Weekend Camping Adventure

This weekend, a group of six of us went on a camping excursion in Boulder Lake for Man Friend's best friend's birthday. With only a few minor disasters, it was about a 90% success...which is pretty high if you ask me.

The weekend started off a tad on the rocky side. There hadn't been very good communication or organization of the trip until about a day beforehand, which drove my very anal retentive self crazy. I need to know exactly how everything is going and have a borderline unhealthy need to plan things down to the detail. The campground and site weren't even chosen until Friday morning, less than ten hours before Man Friend and I were supposed to leave town.

Well, the site was determined and I started to feel a little more at ease. Not so fast. Nothing ever goes that smoothly. It started pouring and even hailing in some areas. After checking the weather, I found out the area where we were camping was expecting intermittent showers throughout the weekend. Assured Monica very quickly grew into Grouchy Monica. I did not want to spend the weekend cold and miserable and went into the trip expecting the worst...and in a very sour mood.

Alas, the rain ended (for a while) and by the time we reached the campground, skies were mostly clear.

Saturday did have some scattered showers, but luckily for us, it was mostly just sprinkles. The worst part about the weather, though, was that all the wood/logs/sticks were soaked and nearly impossible to start a fire with. Man Friend and his BFF ended up going into town mid afternoon to get more wood. Anyway, the camp ground was really nice and I definitely wouldn't mind going again. Clean, big, no one too rowdy and the grounds had a beach as well. We swam for a while in the afternoon, even though I initially would have rathered sit on the beach reading. I'm not one for water, and by that I mean, I hate swimming, and am scared of it. It took quite a bit of coaxing from Man Friend for me to even get in waist deep. After a while I did manage to have a decent amount of fun with everyone else.

Back at the camp site, we made a little friend with a friendly chipmunk. At first we decided to call him Alvin, you know, from Alvin and the Chipmunks. Man Friend started throwing Reeses Pieces towards him and we very quickly discovered that apparently chippies love them. The little guy was stuffing every one in his mouth, occasionally scampering away to hide it somewhere unknown to us stupid humans. It didn't take long for a game to develop to see how much and/or what he would shove in his mouth. The answer is pretty much anything, which turned into the new name of Theodore, you know, like Alvin's fat brother. Theodore's biggest accomplishment was fitting an entire Carmello square in his mouth and running off with it. He was also particularly fond of green grapes and my pesto noodle salad.

Approximately 5:00 Sunday morning, it started storming. And hard. Rain was pouring down and thunder and lightning started. Storms are loud enough normally, but when only a tent is between you and a storm, it seems about a zillion times louder. I'm typically not scared of storms at all, but the whole being outdoors with next to nothing for shelter changes that. I was pretty scared we could get hurt by the lightning...not to mention paranoid water would get in the tent, leaving me cold, wet and miserable. This was everything I didn't want out of the trip. It took quite a while, but eventually the storm subsided, I was able to chill out and fell back asleep.

Despite the few glitches, it was a really relaxing weekend. It was so nice and, and frankly, much needed, to be away from home for a few days and leave the stress of reality behind. And really, is anything better than having a few cold beers around a fire?

One Fabulous Weekend

This past weekend was one of the best I've had in quite some time. It was one of those "I've barely had time to sit down, but I'm having so much fun it doesn't even matter" times.

My mom was home for my sister's graduation and stayed for the full weekend. I was able to hang out with her and her best friend one night and Man Friend and I took her to Hu Hot on her last night in town. She had never been before and I think she really enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun hanging out with her, but I don't think it's really hit me that she won't be home again until Christmas time.

Friday my youngest sister had her graduation/end of the year party with a bunch of friends. I made her BLT dip and embarrassed her in front of her friends. She invited the boy she likes (well, now boyfriend since the party), one more thing I'm not sure how I feel about. As far as I'm concerned, she's too young for a boyfriend (nevermind I had been seeing a boy for a full year at this point in my life) but I'm more than ok with embarrassing her about it.

Saturday during the day was a little uneventful, but after taking Mom out to dinner, Man Friend and I had a bonfire at his place with some of his BFFs. It was the first time he had used the fire pit since moving in to the place, and the previous tenant left it a shithole. Everything from cans, bottles, wires and bolts were in that pit, among the massive amount of ash just sitting in there. After a little TLC, the pit was a little safer, less full and the fire worked much nicer. We sat around the fire drinking, enjoying the warm weather and, of course, talking about a zombie apocalypse. They always talk about what they would do to survive an apocalypse, and recently they've come to the conclusion that they will meet at Man Friend's dad's house in the event of an attack...because that's where the most guns are.

Sunday Man Friend and I spent the afternoon at the Wildlife Sanctuary. It was honestly one of the best dates we've ever had. I wish there were words to explain how much fun I had. It was the perfect day, too. Nice and hot, with a cool breeze, sunny and a mostly clear sky. We walked around for hours feeding the geese and ducks, looking through all the exhibits and walking the trails. We were there for a good two and a half hours, and every single minute of it was wonderful. Getting out of the house and doing something other than watching tv was much needed. Spending time alone and without our cell phones was so relaxing. That's exactly what being in a relationship should be and a reminder of what makes me love him so much.

Graduation and a Day Off

On our sister date last weekend

On Thursday, my baby sister graduated from eighth grade. I realize that ending eighth grade and getting ready for high school isn't exactly "baby sister" territory, but it's a pretty hard transition. For me, anyway...she has no problem heading into this next chapter in her life. Not only am I the big sister, but while my parents worked many long hours at their restaurant, I grew up helping them raise her. Accepting that she's growing up has been quite the task for me, but I'm getting better. It is nice, though, to be able to carry on more adult and meaningful conversations with her.

With both my sisters after the ceremony. The ONE time I don't wear heels.

Anyway, back to graduation. It was a really nice ceremony, though the principal did get a little long winded. She hit the expected topics of how much they've grown up, highlights of the their last three years and high school prep. One thing that did make the ceremony unique was the really personal admissions from her. The principal had been diagnosed with cancer and was out for about seven months. She shared how the students helped her through the chemo and to fight her way through the disease. All of the students and staff had sent her little notes when she was first diagnosed, and she read some of funniest messages to the graduation guests. "I feel really bad for you, even though you aren't a relative," and "get well soon...like a boss" were two that made me LOL so hard I thought I was going to pee myself.

After the ceremony ended, we took a few pictures before my sister scurried off to be with her friends. My middle sister and I went to lunch at Panera and got to spend some time chatting. With her on third shift, me on first and me not living at home, we don't get many opportunities to hang out alone, so it was a really nice spur of the moment decision. I picked up some food for Man Friend and surprised him at work. We got to sit outside together while he was on his lunch break. We've never been able to have lunch together during the week and it made me wish we had more opportunities to do so. Hopefully if I ever get a job in town, we'll be able to do so once in a while.

I was able to spend the rest of the afternoon taking care of Monica. I went on a 2.5 mile walk, hula hooped with my weighted hoop, and finished Mockingjay, the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I finished each book in two sittings; they are so phenomenal. Young adult/unrealistic/overly popular novels normally aren't my cup of tea, but these books were actually really well written and very engaging. I couldn't put them down.

Finishing off the day, Man Friend and I met some of our friends out for drinks for a while. It was still nice enough out that we were all able to relax/sit out on the bar's patio. Now that's what summer is all about.

It's days like Thursday that I wish I was able to work four tens. Having that one extra day off during the week is so wonderful. I can get stuff done that I normally can't during working hours, tend to be obnoxiously productive, and feel less stressed about work because I'm only there four days instead of five.