I Survived

The camping trip is over. And I (and my marriage) survived. Just barely.

Not to be all drama-queen, but man did I not really anticipate the level of uncomfortableness I would feel. And this was in perfect (maybe a touch too warm) camping weather. I mean, every camping trip there is a level of uncomfortableness everyone feels. You're living outside for a couple of days. Not sleeping in your bed. With no walls, so sound travels amazingly well. With no showers. With bathrooms that are a small hike away. Sitting in chairs much less comfortable than your couch or office chair. Cooking on a dinky little stove. Staying up late and waking up early. And, if you drink, being hungover.Packing so much crap you can hardly believe you will use it all, just for a couple of days, and unloading and moving all that crap to your campsite, which is never right where you can park. And then repacking everything a day or two later. And the special joys of trying to get the tent back into the same bag it came in. So some uncomfortableness is expected. And you do it, because its an annual tradition. And you generally have fun. But, man, being pregnant added a whole other level to all this.

Friday we got there. After a four and a half hour car trip. So, I survived that. Then we* unloaded. I am a tent setting up genius, and so we got everything together. I wasn't too bad. We ate. We sat and we hung out. Fun times. Until bed time. You see, every other camping trip has involved alcohol. And I've never had too much of a problem going to sleep. Until this trip (and I even packed earplugs, just in case... they did not work). Thanks to the washer-game-playing campsite neighbors (some game I've never heard of, but can tell you it involves pitching metal things at a loud receptacle) who played said game until about 2am... yeah. It was ugly. Because I still couldn't sleep after that. I got like two hours of sleep.

So the next day, I got up, ate and tried to hang... until I crashed around noon. Which is the precise time those game playing assholes decided to play again. So, I read my book and waited them out. With a raging headache. And this is where it gets ugly, especially for the hubs. Because I finally fell asleep. For maybe a half hour. And that's when I got woken up and realized that my husband had started playing a game not ten feet from our tent. With a group of people. And, yes, he tried to keep them all quiet. I heard him shh-ing people. But that was it for me. I laid awake, fuming, crying, etc until they stopped playing. (Of course, all this awake time is peppered with numerous trips to the bathroom since you can't pee outside in the daytime.) And then I found my husband and let loose on his ass. And we almost went home. He apologized. We were going home. And then we waited so I could calm down, eat and take medicine I was avoiding taking (but obviously needed, as I realized my allergies were getting in on the act and my tired headache had turned into a full blown sinus headache). So I ate. And calmed down. And felt better. And hung out. And decided to stay. And actually slept that night (as much as one can sleep while camping... I'm sorry, but I need absolute quiet and darkness to sleep most of the time and camping without alcohol... I just couldn't fully sleep). And then made breakfast and packed up and headed home, to a sweet shower and my bed.

My feet still don't feel like they have recovered from all the swelling. My back still aches from the car ride and the camping chairs that get old... and uncomfortable... quickly. And I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep. Because man, oh man... do I need it. I am still very, very tired. And plan on being a complete bum all day, despite the moms coming over tomorrow. But I survived.

And tomorrow we go to the doctor. I'm trying not to get all crazy-worried about it. I'm trying not to freak out. I'm trying not to be anxious and nervous and everything else I usually am before a scan. And I'm trying to not imagine the worst case scenario with both moms right there in the room. It's a tall order for me. I'm trying, instead to concentrate on the fact that I'll be 20 weeks tomorrow! And that I can't believe I'm halfway (more than halfway) there. And that I'm still good. And that we get to know the sexes tomorrow. And that we get to have new pictures of babies. Finally. (It's been like two months man...) I need to chill-ax about all this and go watch all the shows that I have Tivoed and not think.

*We. Yeah. All the loading and unloading and packing all that crap into my tiny little car, and carrying coolers to and from the car and etc... that was totally the hubs and not me. I saw we because I watched him do it (*ahem* and offered wonderful suggestions) and carried pillows and other... light things. So. Yeah. Way to go hubs.

And, also, to LCB; we should totally do a get together. I'd love to meet people from around here in real life.