IT'S MY DAY!

     Today is officially Mother’s Day. The one day out of 365 days where moms, like me, are supposed to drop the laundry basket and not do a damn thing except RELAX!  Who, me?  Relax?  It’s a tall order for most of us mom types.  And it was all I could do to stay in bed while I heard my youngest 14-year-old daughter frying up homemade donuts in the kitchen.  They smelled good, but all I could think about was, “I wonder where all the grease splatters are flying?  I’ll have to clean that up later.”

     Honestly, Lynn . . . take a chill pill.  You being treated like a queen is a good thing!

     Looking back, it turned out to be a GREAT day!  My oldest daughter, who is away at college up north, surprised me with a very expensive bouquet of purple roses.  My favorite flower!  I am always amazed that God could come up with a color that beautiful for a rose.  Takes my breath away, it does. I’m still not sure how my cash-poor college kid paid for those flowers, but I’m not even going to think about it.  It was an incredible gesture – I trained her well. And I had no idea they delivered flowers on Sunday!  It’s hard to surprise me, but she did.

     My youngest and I attended a special Mother’s Day Brunch at Henry’s Steakhouse at the Red Hawk Casino in Placerville. Now, if you’ve never been to the Red Hawk Casino, you’re truly missing out. It’s a great little getaway for the day – especially if you’ve grown tired of the same-old-same-old routine in town.  Just up the road, the Red Hawk oasis of fun awaits, and there is really something for every member of the family there. 

     Of course, you’ll find gaming tables and slots galore for the big kids. Nightly entertainment. Five restaurants to satisfy almost every palate – from steak and seafood to sushi, Mexican cuisine and 24-hour café fare.

     As I said, my daughter and I indulged in the special Mother’s Day Brunch at Henry’s Steakhouse, where we were treated to a selection of food that never seemed to end:  fruit, pastries, oysters, shrimp, salmon, omelets made-to-order, ham, sirloin of beef, waffles, chicken, fresh vegetables, crab cakes, artisan breads – and I haven’t even gotten to the dessert spread yet. It was an amazing two hours of non-stop eating, and we waddled out of there very happy, thank you very much.  Chef Jerrett Davis creates some incredible dishes in his kitchen at Henry’s.

     So if you’d like to have a romantic steak dinner for two at Henry’s Steakhouse, and you have some young ones, from six weeks to 12 years old, take them to KidsQuest, Red Hawk’s supervised childcare program.  They will be fully entertained, for about $8/hour.  In fact, there’s so much to do at KidsQuest, they will probably forget about you for a few hours: an indoor playground, an arcade, video games, a Karaoke stage and more.  Isn’t the alone time worth it?

     Bigger kids will love the Cyber Quest arcade, which is professionally supervised and only offers non-violent games. It will actually dazzle you when you walk in, and you may think twice about going back to the gaming tables.  Somehow, this looks like more fun because people aren’t as tense about losing their money here.

I know all about Cyber Quest. How?  Well, after stuffing myself at brunch, I told my teenager that I wanted to play a few quick hands of blackjack, and she said she’d wait over by the restrooms for me.  She was texting friends, and seemed otherwise occupied.  After circling the casino a few times, trying to find a winning $2 table, I settled in.  My first hand?  BLACKJACK!  Happy Mother’s Day!  Fast-forward 45 minutes and a stack of winning chips later, and I feel a tap on my shoulder.  I turn around and see two very big security guards flanking my very tall teenager, and actually dwarfing her.  “M’aam?  Is this your daughter?”   

     The dealer stopped tossing cards to everyone, and the whole table turned around.  I was CRIMSON with shame!  I felt like some kind of white-trash mom – or a softer version of Joan Crawford -- who abandoned her child on Mother’s Day to go gamble away grocery money at the blackjack table.  All that was missing was a cigarette in one hand and a gin-and-tonic in the other.  Apparently, children aren’t allowed on the casino floor – not even by the bathrooms.  Some nosey woman called security on me.

     I quickly grabbed my winnings and the security guards escorted us up to Cyber Quest, where abandoned children are allowed to hang out with their deadbeat moms, I guess.