cat named pig

In a rather last-minute and surprising (to me) decision, Matt took both kids to South Dakota for the weekend to attend his family reunion. Which involved camping. With a two-year-old and four-year-old in a tent. He is a brave and noble man, and deserves to be heartily commended. While I very much look forward to family camping trips when the kids are older, I was perfectly content not to be included this time.

So instead of waking up covered in tent-sweat (if you’ve ever been camping, you know what I’m talking about) with one child or the other’s foot in my face, I’ve been having a lovely stay-cation right here at home. Three full days and nights without my beloved family has been like an early birthday present. It’s been quiet and peaceful, and — best of all — I have completed every single bathroom-related task without a single interruption! (Bathroom privacy is the ultimate luxury to a parent of small children.)

The following is a list of conclusions I have reached during this peaceful time of reflection — if I can implement even half of them while my family is around, I will lead an enormously satisfying life:

1. If you make an evening appointment at my salon, they offer you a glass of wine. Which makes it even more relaxing. No more Saturday mornings in the chair for me!

2. I need to make room in my life for running. Running and I have had an on-again off-again relationship since high school cross country. We’d go steady for a while, then break up when something more exciting came along, like going to Paris, or starting a new job, or being pregnant (and convinced the only exercise I needed was walking to the ice cream shop). Most recently, I haven’t been running because it’s easier to take the kids to the gym where they can play in the childcare and I can use the machines. But I went running around the lake twice this weekend and loved it. (Even though I turned fuschia.) I need to do more of that. (The running, not the fuschia. Ideally that will improve with time.)

3. Cheese and crackers makes a perfectly delightful dinner. Even more delightful when consumed on the patio, with the laptop for music (and writing this blog post). I love eating outside and I need to make my family do it every night in summer, instead of just when we grill. (Which is almost every night in summer, but still. Why waste a chance to be outside when we have so few months that are warm enough?) I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner cheese and crackers outside this weekend and it was fantastic.

4. If I don’t have to fix a snack every five minutes for anyone, I can complete a billion-item To Do List in no time. I’m not sure how to apply this discovery to life when the kids are around — maybe I can teach them to make their own snacks while I successfully transfer laundry from the washer to the dryer without forgetting about it for days and having to rewash it. Maybe?

5. If I go to Target by myself, I will buy a cheap sun dress. I actually already knew this one, but confirmed it yet again. I don’t buy much in the way of clothes for myself these days, but I will be rocking a cute red dress on my birthday next week and it almost makes up for the fact that I have to be thirty.

6. If my husband and kids are away for three nights and three days, I will miss them by the end of the third day. A little.