how I spent my summer vacation
August 18, 2006

If anyone is interested at all in where I've been, well--here's the answer. First, I was working. And then I was down in the dumps. And then? On VACATION!!!!! I spent it with Niece. And it has been an extremely hectic five days.

We went to 1 movie-- "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest". We didn't like it much--it never got to the point. Any point.
It seemed like it was all just a big set-up for number three. But I'm looking forward to number three, actually. I�m thinking it will be much better.

We also watched the following movies at home: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "Raising Helen", �The Parent Trap� (Lindsey Lohan version), "Go Figure", and "Bring It On: All or Nothing ".

Not as painful as it sounds, given that freaky Johnny Depp is better than no Johnny Depp at all, and �The Parent Trap� falls into the category of �tween movies with dads I�d like to bonk� (Denny Quaid. Sigh.).
And of course, John Corbett is in "Raising Helen". Small problem there, though.
While I love movies in which the guy playing the father is hot, I hate the fact that in this one, he�s old enough to be his love interest�s father.

I also got to watch one mind-boggling shitload of Disney Channel. I'm nothing if not indulgent.

We went out for lunch twice, and for strawberry malts once.

We got a manicure. OPI Hawaiian Orchid for me, and Niece went with neon green on her fingers and bright purple on her toes. Hey--there�s a time and a place for everything. And when it comes to bright green fingernails with glitter topcoat, the time is summer vacation before eighth grade, and the place is when you are staying with your favorite Auntie and Uncle.

AND...we got pedicures.
Yes. I let someone touch my feet. And survived.

We went girly-shopping twice, looking at clothes, shoes, purses, nail polish, sunglasses, and jewelry, and all that feminine stuff.

We played games--oh, Niece looooves to play games! Phase 10 once, Bunco once, In a Pickle once, Skip Bo three times, and Yahtzee so many times that I lost count.

We went swimming every day, and she only tried to drown me about half a dozen times.

We went ice skating twice, and I only fell down a total of four times.

We argued a little, laughed a lot, and once, I was outside talking to my neighbor, and I freaked the Niece, because she couldn�t find me. She was nearly hysterical and called her mom in a panic. Her mom made her look for me one more time, and there I was, standing next to my house, talking. She was relieved, but man, was she pissed that I �disappeared�. She�s my country mouse, and the city intimidates her a lot. When she couldn�t figure out where I was, she thought I got kidnapped.

Poor sweetie--I felt horrible that she got so scared. But I honestly didn�t think she�d react like that! She always acts a good tough game. I�m not entirely certain that I didn�t find that episode a bit reassuring. My little girl isn�t completely grown up just yet.

Let�s see-- I also cooked a lot of meals, managed a bit of gardening and pool maintenance, did a little cleaning here and there, washed a huge number of dishes and a small mountain of laundry, and squeezed in some time every morning to sit quietly in my backyard with my coffee and a book, since I rise early, but Niece and Spouse don�t.

We had one sticky situation to contend with, in that Niece was in the emergency room immediately prior to us picking her up last Sunday. She�s been having stomachaches and backaches that are just agonizing. The docs in the ER gave her Rx-strength Zantac for her stomach, and Percocet for her back pain. She wasn�t wild about the Percs. They knocked her out, so she avoided taking them. I let her use the heating pad for her back, fixed her chicken-noodle soup when her tummy was acting up, and made her rest when she was hurting. All that seemed to help, and I think that just the fact of adults taking her issue seriously and trying to accommodate it was reassuring and comforting to her.

Well, that was the week. I did all her laundry, we got her re-packed, and she�s all set for the next go-round. She�s got the Ren Fair tomorrow, and on Sunday, her Uncle JR is taking Grandma and the kids to the Dells for a few days at one of the water parks up there.

Man, if I had to keep her social schedule, I think I�d have tummy-aches and back pain too.
She�s an extrovert, though, so she takes it all much more in her stride than I ever could.

I, on the other hand, am exhausted. I intend to have a very quiet weekend, to recuperate before going back to work on Monday.