Friday morning, it was nice waking up next to my little Mister, even though it was at about 7am. Snuggled for a little bit, then we both got out of bed. I got my latte and got parked on SL, while he watched TV and had his breakfast.
I got bill pay taken care of before I’d even brewed my second cup of coffee. It needed to be done before we left for Polar Day Camp. Then I got my clothes out of the dryer and folded them.
Once I was done with those couple chores, I hopped on DDO to do a round through Korthos Island for the Slayer side quest. I’d completed tier 6, hoping it would be the last, but it wasn’t. I couldn’t face playing endlessly on just that one quest, but I wanted to complete it before progressing because it was the last before moving on to Stormreach.
After I was done with that run through, it was time to get dressed so I’d be ready with a bit of time to chill before heading to Therapy. Once dressed, I had a couple new post-its to add to my wall. The first shocked the hell out of me when I’d first thought it, and I knew I had to write it down, but I’d procrastinated by a day or two. Finally I took pen to paper and wrote “You are desirable.” From sometime on Wednesday until then I actually did, for the first time in a very long time, feel that way. The other was “Guys dig your t & a lol” because I do get compliments about those “assets” on the regular. I don’t like either my “t” or my “a” but maybe this will help me start to see them as others do.
Therapy went well. I was up for my treatment review, basically determining whether or not my goals have been met for discharge. It’s done every 90 days since I first started going. It also gives me a chance to add/change/remove my goals. Nothing was able to be removed, but we actually officially added my self-confidence improvement as a goal because we’re actively working on that and it wasn’t already listed.
Once that was done, I handed her the chapter from “More Than Two” she’d asked me to bring the last time I saw her, and then showed her photographic evidence of my post-its, so she could see for herself the “You are desirable” one. She was at least as shocked as I was.
We talked a bit about what’d been going on lately, but mostly focused our attention on further improving my self-confidence. I told her I planned a note to write as soon as I got home: “You’re an awesome web designer!” And another note I thought about writing, because I felt I may be starting to believe it, at least a tiny bit: “You are beautiful and sexy!” She liked both of those.
A lot of things we’re working on all tie into one another, and we ended up spending a good bit of time working on getting my “right brain” working better. In this particular case, she wanted me to describe Pinewood Derby so that she could “see” it without actually being there. I then told her (briefly) about the poetry I used to write and the book I’d started to write when I was 14 and haven’t been able to work on for years due to a writer’s block. She wants me to practice writing, and we agreed I could start with something simple, like instead of just clicking “Share Post Now (Public)” on Facebook, maybe I could write something creative about the post that I’m sharing, or elaborate on exactly why I’m sharing it. We agreed that my daily friends only blog entries are probably not the best time to try and help my audience “visualize” what I’m typing, because they’re already fairly lengthy as it is.
By the time we got done talking about that, it was time to head home. Once we got home, I got lunch for both Casey and me, and then got back to work on laundry. I always get my laundry caught up before packing for a trip, so when I come home the only dirty clothes are from the trip. Once laundry was done, I started packing.
I had Casey get on the toilet for a while, and during that time I got on Minecraft with Colin to show him the house I’d imported into the Realm. He really liked it, and gave me his input on some things I wasn’t sure of. Then I added a little garden to the property, and kept an eye on the melons for a while. Colin logged off and got on DDO on his Rogue for a bit before we got off the call.
* I’ll just note here, I’m pretty sure that at some point I got on Conan to refresh the bases, but I can’t recall for certain if/when.
Got Casey out of the bathroom, and somehow managed to avoid him getting on Minecraft. I just didn’t really want him to get all into something in the short time we had left before it was time to go. Since he was now out of the bathroom, I was able to get our toiletries and my medication together. I went to grab some fresh ear plugs, only to discover I didn’t have anymore! Plus the flier said we should bring a sled, and we didn’t have one of those either. Given the time at that point, I needed to get the car loaded so we could get out the door with enough time to stop and pick up those couple things on our way to McDonald’s, our ritual dinner place before going to Camp Decorah.
Farm & Fleet didn’t have any sleds left, so we had to go to Target. They didn’t have very many left, but Casey liked the round blue one he saw so we grabbed that, grabbed some ear plugs, and I also grabbed a new winter headband to keep my ears warm, since I’d left both of mine at home. Then we checked out and headed to McDonald’s. Ate a quick dinner before finishing our trip to Camp Decorah.
When we arrived, we had to wait a bit before we could register for the night. Usually, registration always starts at 6pm, but I guess they weren’t planning on starting until 6:30 this time. Got registered, got our stuff situated in the cabin, then headed back to the chow hall for cartoons and then a movie. Casey said he wasn’t interested in the cartoons, but who can resist Popeye? In no time he was laughing his little tush off. Then they put on Rocketman, which I’d never even heard of much less seen. It seemed like a good movie and I actually was interested in watching it to the end. But, since it was not a cartoon, Casey wasn’t interested in watching it. He said he was tired and ready to head to the cabin. I told him that nobody else would be going to bed for a while, but he wanted to go back anyway. So, we walked back to the cabin and got into our PJs.
Hung around playing with fire and socializing with all our roomies for the night, waiting and waiting for lights out time. Shortly after lights were finally out, the snoring ensued. It was so loud that I knew even the ear plugs would be useless, so I grabbed my mp3 player. That didn’t do the trick either, even after turning up the volume a bit. So, instead, I spent the night tossing and turning to some good tunes.
When it was finally time to get up for the day, I was disappointed but also relieved. Exhausted but also excited to face the fun-filled day. I got up before almost everyone else and got dressed. I headed outside to vape a bit and Casey was awake and ready to get up when I came back in. Helped him get dressed and then we got ready to go to breakfast. Usually, I’m pretty sure, breakfast is served at 6. This time, we had to hang around for about an hour before breakfast was ready. Wth is going on at this event? At least we were able to enjoy some toasty warm beverages while we waited. I had some coffee and Casey had some hot cocoa. We sat and enjoyed those while chatting with some other people who’d stayed in our cabin the night before as well. I believe our cabin-full was the only place that had people camping Friday night.
Once breakfast was ready, we chowed down. Then we headed back to the cabin to get our stuff packed back up and put in the car, so we wouldn’t have to worry about it later in the day. I just knew that if we didn’t load the car then, we’d be too tired to when we were ready to leave later in the day.
We headed back to the chow hall to find out what the activities would be and where, and then went out to the flag ceremony. I had to trudge through the knee-high snow with a bad knee to get to our spot around the flag. That was difficult, at best. Once the flag ceremony was done, they started a sort of scavenger hunt. Each kid had to find as many ribbons as they could, and that would go towards the pack’s totals. I followed Casey around as best as I could, but it was very hard to walk through all that snow, even when I stayed on any sort of path. He found 3 ribbons and was looking for a 4th, because 4 is his favorite number, but he couldn’t find one before everybody else started heading back to the chow hall to turn them in. I explained that there might not even be enough for everyone to find that many, and he accepted that.
After the scavenger hunt, our pack was to play “gaga” ball? I guess it’s sorta like dodge-ball. That would have required me to traipse back through the snow, so instead I found another adult from our pack and asked if Casey could go with them. They very kindly agreed, and were on their way.
After gaga ball was to be sling-shots, and once I was told roughly where that was taking place (and that it had road access) I headed out to meet them, but they were already on their way back. I walked over to Casey to join him on the way back to the chow hall to warm back up.
The kids all played games for a while until it was time to go out for what Casey had been talking about doing since we’d arrived: sledding. Part of why I’d stayed inside was to reserve my strength and energy to join him for that, so I could record some of it. We all made our way to the top of the hill (via the road) and I recorded a bit of Casey’s sledding fun. I’d say we were there about half an hour when Casey’s sled broke. I was fairly certain that it’d been a $15 sled (based on where it was on the shelf at Target) and was highly irritated that it’d cracked within the first 30 minutes of use. I kept an eye on it while Casey used some sleds that were provided by the camp. I was growing increasingly tired and sore from the walking/standing, and others were starting to head back for lunch, so we followed.
Casey wasn’t really interested in anything they had for lunch, even the pudding he said “had something in it that he really really doesn’t like.” He snacked on some cheesy chex-mix I’d brought instead. I was really happy with most of my lunch. The hot dogs were giant and delicious, the tater tots were nice and crispy, the pudding was good. The only thing I was unsure of was the “commissioner’s soup.” I’d never heard of it, and didn’t realize who would be eating any of the cans of non-cream soup we were told to bring with us for it. I don’t know for a fact, but am fairly certain, judging by the ingredients in the soup I did eat, that they dumped ALL the cans of soup together into one giant pot. It wasn’t terrible, but, I prefer to know what’s in my food lol. Or, at least have a vague idea. The thought that all these cans of soup were combined like that put me off a bit.
After lunch our group was supposed to stay inside to make some sort of matchstick rockets, and then go outside to play a variation of hockey that involved brooms and balls, and then go back inside to make and fly paper airplanes. (I should mention, the theme of this entire Polar Day Camp event was based around the Rocketman movie they’d showed the night before.) Casey didn’t seem interested in anything but the paper airplanes. I explained to him that I was tired and sore and ready to go, but that we could stay if he wanted to do the matchstick rocket-making activity, but that I was pretty sure I wouldn’t make it all the way to the paper airplane activity that was still over 2 hours away at that point. I even promised him that he could make and fly paper airplanes at home. Finally, he said that if I told him (nevermind the fact that I already had) that the next activity was the matchstick one, that he would say he changed his mind and was ready to go home. So, I told him (again) that the next activity was the matchstick one, and then he told me he was ready to go home.
On the way home, we stopped at Target to see if we could return the sled, even though I’d removed the price stickers off of it. They did the return, no problem. Turns out, it was only $6. They said they’d never had problems with it, and I told them that there were several of the same general design that had broken in that time frame. I asked Casey if he wanted to see if they had any other sleds in the store, or if he was ready to head home. He said he wanted to see what they had in the store, so we headed back to check. They had absolutely no sleds left at that point. So, we headed back to the car.
From there, we headed straight home. I was surprised, Casey made it about halfway from Target to home before he finally passed out. When we got home, he said he was so tired he couldn’t even move. I had to carry him inside. I asked if he could stand for just a minute (so I could get off my boots) and he said he could. He walked over to our step-ladder that was sitting out and sat down on the step so I could help him out of his boots and snow suit. Then he walked up the stairs. Thank God, I didn’t think I’d be able to carry him up!
I’d commented on his wet pants and socks, so he hopped right onto his bed and held his little legs out for me to help him out of those. We told Dave a bit about our adventure while I helped Casey into some fresh pants. Then Casey was asking Dave about food, so I headed out to the car to get our stuff inside. On my way down the stairs, Casey started crying because Dave had also seen fit to walk away after having just been asked about food. I guess Dave went back to get him some food, because there were no tears when I got back inside with our stuff.
Before I came back in with our stuff, I saw that the mail was about to be delivered, so I waited at the end of the driveway. The driver handed me our mail, and then commented that he didn’t think the usual mail person would be able to get to the mailbox. I replied that I’d done the best I could, and he said “that’s fine.”
In the mail was an anniversary card from my parents. Dave and I have been, as I sometimes call it, “illegally separated” for 2 years. They know this. Why send an anniversary greeting card? It makes no sense!
Got our sleeping bags and the spare blanket all put away, and dropped the duffel bag and backpack on my bedroom floor. Casey must have just finished his food, because he came racing into my room with his computer chair. He then went to talk to Dave about something or another, so I started a bath for him before he could even think to ask about playing Minecraft.
While Casey soaked in the bath, I took care of my free book & paid emails while also chatting a bit with Autumn.
While going through the emails, I saw one from Amazon saying that USPS had tried to deliver a package but hadn’t been able to because they could not access our front porch. THAT’S BULLSHIT! We’d completely 100% cleared the entire driveway and steps leading up to the porch and the porch itself. And the package was CAT LITTER so please DO NOT leave it by my FRONT PORCH! It can stay down by the garage TYVM!!! I was able to put in delivery instructions for it to be left by our garage, then fired off a strongly worded email about that situation, as well as the fact that I’d also discovered mail hadn’t been delivered the previous day!! Regular letters and things. That must be why there was a comment made by today’s driver about our mailbox being difficult to get to. I’M DISABLED, YOU’RE JUST BEING LAZY!!!
*forces a deep breath to calm back down, again*
So anyway, got my emails finished, and Autumn was complaining about being bored and not knowing what to do and she needed more games that would run on her ancient computer or a new computer. I sensed she was seeking for me to entertain her, because Jordan was asleep. He works 3rd shift. I cannot possibly be her sole source of entertainment. That puts too much pressure on me. Because then, when I’m wanting to play a game with Colin, I feel guilty that I’m not playing something she can play. What did she do for the months before we met? And the months we weren’t speaking?
Once Casey was out of the bath, I got in the shower. I needed to get myself squeaky clean before I was too exhausted and/or too sore to.
After my shower, I started working on this entry. It’s been over an hour that I’ve been typing. In that time, Dave has made Casey some chicken nuggets, and my belly has started rumbling. And, at the tail end, said cat litter has been delivered. Wonder if they’ve seen my strongly worded email yet. For now, time to eat.
…
Had a Stouffer’s “Aged Asiago” Lasagna to eat while Casey struggled to play Minecraft, his computer kept giving him problems. Once I was done eating, I started scrolling through Facebook, found something shareworthy, and then got on Flipboard to catch up on news. Then it was time to get Casey ready for bed, so I got his vitamins and some cold medicine out for him. Once he’d taken all that, I watched him brush his teeth. He’s started having me give a thumbs up if he’s done a good job or thumbs down if he hasn’t. He’d been having me “take a turn” brushing his teeth if it was a thumbs down. Tonight, I had to give a thumbs down because he hadn’t done very well on the side teeth. I let him know to get the sides more, and he did on his own and earned a thumbs up. Then he washed his face and I read to him.
Once he was tucked in, I plugged into NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans. NCIS was so good, it even made me tear up. To find out that Ziva is still alive is wonderful news! But that she has to remain off the grid, that her life has to be kept secret, is very sad. How I would love, even for just one episode, to see Ziva and Dinozzo reunite with their daughter. For them to get their Happily Ever After. It would be amazing. NCIS: New Orleans was also very good, had me on the edge of my seat. I’ll be honest, I was suspicious of Nero from the beginning. I’m glad he turned out to be one of the good guys, but disapprove of how he went about things at the beginning.
Now that I’m done watching those, I think it’s time to get to bed. It’s only 10pm, but considering I’ve been awake since 7am yesterday, it’s past my bedtime.
