A Weekend Away

Although I will post this after I arrive and get home (and have internet connection again), pretend this is last Friday and I am on an Amtrak train that is pulling in to Michigan City, IN. I’m staying on until Jackson, MI where a friend of mine will pick me up. Together we will drive the last 30 minutes or so together to Hillsdale College where we will spend the weekend with 220 of our sorority sisters. I expect to know about 30 of them and I can not wait to see them. It’s been almost 20 years since we’ve been together and I am super-psyched.

I am also hoping for three good hair days in a row because there will probably be a lot of picture-taking and after four years of embarrassing photos in college could I please have just one day on that campus with good hair?

Getting away for an entire weekend wasn’t easy and my plan didn’t come together until Wednesday night. Leaving Charlie with the boys for the weekend wasn’t a problem. Leaving the three of them with no car, two birthday party invitations, two soccer games, two school pick-ups, and one t-ball meeting without a car was the problem. Finally my mom suggested the Megabus and after recoiling in horror (no room to walk around, a bus bathroom!) I checked out Amtrak, emailed my sorority sisters to mooch a ride from the station and a ride home, and here I am, riding along.

To prepare for Charlie and the boys for this weekend I did the following:

1. Washed the boys bathing suits so Charlie wouldn’t have to and then remembered that they now swim on Mondays, not Sundays.  Oh well. I also left Charlie a reminder to wash the soccer socks the boys will need on Sunday. Oops.

2. Stocked the fridge and cabinets with the boys favorite foods AND pre-packaged snacks that I would normally never buy (like fruit snacks and juice boxes and Lunchables). No wonder they like it when I leave.

3. Left Charlie detailed instructions of the school pick-up procedure, including leaving the “inclement weather pick-up instructions” on the front seat of the car, pre-packing the boys’ after-school snacks in their backpacks so Charlie wouldn’t have to remember them, and stocking the car with a fresh water bottle since the kids are always thirsty after school.

4. Bought and wrapped the birthday presents.

To prepare myself for this weekend I packed (in 30 minutes) a suitcase with a broken handle and a duffle bag without a shoulder strap and, sweaty in my winter coat, schlepped them both a mile to the el stop. First good hair day is shot.  Also I forgot my camera.

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I’m back. My weekend was awesome and I would show you pictures but my friend Beth would kill me. 

My hair looked good for 20 minutes on Saturday, in my hotel room.

The boys were glad to see me when I got home, but they were happier to find the Pi Phi cookies and Hillsdale College temporary tattoos that I brought them. 

I was happy to find that this survived.

It was a great weekend with fabulous people. Now, back to the grind!