The Boys are Back in Town

My hubs has been on a mission this summer to keep himself and the boys on the go. So we were back at home a week from our western vacation and then they took off to Florida. The reason they went sans moi is because I am at work and have…four….and…a…half….vacation…days….left….to…my…name…...for 2009.

So he took them to the beach (we are lucky to have lots of family there). They drove 7 hours with two bathroom breaks, ate my famous chicken salad, drove to the beach parking lot at 4:00 p.m., changed into their suits in the SUV, and spent a couple of hours in the water, and calling me to say, “The ocean is so warm you would even be in it!!!” Then they showered off in another parking lot and met family for dinner at a restaurant on the water. Repeat for the next 5 days.

I missed them terribly. My Youngest one tried hard not to cry when I said good-bye to them that morning. He is very attached. Me too.

On the day they left I had to drive 2.5 hours to a meeting for work, sit for 4 hours, and drive 2.5 hours back. I couldn’t get home fast enough. I had a date with the living room, the couch, my dvr, and dinner.

(This is a photo of the Oldest is 13 now and looks older than he did last month and who was excited to see me too but tries not to show it)

Here is what I learned while they were gone:

1). It is clearly not my clothes that are the bulk of the tons of laundry we do each week. I did not have to do any laundry.
2). Ditto on the dishwasher. I know how to re-use my water glass. Ran one load after 5 days.
3). Ditto on the food. I ate what we already had and had no need to do my weekly shopping at BJ’s, grocery store, Super H for fruits and vegetables, or Target for toiletries and snack foods/cereals.
4). I could live in a studio sized place. No wonder the single lady sold the house to us.
5). I only watch a few channels on TV.
6). You’d have thought I’d get rest but I was up late watching TV or reading.

(One day the beach was deserted except for the boys and hubs said a few 10 year old girls came by and hung out. The boys were clueless).

After a few days of work, dinner, TV, computer, reading and no housework I then spent the weekend cleaning from top to bottom. It was way too hot outside to get motivated to do anything else.

But back to the boys. Apparently they got sunburned their first day out even though I reminded them to take it easy. “Uh-oh, Mom is going to be mad” is what they said Dad told them. And they had rashes on their chests, bellies and legs from the boogie boards and board shorts. They’d tell me about it on the phone at night, but apparently forget about it the next day as they’d spend more hours in the water. They even had a great “Dad is a hero” memory when hubs saw a teen-age boy caught in a riptide and whose friend tried to help but got tired too so hubs took a surfboard out to him and all three of them kicked parallel to the shore for a while and came back in.

On their last day they even spent 3 more hours at the beach before cleaning up at my MIL’s and driving the 7 hours back. They got back at 9:00 p.m. (...big sigh, and yours truly had to go to work again the next day) and they were all amazed at the spic and span house (I won’t be cleaning out the refrigerator again till the winter holidays again), which got trashed again within 24 hours.

Anyway, I was jumping for joy when they got back and was amazed at how huge they looked. I am totally serious even though it was just 5 days. I insisted I measure them in the garage at the usual spot and each of them grew ½ inch since last measured 30 days ago.

They showed me the cuts on hands from “where they had reached in sand when boogie boarding and a crab bit them”, and one’s chest was burned and peeling (yeah, I was not happy), and what amazed me was the hands that were red and raw from holding the boogie boards for hours and hours.

Their hair looked blonder, their bodies looked toned-er, and their eyes bluer. My hubs called his mother to say they were back safe and sound and I heard him say, “Yes, she is glad to have them back and has inspected their bodies from head to toe.” I guess I did!

(That night I heard about an earache (from the ocean water) and Youngest wa shappy to have me fix him up).