I left the UP for a couple of days last week. It was WONDERFUL ! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being in Michigan for the summers and I LOVE my life up here but every so often I need a little change of pace. I am a restless person. I like having "adventures" but I also crave having time to myself. Wherever I am I like to have projects to focus on to keep me busy. I enjoy cleaning out a closet or dresser. I enjoy rearranging kitchen cabinets and I actually enjoy cleaning out the car. But along with all that I LOVE sitting under a shady tree reading a book. Especially if it is one written by Stephen King.
Last week The Man's son flew down to Michigan from his home in Alaska. He arrived with his girlfriend and her 2 boys ages 8 & 10. They flew in on Saturday afternoon after traveling almost 24 hours. Flights from Fairbanks to Seattle to Minneapolis to Escanaba. That's a LONG trip . . . and I appreciate that they do this once a year to come see The Man but it also means 4 extra people in this tiny house with only ONE bathroom and a septic tank. (No civilized sewers for this part of the world. The week before they arrived the toilet was backing up so we had to have the septic tank pumped out. Better before the guests came than while they were here.) The group arrived in a whirl wind and settled in for the week. I remembered from last years visit just how chaotic the week would be so I made arrangements to escape to Atlanta, GA to visit my oldest child who will be turning 50 on Sunday. (How I can possibly have a 50 year old child is beyond me since I am only 35.) I used Kyle's birthday as my "excuse" to leave town but all I truly wanted was to NOT be here in Michigan with a house full of people. The Man and I are about 3 weeks away from returning to Florida so we have lots going on. Last minute doctor appointments, the oil burner man coming to service the heating system before we leave it for the winter, garden furniture to put away, things to winterize and close up. It's a busy time for us. Our Alaska guests are a help with some of it but they also create more work at a time when we are trying to wrap things up. Extra laundry, extra food and a lot of extra beer being drunk. I picked up our house guests at the airport on Saturday and then I left town 4 days later.
Do I feel the least bit guilty about leaving The Man ? NO NO NO and NO !!!!!!! I look at this visit as an opportunity for someone else to keep an eye on The Man while I reset, recharge and RELAX !!! And that is exactly what I did !!! Kyle and his wife, Bridget bought me a round trip ticket to come to Atlanta. They put up with me for 4 days and nights, cooked wonderful, HEALTHY and delicious meals. They left me alone to sleep late in my "private suite" and to sit in the sun room or out on the deck to read all day. My only job was to talk to Nora the cat when she came near me for some tickles. (I'm not sure Nora knows what to make of me. She comes over, sniffs my hand and then gives me a look that says, "Who the heck are you and what are you doing in my house?" She tolerates my existence in her space but I am sure she is glad to get her people back for herself when I leave.) I enjoyed an amazing few days of doing absolutely NOTHING ! I watched movies that I wanted to see. Not a single one included murder, mayhem or mystery. No blood and guts, no cowboys, cops or crime. Just happy and funny. It was wonderful !!!
In case you think I was totally "off the grid" I must mention that I had a nightly 45 minute phone call from The Man telling me about his day. I got blow by blow accounts of who did what, what he had to eat for the day, what the house guests did for the day, (most of which he did not approve of because they did things differently than he does so therefore they were "wrong") and what he was going to do the next day.
(Do you remember how detailed The Man can get? I will tell you that the description of how the guests took out the garbage took him ten minutes to share. It would have sufficed to say, "They took our the garbage" if I even needed to be aware of that. Not exactly a momentous occasion in my life.)
Then there was the panicked phone call regarding the washing machine. I am in Georgia . . . The Man is in upper Michigan. He is in a house with two adults who I am pretty sure have used a washing machine at some point in their lives. Mid afternoon one of the days my phone rings. It is The Man in a total complete panic . . . "There is something wrong with the washing machine!!!!" "Listen to it!!!" and he holds out the phone. I have NO idea what the hell he is talking about. I do not know what I am listening for. I couldn't hear anything. Apparently they were running a wash and The Man decided that our guests did something wrong and "broke" the machine. They tried to tell him it was just doing what it was supposed to do but The Man was convinced they did something wrong. So I got a phone call ! I calmed him down, told him it sounded fine to me and all was well with the world.
I need another vacation !!! And I have only been back 24 hours.
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