My long weekend sans family was NOT a bust, although I did not do anything remotely creative. I did a mountain of laundry (including bedding for all of my stinky boys. Phew!). I did make it to Costco and I basically ate a lot of takeout, drank beer, and made up for all of my interesting choices by going on an EPIC hike with some of my dear girlfriends.
That Dakota Trail wasn’t messing around and man, I was grateful that the majority of the mud we slogged through was frozen. Ooooof! Lots of Gandalf jokes were made, we decided as a collective that we weren’t going to hike Everest … ever, and I grateful for good friends, post-hike coffee accompanied by Ina’s blueberry bran muffins, and the morning migas from Taco Jed’s here in my town. Delicious.
AND THEN!!!! If the fact that I had three days and two nights sans family wasn’t enough, my parents asked if they could watch our children for a couple of days. Given the amount of screen time my kids have been consuming lately, given that my folks have acres for my kids to expend energy on, and the fact that my kiddos have missed out on a year of grandparent-ly shenanigans from both side of the family, we said “hell yes,” reminded my oldest to not play with axes (long story, but no injuries, thank the goddess) and they spent two nights with my folks and whew … between visits with both sets of grandparents, I think my kids had a fantastic spring break. And I have a grateful heart.
You’d think that with so much time to myself, I’d be outlining my next novel, working on the synopsis for Dragonfly that’s eluded me, etc. But on Sunday I confessed to my girlfriends that I hadn’t been near my computer since Thursday evening. And honestly … I think I needed a break from computer screens as badly as my kids did.
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Watching: While my family was gone, I rented a terrible, TERRIBLE 90s “thriller” that I adored when I was younger. I still adore it, it’s still terrible (saxophone at crucial scenes whether romantic thriller or “hey! that dude has a knife” thrilling moments), but it was Friday night and I was eating pad Thai … so life was good and I wasn’t questioning my taste.
My children were born in 2012 and 2013, so it is no great mystery that I missed out on a couple crucial moments of pop culture history … namely most of the Marvel movies. While our kids were gone, my husband and I caught up on “The Avengers” and one of the “Thor” movies while drinking beer and eating snacks for dinner that we’d never let our kids get away with.
Reading: Her Final Words by Brianna Labuskes. (And it’s gooooood.)
Writing: The next adventure is still percolating …
Wear your mask! Be good to people you meet. Get outside if the weather is fine where you are.
– Shelley
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What is Friday Fare? As a recap, on Fridays I post link love to the various bits of arcane shiz I discover on the Interwebs. I liken it to a glimpse into my mind, but without the 80s song lyrics or mental cobwebs.