So, Chinos asked me if I would share the story of how the Mother's Day gift bags came to be so here it is, from how the idea was hatched to all of the donors and volunteers that helped make it happen. I can't possibly name everyone that helped out with this but you know who you are and I thank you so much. As a mother who had a sick child whose illness required untold hours, days and weeks and spent in the hospital for many years I always would think of the mothers, as well as the children, when we would help Chinos with the fundraisers for Chinos' Cause For Cancer and Aitana. Seeing that we were going to be spending Mother's Day at Temptation I started think of how we could do something to make the moms feel special and a little pampered. When you have a sick child it often happens that you have to jump at a moment's notice, grabbing only what you can, and get to the hospital. So, I came up with the idea to put together Mother's Day gift bags filled with some nice, pampering products that I would have loved to have on some of the more lengthy hospital stays. Things like nice shower gels, lotions and body sprays. So I put the idea out to Chinos first, and he said “do it”, and then out to various friends, groups and forums asking for donations and help. The response was amazing. We had people that were at Temptation before us leave donations behind for the cause, friends that were there at the same time gave so much plus we had awesome friends that wouldn't be at Temptation until June give a very generous gift via PayPal to kick off the cause. A big thank you also goes out to Bath & Body Works for giving me (along with several other people across the country) all the discounts they could find along with all the cellophane bags and ribbons I needed to put the gift bags together. Getting the goodies to Cancun was the next challenge. We left home at 2:30pm on 5/5 and landed in Cancun at 5:30am on 5/6 and Immigration wasn't even open yet. It didn't take long for that to change with a 737-800 full of red-eye zombies cued up and ready get their vacation on. It took four large, heavy suitcases to get all of our costumes (and my shoes) plus all the mom's goodies to Temptation. The luggage fees alone would have been nearly $300 but we had an ace in the hole for that. This was our 5th trip in just under two years and we have been green lighted every trip so far so, no worries, right? Not so fast. We got the red light, our shoulders slumped and we schlepped our bags over to the aduana for inspection. The first thing they found were a few, ummm, questionable items. We told them we were going to Temptation and they laughed. Then they found all of the moms' goodies and I explained that they were for Chinos' Cause For Cancer and Aitana and they nodded and say okay. Well, they also found that we had a 1.75L bottle of vodka for the drunken gummi bears and a 3.5L box of Fireball for the Boobs Cruise. That put us a bit over the 1.5L/person import limit. As the aduana was removing the Fireball from our suitcase I decided, off the cuff, to tell them it was for Chinos too seeing how well that had already worked, and the guy paused, got a look of resignation on on his face, shook his head and put the box back in the suitcase. We were off to meet our USA Transfers driver and get to Temptation. After all, it was 6:00am and we had a Boobs Cruise to do that day. A schedule we won't likely duplicate in the future but that's another story. We arrived on Friday, May 6th and, unlike in the U.S., Mother's day in Mexico was Tuesday the 10th. People were coming up to me and telling me what they brought and asking how to get it to me. The resort was putting on a brunch for the Aitana mothers in Il Placiere on the 9th at 10:00am so everyone met up at Paty O's at 11:00am on Sunday, our Mother's Day, to determine what we had in total and to put the bags together. Nine of us, including Guido and I, showed up and it went like clock work. Within 30 minutes we were done and had stashed the bags for the next morning. Party time at the Sexy Pool! At 9:30 the next morning many of us gathered at Paty O's and retrieved the bags and headed over to Il Placiere. We hung out outside (with some help from the guys at the quiet pool bar) until Chinos was ready for us. I'm not big on public anything so this was a nervous moment for me (especially since Chinos hadn't put any pressure on me, LOL) as we entered the restaurant with all eyes on us in anticipation. Not to worry, the moms were amazing and so appreciative that all the nervousness went away. That is, until Chinos asked me to come up and say a few words. When I did I saw all their smiling faces and I realized it was a job well done by all. And I survived my brief encounter with public speaking. I want to thank all of the people that donated and helped out with this mission and made it the success that is was. I never cease to be amazed at the heart and generosity that is constantly displayed by our Temptation community. Guido and I couldn't ask for a better group of friends ever. You all are wonderful and we love you! Blondie
You made me cry....What a lovely thing to do! Wish I knew about it....I saw his pics posted on FB.... Great Job!! D
I love the both of you, I hope you know that! I can't wait to see you again in September. Thanks for all the work you did for the Moms and the kids this past May! Y'all are the definition of a Temptation All-Star! -Doug
