too much fun

Last week we turned our children loose to summer camp. They went to Camp Wooten, which is near Pomeroy, WA. It's in the middle of NOWHERE. It took me and my friend 7 hours to get the kids there.....and then she and I turned around and came back home, all in the same day.

Tuesday I spent recovering from Monday.

Wednesday A. and I decided to tackle the household dungeon and get it cleaned up from past horrors. Other people might call this a garage, but they haven't visited ours. When A. moved the church office home, it went into the garage, thereby condensing usual garage things into a much smaller space. So Wednesday and Thursday were spent primarily cleaning up mice nests and their leavings, reorganizing boxes and books, Craigslisting what we wanted to get rid of, and Dumping or Goodwilling the rest. (My college English professor would make hay with that last sentence. Nerts to her.) Huge progress! I no longer have a dungeon.

Friday it was time to tackle my darling daughter's room. She is Creative! Artsy! American Girl-themed! Puppies! Dolphins! and just about any other cute exclamatory word you want to submit. I avoid her room, because the creativity is just oppressive at times. Paper. ugh. I have a thing about PAPER. I hate paperwork, I hate scrapbooking, I hate piles of paper, I hate bills and receipts and doing taxes....you get the idea. And this is precisely what S's room is made of. Indeed, the very walls are held up with her drawings and pictures cut out of AG or Cricket magazines... it's just overwhelming to me.

About two hours into the ordeal I realized I needed help with this, because I was gradually getting more and more irate - and that is really not the way you want to welcome home a child who has been away from home all week! ("Hi Mom! Did you miss me?" should not be replied to with "HOLY COW YOUR ROOM WAS A COMPLETE STY I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LIVE THIS WAY!") So my dear husband came alongside to provide aid, support, and recycling. By the time the kids got home, we were mostly done, and I was able to appropriately welcome my children.

Turns out, about 5 blocks from home, S succumbed to car sickness, so my first greeting with her involved a quick hug and a run for some paper towels and cleaning solution for my friend's poor car. I chalked it up to overtiredness and a long day in the car. We took them out to Playa Azul for dinner (S only sipping Sprite and nibbling a quesadilla), and all was well. D fell asleep in the big chair about 9 p.m., S not long after.

12:30 a.m.: The Sixth Sense that all mothers have called all my other senses to stand to attention. A CARPET EMERGENCY had occurred! Apparently the quesadilla and sprite didn't want to stay put. I gave A. the less gruesome task of consoling and helping the daughter while I rescued the carpet.

7 a.m. - D is awake and running a 102.5 fever. He's not been ill like S has, but he's at least able to play a little Godzilla. I log onto the Net to find out how to remove lingering odors from the previous carpet emergency (baking soda, and lots of it!). I go back to bed.

9: 45 a.m. - Whoa, did I oversleep! Both kids now have fevers between 101.5 and 102.5 degrees. They must have had too much fun at camp. They've spent the day snoozing in various locations around the house while I tackle Mount Washmore.

Did I mention we three are going to California on Monday? Maybe not so soon. :)