn out (just as I had feared) and headed back to take a nap. That left Purple Angel and I to dig into the ice cream and watch the last part of the spanking epic. The ending was extremely satisfying and very well done. I'm sorry Cigi missed it. We later ordered pizza from our favorite local place. Instead of opting for delivery (which with the price of gas being what it is, I can only imagine how much extra it would've cost) we went to pick it up, another excuse to take in the wonderful night air. It seemed like all we did was pig out. But, amazingly, she and I found time to play later that night. She has an amazing purple paddle that has to be felt to be appreciated. And I let her use some of my toys on me. She's an amazingly adept spanker, despite starting her spanking life as a self-admitted submissive. It goes to show you never can tell what will happen in this wonderful spanking life. Cigi didn't feel up to playing, but got a tremendous kick out of watching Purple Angel spank me. We then retired to the living room to watch more spanking videos. Pretty soon, it was late and we had to hit the hay.
The next morning, Cigi cooked us a breakfast fit for royalty. This was the breakfast we had planned for on Saturday morning, but had slept too late for. It was such a beautiful day that the three of us indulged our enjoyment of walking through cemeteries by walking through the cemetery where our parents are buried. Many people find this a bizarre hobby (wonder which one they would think was more bizarre---cemeteries or spanking?) but being a history buff cemeteries are good places for that. We spent a good hour walking the lovely, hilly cemetery and then decided sort of on a whim that chocolate chip cookies were in order. Being of the opinion that homemade is always better than store bought, we stopped at the store to get the ingredients to make them. We no sooner got home than our older sister dropped by on her way home from work. Our place is two blocks from where she works and she was concerned that she hadn't been able to reach us by phone (a problem everyone seems to have since we're still on dial-up LOL). She couldn't stay long, but wanted to get the latest update on how Cigi's cancer treatment was going and to tell her she had seen her picture in the paper and that almost all the people she works with had commented on it.
We had a very short time to enjoy our cookies before Purple Angel had to catch her cab. But I did let her read my one attempt at a spanking story. It was a short, four-page scene that I had written at the urging of a scene friend when I first started. I've discovered that most spanking people fantasize and that almost every person in the scene has tried their hand at a spanking story. I always say I'm not a fiction writer. I leave that to people who are more capable than myself (like Devllin :-). But I figured it couldn't hurt so I thought up a story from the top of my head and finished it off in about ten minutes. Only Cigi and the spanking friend ever got to read it before Purple Angel did. She was Number Three. She liked it and said I had talent. She assured me she wouldn't say it if it wasn't true. She encouraged me to post it, but I passed. I did, however, give her permission to post it. So she will be putting it on her blog soon. She's going to give me proper credit (not that anyone else would want to take credit for it) so when you read it, remember my amateur status and be gentle. I then walked her back downstairs to her cab and watched with sadness as she drove away. I miss her already.