Yes, I realise this isnt a recent photo of my Sis & I – but it’s still my all time favourite one!

I’ve a new social event to look forward to on the annual calendar  – the freshly anointed “Peace Be With Us” weekend whereby my lovely Sister and I indulge in a slice of some well-deserved serenity (and stave off insanity) by spending the weekend sans family (and sans responsibility!).

Quite conveniently, I was in possession of day spa voucher that was about to expire, and which needed to be used at a swanky Sydney CBD salon.  After making casual mention of this to the lovely husband he put forward the suggestion that I make a weekend out of it and book a room to stay overnight.  He proceeded to point out my sister is often at the wrong end of the waving goodbye spectrum, and hinted there’d be a good chance she was owed a well earned leave pass as well.

So within the space of a week all was arranged. 2.5hours of pampering was quite the lavish way to herald in the Peace Be With Us Weekend – except for one small fact.  Is it just me or does having an overly chatty beauty therapist who wants to know your personal history in between working the knots out of your seen-better-days back put something of a dampener on this rare moment to relish quiet tranquillity? If was during the manicure, sure, I am happy to hear all about your wide array of friends on facebook, but if there is relaxation music playing, then I’d like to listen to it… I wonder why the forms you fill out to divulge your every skin and body foible ever ask if you would like (A) small talk during your massage or (B) blissful, golden silence…? But I digress – and overall it was a heavenly way to spend part of the day!!

Pampering complete, it was then time for my long overdue chance to revel in the company of my sister (who is undoubtedly one of the people I cherish most in the world) uninterrupted for 24 hours!

Why on earth we have never done anything like this before now is a mystery to me. Sure, we spent oodles of time in each other’s company growing up, as well as living and travelling abroad together.  But since children came along and clogged up our calendars with round the clock responsibilities, we’ve not dared to indulge in anything like this.

The aim was to savour the sounds of silence, but we soon realised there was not much chance for quiet when you consider opportunities to have a decent conversation without the constant interruptions of the children hardly ever happen.  So we made the most of it and crammed five year’s worth of chatting in, enjoying the good fortune to not have to finish every sentence with a “Don’t you dare hit/kick/push/snatch that one single toy you all want to play with simultaneously (insert most appropriate) from Logan/Harrison/Mason (insert relevant child name)” …

As if uneasy with wasting a precious minute, we soon set off for our date with the city.  Considering neither of us had witnessed Pitt St Mall sheathed in all its newly refurbished glory, both were eager to reacquaint ourselves without our old shopping stomping ground. A few purchases later in our possession and we were (literally!) spent.

Naturally there was a need for a quick chocolate fix before dinner (we are the Cassidy girls after all!), but soon after savoured a sumptuous dinner on King Street Wharf. In between gorging ourselves on the tasty Thai cuisine, we reminisced about the last 30 odd eventful years and all that has gone on in between, polishing off a nice drop of wine as we winced at some memories, and hooted with laughter at others…

However, the old adage “age shall not weary them” unfortunately no longer applies to us: because we both agreed that while the opportunity presented itself to get blind rolling drunk at any of the numerous raucous night spots we passed by on our walk back from dinner, we opted for a movie instead (Josh Duhamel, you did not disappoint!).  Nope, hangovers were not going to fit in to the festivities this particular weekend.

Perhaps most glorious of all in this self-imposed interlude of parenting was the UNINTERRUPTED OPPORTUNITY TO SLEEP! Before lights out, (and because old habits die hard) I made mention to Sheree that she was to stay in her bed at all times, not to creep up on me in the middle of the night and cry that she didn’t want to be in her bed alone, and offered her a reward if she managed to sleep past 6am.  Despite looking at me strangely, she happily complied. (FYI: I rewarded her with a sleep in of her own).

(Twisted irony would have it that my son too chose this night not to entertain his usually nocturnal wandering antics in the household I’m usually found in)…

Before long the next day was upon us and despite lazing about in our room before brunch, the clock was guiltily beckoning us home. We bade our bittersweet farewells but promised this would just be a first of many.  The concierge must have sensed this, so quick was he to inquire when we’d be back and offering a discount for good measure!

My cocoon of sweet silence was soon replaced on my 2hr commute home with a child with a hacking cough, and an old couple who decided to dine out on a smelly Chinese food feast directly behind my seat. Reality, my old friend, did you have to greet me again so soon?

Happily I was welcomed home with open arms, told by my son “Mummy, I missed you SO MUCH!” and greeted by the husband with the news he was rounding out my weekend of fabulous indulgence by cooking me one of my favourite meals.  It was a little reminder that while it’s wonderful to revel in a weekend escape from the clutches of our time consuming offspring and hand the reign of terror over to the spouses to instate responsibilities, there is much happiness to be found on the home front as well.

All hail the “Peace Be With Us Weekend”, soon to be seen again on screen in a July 2012 weekend near you!