The long week ahead

Monday, August 15, 2005

In 4 1/2 days we will be on our way to our most favorite activity! Camping!!!!

All who go on vacations know how long this week will be for us, I dread it so. But I figured I would spend my time preparing everything little by little.

Yesterday, we set up our tents in order to waterproof them. I thought that four cans of spray and three tubes of seam sealer would have been enough to cover it all but not even close. We finished only 3/4 of our large tent and the little tent, well that one wasn't even touched. So, I had to return to the store again to buy more. Hopefully by tonight, both tents will be as waterproof as we ourselves can make them.

I told Pat yesterday though that it will probably be a beautiful week and we won't get an opportunity to see if all our hard work and simple highs paid off.

I scoured our cupboards last night to find food for this trip. I am truly amazed at what I found buried deep within them, not to mention our chest freezer. I of course changed my whole menu plan to accomodate what food I did find but that is officially done. I still need to buy a few more things to fulfill my menu needs but that's to be expected. That list is about a page long.

Then I tackled the packing lists for the kids and ourselves. Wow, boys are such simple little fellows! My son's and Pat's list are about 1/4 of a page while my girls and myself fill a whole page.
Men just don't realize how easy they have it and yell at us for over packing things. Personal things, hair stuff, face stuff.

Ok, well, I am a pretty simple person, don't wear make-up and find make-up to be completely useless on a camping trip, I don't bring a hair dryer, I don't do my hair except in pony-tails, but I do have a lot of hair, so I need brushes, conditioner, stuff for the frizz. Oh, I should mention that my 15 year old gave me a perm a couple of weeks ago so I need to tame it down with all that goop even though I hate doing it. Then there's lotion for the face, which I don't use much in the summer, lotion after shaving, razors, all sorts of extras that are missing from my son's list and Pat's as well.

I do try to pack sparingly but it just never seems to work out that way. And with our experience with the weather last year well, I am packing one extra set of warm clothes. I know that in the end, I will be lectured about keeping the weight down but really, I just can't. I found some of those bags that compress your clothes and was going to pick up a couple packs but thought it to be a waste of $20. I roll things into hotdog shapes and use the room as best I can.

The final list I worked out was the list for all the necessary camping stuff. Grill, stove, pots, pans, flippers, propane, lantern, dishes, etc. Sitting on my couch last night trying to envision all that we will need was somewhat of a stressful task for me as I just cannot ever seem to remember what things we have stored in our garage. I can remember all the larger items but when I got down to the nitty gritty of things, silverware, containers, bags, tablecloths, well, through the course of the year, these bins are dug into for this or that for our back yard campfires and such. So, I imagine I will have to rummage through oodles of things in order to find what I need.

Funny thing though is I pack this stuff away with the idea that it will not be used until our next trip. It is not I who digs through and pulls specific things out, it is usually Pat and our girls. I am usually the type that finds other means in which to cook because I really hate when our camping stuff is so unorganized.

This is one of my BIG pet peeves! Put stuff back where you got it when you are done with it!

I know, we are all guilty of this mild syndrome but I swear in my house it is not mild. Like this morning, I went to make coffee and the cover for the water holder was broken off. I asked the other 3 people in this house who make coffee the majority of the time who broke it and not one of them fessed up. Their answers were, 'It was just like that'. Makes me laugh. Maybe the moth that was fluttering around broke it with its wing or the fly magically ripped it off due to frustration of not having any food in which to prey on.

In the end, I know that all of this will come together just as it does every year. This will be such a long and stressful week for me. I have lots to do this week.

Hubby started his new job this morning so he will be gone all week, the kids are either working or spending time with their friends and they are a help but I guess I would rather just do it myself. Then I have no one to yell at but myself. I have to catch up on laundry, pack for myself, for our family, compact things as much as I can, and the minute I get yelled at, I will be like a snapping turtle waiting to snap 'if you can do it better, than why don't you do it yourself'.

Written by louie0768 .