At our Church, Bart works with the 11-year-old scouts. This means that, a couple of times a year, he goes on an overnight campout, and I’m left here alone.
I always think this will be fantastic: I don’t have to make dinner, I can watch any movie I want, I can eat cookies for dinner, I can read late into the night, I can go shopping, etc., etc., etc. Sounds great! Sign me up!
And yet, it’s never very fun. The library closed early and so I didn’t have anything to read that sounded fabulous. I didn’t have any movies to watch (they were also at the closed library). The effort involved in getting in the car and driving to Old Navy seemed unbearable. I’m a wimp – the house scares me a bit when I’m going to bed alone.
I could have called Ralphie, since her husband is also on the campout and her girls go to bed early, but then I’d just have had to come back to my dark and quiet house (both of my porch lights have suddenly gone out – what in the world?).
The thing is, Bart is fun to have around. Any movie I want to watch, he’s more than happy to watch with me. He has no problem with letting me read for as long as I need. He never says anything if I don’t want to make dinner (you wonder why we always have a large supply of frozen pizzas and raman on hand). Having him gone just means it’s all just a little less fun.
Fortunately, now it’s Saturday morning. The library is open again. An Old Navy trip suddenly doesn’t seem so utterly overwhelming. The sun is shining (even if it’s only 45 degrees outside – what is this?). And Bart is coming home this afternoon.
Oh and I dreamed about 24 last night – it’s more fun when you’re watching it on TV and not getting knives thrown at you or driving madly on rocky roads, hoping like crazy that the nut cases with guns aren’t on your tail. It wasn’t exactly a restful night’s sleep.
janet says
I totally know what you mean. My husband has been working a lot of late nights recently, and as much as having a night to myself seems fun, it really is lonely!
Ralphie says
Hey! I always think to invite you over but have these imaginations that you are out doing something fabulous and non-kid like.
Our house is an open invitation to you and Bart. If you ever need a break from solitude I’m there for you! Plus, it would have been incredibly nice to watch “Middlemarch” with some one other than Erin’s stuffed animals. I stayed up until 4:00am because I couldn’t STOP watching it! You could have been my voice of reason. Baaa! I will be a true zombie at the Halloween party tonight.
sheyenne says
Okay, I’m getting up the guts to post (even though I told you before that I feel like I’m spying on someone by reading their blog!) So this is totally off topic, but I’ve been reading a few of your posts tonight and I find it so cute/funny/entertaining that you use all these words like “glorious”, “shall”, “fabulous”, and “lovely”. Probably it’s so entertaining because I just would never think of using them myself. It seems kind of like you should have an English accent as you say it. Anyhoo- love it. I’ll be “spying” on you in the future.
Merrick says
I went to bed by myself almost every night for 2 straight months while Philip worked at the airport. I had a little routine where I’d turn pretty much every light in the house on, then work my way toward the bedroom, turning them off as I went. Then I’d turn my bedside table light on, then I’d go turn the bedroom light off, then I’d sit and read until I was so unbearably tired that I’ll I could do was turn off the light and fall IMMEDIATELY asleep. It worked quite well…only once or twice did I lay in bed, imagining up all sorts of terrifying noises, thinking a terrorist was attempting to break into the house.
Whew..glad those days are over.
Miriam Higginson says
I have to admit I enjoy the times my husband is out of town on business or scout campouts. It does help to live in an unbelievably safe small town where if I hear a bump in the night I know it’s either the dog or our neighbor (and bishop) probably doing something really scary like putting out the trash!