Goodbye, and good riddance

Thank all that is good in this world that September is over tomorrow. For real, I am not at all sad to see it go.

October will certainly not be a panacea for me, but it has to be better than September. I just put October on the kitchen whiteboard calendar and promptly realized I scheduled my son’s birthday at Dave & Buster’s for the same Sunday I’m supposed to be taking my daughter to see Charli XCX (all the face palms), so there will be some intense days. But I am looking forward to quite a few things, including Halloween. (I remembered to take my Halloween themed leggings out of the shed today! Hooray!)

Also, I’m see the new chiropractor on Tuesday, October 1st, which feels like a good omen. Maybe I can make October more about self care.

Honestly, I’m so relieved that we’re home from the camping trip, and most of the stuff is already put away. It’s like a huge weight has been lifted. The trip itself was fine. It was totally overwhelming and I kept to myself more than most adults there, but I managed to get through it in one piece. And my son had a great time, which was the whole point of it.

My husband kept expressing confusion about why I was dreading this weekend so much. I’m pretty sure he didn’t get it because I am ALWAYS the one who packs and unpacks camping trips. He has no real understanding of how hard it is to manage that during a regular week or work, when laundry still needs to get done and meals need to be made and dishes need to be washed. His main responsibility at home is adult meals, which means that when time is tight, he can fall back on leftovers and ordering out. But there is no way to skimp on the laundry – it all eventually needs to get done. And while I can delay cleaning up, eventually I have to do it, and if it’s been a long time since the last time I cleaned, it takes longer when I finally get around to cleaning. I think he just doesn’t understand, fundamentally, what its like to just still have to do shit even when you’re away all weekend. Or what it’s like to have to do SO MUCH MORE than normal for a weekend.

But I did it! I packed us and I set us up there and I packed us to come back home and then I put everything away. All the sleeping bags, sleeping mats, and the tent are back in their plastic bags in the shed (I worry they will grow mold if they aren’t protected from the damp). The sheets from my husband’s couch bed last week, and the blow up camping mattress, are washed. I have two more loads ready to go in later today. I did a great job packing food so there was nothing left in the cooler when we came home, and only left over s’mores fixings in the food bag. I’m so glad I didn’t buy extra of anything. We had exactly what we needed.

And right now we have NO camping trips planned! Hooray! I’m so ready to take a break from camping.

I was remembering that this time last year we were coming back from this camping trip and getting ready for our trip to Universal Studios two weeks later. I’m so thankful we are not going anywhere for the October long weekend. I might take the kids to Great America for Fright Fest that Sunday, but otherwise we’ll be home.

My son’s birthday is the next weekend. He requested Dave & Busters and I was happy to fork over several hundred dollars and basically all of the responsibility. We had his birthday there two years ago and it was really easy. I am kind of thrilled he wants to have it there again. A birthday there is so easy, that I really do think I can manage the Charli XCX show afterward. And if I can’t, my husband will go.

What else to mention… Oh I got some wide leg jeans (on sale) from Gap with my Gap Cash last week. Both pairs are low cut and fit me well around the waist. The darker pair is too long – they only had my size in “Tall” but I have several pairs of shoes I can wear with them. The lighter pair are the right length but I worry they will stretch in the waist when I wear them. We shall see. It’s a trip to wear wide leg jeans after nothing but skinny jeans for so many years (like six years?!), but I like them. I also got some new bras, which I really needed it. I hope they hold up. (Everything was on sale before the Gap Cash, so I didn’t spend much on any of it).

I got my tests graded yesterday, at the camping trip. It took A LONG time to finish them all, and I’m glad I wasn’t using normal weekend hours to score them. I walked up to the visitor’s center and jumped on the WiFi to download some dumb stuff on Netflix to “watch” while I was grading. It definitely helped pass the time.

I meant to write more but now it’s late and I should probably just post this. I am showered, all the beds have clean sheets, and I’m so looking forward to crawling into my own bed and passing out. Yes. Please.