The twins and I are back from a vacation to see my parents, and so far my least favorite part is getting back on my computer and finding 229 new messages in the inbox I use for emails from businesses—sales and so forth. I do not need to hear 229 times from a handful of businesses in 6 days. This is a good chance to see where I need to do some unsubscribing, is my feeling about this.
Yesterday I overheard two loud guys in the seats in front of us, and they talked loudly for the entire hours-long flight, so I can now tell you all about them. Incidentally, if your boy has very short hair and likes ambitious outdoor activities, and if this past weekend he traveled across the country to do one of these ambitious outdoor activities, you may want to know that he is telling anyone who will listen that his girlfriend doesn’t really understand how cool he is for talking to strangers on planes and doing ambitious outdoor activities. He described her as someone who “just wants to do a day-hike and then stay at the Marriott, do you know what I mean?,” and he further said she “just doesn’t get that talking to people is how you make connections, do you know what I mean?” We also heard from him at great length about how he “never pays for housing” because he camps out or crashes with friends. He seems really great but I wonder if it’s time to set him free to discover the woman who can truly appreciate his greatness the way his male graduate-student seatmate could.
I am so disoriented. William came upstairs and said “I’m going to work” and I had no idea what he was talking about (or, for a moment, who he was) because I had no idea today was Tuesday. And I’ve been staying with my parents, so it’s a shock to realize I’m going to have to pick up the dinner-making and grocery-shopping reins again, after nearly a week of having someone else handle it and also bring me vodka tonics and plan fun things we might want to do the next day. We explored a giant cave! hiked near a waterfall! saw a baby alpaca being born! Today I guess I’m unpacking, deleting 229 emails, and going to the grocery store. I just added “limes” and “tonic” to the shopping list.
I will say that someone seems to have been CLEANING while I was gone. The area on the shower wall behind the soap shelf, where colored soap residue accumulates? CLEAN. The ceiling above the shower, which had developed little dots of what looked like the paint melting off? CLEAN. The floor under the bathroom scale, which I can easily see because the scale is for some reason transparent? CLEAN. Two loads of laundry I’m sure I left behind? GONE. Also, the day before I left, it came to light that the cats were completely out of their special dental chews, without the children telling me the bag was getting low; that bag, which requires a trip to a special store where I don’t buy anything else so it’s a pain to do, has been replaced. Fairies?
[Follow-up: I asked Paul, and he said he did the laundry and went out for the feline dental chews, but that Rob and William did all the rest as a late Mother’s Day present. They cleaned BOTH bathrooms, including the storage shelves in the downstairs bathroom, and also did the stairs/hallway. Paul said it took them hours and that it was their own idea. Well. Well.]
It definitely sounds like you received a visit from the vacation fairies, that’s awesome!! Do you think maybe it was a small attempt to make up for Mother’s Day?
1. Wow – I had the same EXACT thought as Maggie! 2. I cannot stand it when people talk loudly on a plane. I usually plan to snooze (I always stay up way too late packing) or read a book on the plane. It boils my blood when I end up learning all about someone else’s life story. This guy sounds like a real piece of work. 3. This makes me wish my folks didn’t live walking distance from my house, because oh, how I would love to visit them (or anyone really) and have fun outings planned and meals handled.
I returned crazy early Thursday the 5th from Orlando. I was there with the two girls for Irish dancing National Championships. I think yesterday is when I felt like the bags we unpacked and the stuff that doesn’t have a clear home when not traveling got stowed away. Good luck getting back in the swing of things!
(Oh, and Coach cleaned the master shower while I was gone. I felt bad because he had to ask me if I noticed that he had cleaned it. I HADN’T! I think it is just time to re caulk the shower because it is always black. Sorry, so gross!)
Count me as a third that thought of this sort of thing as being what you would have liked on Mother’s day. I don’t necessarily think that the people doing it were thinking about Mother’s Day, but it does seem like exactly the kind of stuff you like to do for others and have done for you on special days. Perhaps it’s a sign that they missed you and it made them appreciate the stuff you often do for them?
And I just remembered that I meant to mention that I too add treats-I-had-on-vacation to my shopping list when I return (for example, fresh-squeezed orange juice that my favourite resort has in abundance with breakfast every morning) . It makes the vacation withdrawal a bit more bearable.
I sold them short! My comment was before you edited to add that it was indeed for Mother’s Day! Well done, Family-of-Swistle!
Sounds like someone is trying to make up for Mother’s Day! <3333
+100 that these completed tasks that delight you are belated Mother’s Day gifts. Long may they continue.
Now I’m excited for an update on the Vacation Fairy!
Congratulations! For one day, you got to live the life my husband always leads (re: fairies).
PAUL <3
Well, those sound like VERY nice surprises to come home to. I hope these little gifts continue.
I am gritting my teeth for you, in anticipation of your inbox cleaning. I went through a fit of unsubscribing recently, and it was a) very satisfying and b) very frustrating. For every organization that allows you to click “unsubscribe” and then says, “Thanks! You’re unsubscribed!” there seem to be TWO that say, “Are you sure? Do you want maybe to only get our REALLY IMPORTANT emails instead?” or, my favorite, “You need to put your email address and name and birthdate and SS number in this form so we know for SURE you are really unsubscribing.” ARRRRGH. Vodka tonics will be in order.
I loved this entire post. It read like a tight set of stand-up. Just wonderful!
I’m placing my bets in the following scenario: Paul got brave enough to read the blog while you were gone, knowing that he wouldn’t have to encounter you for a few days, and decided to make up a bit for Mother’s Day.
What a lovely gesture to come home to, and I’m so glad you were pampered on your visit with your parents!
Email bankruptcy. Seriously, delete them all. You won’t be missing anything.
And, yay for vacation fairies. I was going to say they don’t visit when I leave, but then I realized it’s been many years since I left home and left anybody there. Maybe the fairies can’t get in without someone to open doors they can slip through?
What a fabulous treat to come home to! What a way to say welcome home!
The children, keep them. It seemed touch and go for a minute, but my recommendation is to keep them. Good eggs.
:)!
DUDE. I’m so happy for you that they DID that and that they meant it re Mother’s Day!
Would’ve been nice if it’d been on the actual day, but it still counts, it’s still something thoughtful that took time that you didn’t have to do. That’s awesome.
Love this! Not the emails. But the belated Mothers Day. What a delight!
💝 They redeemed themselves! What a welcome home!
I was recently on a vacation with a total of five adults, which meant I only needed to cook one night and do dishes another night in a week. It was deluxe. Coming back to being the main cook and the sole dishwasher at home was a bit of a let down.
Nice to see evidence of housekeeping in your absence, though. There may be a learning curve there after all.
Nice atonement, menfolk!
Love it! I never say or perform fist pumps but that’s what i feel like doing right now.
I know! I did a slow hand clap, for the first time ever.
Your update warms my frozen heart. It seems they felt an appropriate level of bad. Let’s hope they have learned their lesson!
BEST FOLLOW UP.
Holy wow! Good recovery, kids!
It sounds like you went on a day hike and stayed with your parents. I wonder if airplane guy ranks this above or below day hikes and staying at the Marriott. ;)
Hooray for the cleaning!!! Glad you had a good vacation. I also feel similarly strange coming home after visiting my parents. I have to refill my OWN wine glass? What is UP with that?
WOW! I’m so happy for you that they came through in the end! I will try to hold on to hope for my own boys!