I realize you all may tire of hearing about my blissful summer vacation in Hawaii and how much our kids enjoyed camp in North Carolina. So, I'll skip the post where I talk about how lovely it was to be away with the Hubs for two weeks while the kids were at camp. It is getting a bit much, even for glass-is-half-full-me. And quite frankly, the blissful summer spell is wearing off a quite quickly. Reality is settling back into my pores and diminishing my summer glow.
Apparently, after the blissful summer getaways comes the late-summer reality check:
Bills.
When you leave the house for weeks at a time things have a way of stacking up and cluttering every surface in the house. The pile of bills, mailings, notices, and bank statements to which I returned is harrowing. I threw out every single magazine without even a glance. Piles of paperwork remain, which is quite surprising given that the vast majority of our bills arrive via email?!? So what is all this stuff?! I'm considering trashing it all and starting fresh. They will just bill me again, won't they?!
Laundry.
I am a huge proponent of renting houses when traveling for any length of time. I prefer eating food I prepare {at least some of the time} and packing lightly and laundering my own clothes. I realize "packing lightly" is a relative term which we will not now debate. Suffice to say, I do laundry regularly when away for longer stays. In fact, I am fairly certain we left North Carolina with suitcases full of clean clothes. Additionally, the kids' clothes were washed at camp. They should have only had a few days of dirty clothes each. Sadly, 'tis not the case. A leaky cooler was placed on top of my suitcase rendering everything inside a wet mess. Lovely considering 100+ degree temps through which we traveled on our way home. Ewww.
Ditto the kids' trunks. All clean, right?! Until, that is, they threw their last pair of dirty clothes, sandy shoes, and wet towel on top and then hermetically sealed that baby for the road trip home. Double ewwww.
The resulting mound mountain of laundry is still taunting me. I actually think I can hear it now: "Amy, you cannot wish this pile of laundry away. And the moldy smell is not getting any better sitting in the hot laundry room."
Someone send reinforcements.
Home repairs.
Have I mentioned before that my house is in a constant state of repair or need repair?! Probably so as it consumes a good portion of my time and attention scheduling and otherwise dealing with the constant stream of workers who pass through these doors.
When we returned from our recent sojourn we discovered our kitchen sink was inoperable. Actually, the sink itself works just fine, the offending object is actually the faucet. I have never given it much thought, but a kitchen without running water is fairly useless. The Hubs suggested dragging a hose inside to help rinse the dishes. Thanks for that, babe. Instead, I enlisted the kids who filled pitchers of water from the bathroom to keep next to the sink. It was our own version of Little House on the Prairie living.
But wait, there's more!
A sprinkler in the front yard apparently died. Dead sprinkler during Texas summer = dead grass. Lovely.
I'm not done yet.
The vines growing on our house and guest house were issued their own zip code while we were away. They are no longer vines, in fact, but large trees growing on the side of our house and cutting into the stucco facade. They must come down. Of course, tearing them down is not the problem. That's easy - cathartic even. But now, the house must be painted. Or alternatively, remain as it is looking like a haunted house of horrors.
Make it stop!
Sick kids.
As soon as the camp adrenaline rush wore off both kids began coughing and running a fever. Today Little Miss Thang added a stomach bug to the mix. Fun!
I'm so excited to add "sanitize every household surface" to my list of things to do.
PTA.
It's starting -- the daily barrage of emails requesting time, more time, and then just a bit more time. School doesn't start for two more weeks; apparently we cannot wait for that formality.
So I suppose, as the picture perfect summer comes to an end it is only fair that my haired reality should once again reign supreme.
Reality - check!
