{away}
I am sitting in Nashville. It is 9:15 on a Sunday morning and I am the only one of the twelve friends staying in the house up for the day after our very, very late night last night. I would rather be sleeping, but I seem to be unable to sleep past eight in the morning, even if I don't go to bed until after four. There will have to be a nap sometime in my day, especially since we intend to go out again this evening, but for now I am happy to be sitting in the living room of our rental home with my laptop and my coffee and an entire day with my best friends in my future.
Life has been a little stressful lately. As I've shared a little, Ben has been gone more than he has been home over the past couple of weeks. We've put our house back on the market after our first buyer's financing fell through. School and work have started back up for the kids after our extra long Winter Break. I've been getting orders to my shop, but have had a difficult time filling them because I have zero work space in our staged-for-showings home. Not major stresses, but stresses for sure.
The past few days have been a strange and welcome change up. On Thursday afternoon, Ben volunteered to make the drive to take the kids to Decatur for the weekend on his own. His solo drive meant that I could stay behind and get the house ready for the many showings we had scheduled for the weekend and could pack for our trip before our departure on Friday morning. The five of them left on Thursday and the house felt so immediately quiet. They even took Bear, so I didn't even have my constant four legged companion. It is a very rare occurrence for me to be in my house without someone else there, so it felt weird.
Luckily, before I had to jump in to cleaning and packing, I had plans to meet up with a friend I do not see enough of. We met for manicures and dinner at Bread Company and lots of catching up. After we called it a night, I needed to stop at Target for a couple of things I needed for the weekend. By the time I got back to the house at nine, I felt as if I had already had a nice break. A manicure, dinner with a friend, and a solo trip to Target? I was living the life!
After a hurried Friday morning in St. Louis with work calls for Ben, a hair appointment for me first thing in the morning, and us absolutely needing to be packed and out of our house- with it looking showing perfect, no less- by 8:00, we were excited to hit the road and make the drive to spend three days with our best friends.
Since hitting Nashville on Friday afternoon, we've been in super-relaxed, not-our-ordinary-life mode. We're staying in a huge rental house with five other couples and loving all of our time to hang out. There has been lots of drinking, laughing, eating, and talking. There has been two nights out in Nashville. Friday night was a dinner I'll remember forever, no exaggeration. A beautiful dining space, delicious food and drinks, and so much laughter my sides hurt. As the twelve of us sat around the fire place in our own private dining room, I felt so blessed by the friendships in that room. I knew, looking around, that even if the rest of the weekend paled in comparison, that dinner made the whole trip worth it.
On Saturday the boys bonded at the house over beer and football and ping pong games and chicken wings. The girls caught up over lunch and shopping. We all met back up at the house around five and the day got even better. Pizzas ordered to the house, quite a few rounds of Cards Against Humanity, and some cocktails started our night together in the best way. The girls had fun getting ready together, swapping jewelry and curling one another's hair. It reminded me of college. We Ubered it downtown around nine and stayed on Broadway until about two, just taking in the bar scene. After we got back to the house, we stayed up another couple of hours talking and laughing. It was, for the second time in the weekend, a night that would have made the trip worth it, even if it had been the only highlight of the weekend.
I sit here now and almost can't believe I still get one more day of this getaway. It's felt luxuriously long already, so even if I had to leave right now, I would be okay with it. Pretty glad that's not the case, though.
All of this time to just worry about myself and myself only has been strange. I haven't checked in with the kids much because I know they are in great hands (Thanks so very much, Patti. We appreciate you more than I can say.) and I know from texts with Gracie that they are having a fun time. Their weekend has held a movie and meals out and time at a gym with a climbing wall and inflatables. They are having as much of a break from routine as we are, and I am sure they are enjoying living at Nini's for the weekend in a house that does not have to be ready for a showing at a moment's notice.
Life is good all the time, but life is really good sometimes. This weekend is one of those really good times.
Life has been a little stressful lately. As I've shared a little, Ben has been gone more than he has been home over the past couple of weeks. We've put our house back on the market after our first buyer's financing fell through. School and work have started back up for the kids after our extra long Winter Break. I've been getting orders to my shop, but have had a difficult time filling them because I have zero work space in our staged-for-showings home. Not major stresses, but stresses for sure.
The past few days have been a strange and welcome change up. On Thursday afternoon, Ben volunteered to make the drive to take the kids to Decatur for the weekend on his own. His solo drive meant that I could stay behind and get the house ready for the many showings we had scheduled for the weekend and could pack for our trip before our departure on Friday morning. The five of them left on Thursday and the house felt so immediately quiet. They even took Bear, so I didn't even have my constant four legged companion. It is a very rare occurrence for me to be in my house without someone else there, so it felt weird.
Luckily, before I had to jump in to cleaning and packing, I had plans to meet up with a friend I do not see enough of. We met for manicures and dinner at Bread Company and lots of catching up. After we called it a night, I needed to stop at Target for a couple of things I needed for the weekend. By the time I got back to the house at nine, I felt as if I had already had a nice break. A manicure, dinner with a friend, and a solo trip to Target? I was living the life!
After a hurried Friday morning in St. Louis with work calls for Ben, a hair appointment for me first thing in the morning, and us absolutely needing to be packed and out of our house- with it looking showing perfect, no less- by 8:00, we were excited to hit the road and make the drive to spend three days with our best friends.
Since hitting Nashville on Friday afternoon, we've been in super-relaxed, not-our-ordinary-life mode. We're staying in a huge rental house with five other couples and loving all of our time to hang out. There has been lots of drinking, laughing, eating, and talking. There has been two nights out in Nashville. Friday night was a dinner I'll remember forever, no exaggeration. A beautiful dining space, delicious food and drinks, and so much laughter my sides hurt. As the twelve of us sat around the fire place in our own private dining room, I felt so blessed by the friendships in that room. I knew, looking around, that even if the rest of the weekend paled in comparison, that dinner made the whole trip worth it.
On Saturday the boys bonded at the house over beer and football and ping pong games and chicken wings. The girls caught up over lunch and shopping. We all met back up at the house around five and the day got even better. Pizzas ordered to the house, quite a few rounds of Cards Against Humanity, and some cocktails started our night together in the best way. The girls had fun getting ready together, swapping jewelry and curling one another's hair. It reminded me of college. We Ubered it downtown around nine and stayed on Broadway until about two, just taking in the bar scene. After we got back to the house, we stayed up another couple of hours talking and laughing. It was, for the second time in the weekend, a night that would have made the trip worth it, even if it had been the only highlight of the weekend.
I sit here now and almost can't believe I still get one more day of this getaway. It's felt luxuriously long already, so even if I had to leave right now, I would be okay with it. Pretty glad that's not the case, though.
All of this time to just worry about myself and myself only has been strange. I haven't checked in with the kids much because I know they are in great hands (Thanks so very much, Patti. We appreciate you more than I can say.) and I know from texts with Gracie that they are having a fun time. Their weekend has held a movie and meals out and time at a gym with a climbing wall and inflatables. They are having as much of a break from routine as we are, and I am sure they are enjoying living at Nini's for the weekend in a house that does not have to be ready for a showing at a moment's notice.
Life is good all the time, but life is really good sometimes. This weekend is one of those really good times.
Comments
You are so blessed to have long time friends that you love to spend time with. I am glad that you got a break from the stress that has been your life lately and got to reconnect with the people you love. And that you trusted me with the care of your little ones.