just call me "firestarter"

wow. mz had such a great time this weekend. only me, my momma and my dad went camping. the "baby brothers" (ages 17 and 15) decided they didn't want to go, and my grandmother (who turns 85 next month) wasn't really feeling up to going. it was cool though cuz the 3 of us had a fine time out in the pseudo-wilderness. my parents bought a camper a few weeks ago. it sleeps 6 i think, and has a kitchen area, and a bathroom so it was what i call "hi-tech camping", which is just fine with me. i ain't fixin' to sleep in a tent. not yet, anyway.

we got to the campsite late friday afternoon. dad got the camper all leveled while mom and i put the food in the fridge and got ready to fix dinner. dad showed me how to make a campfire and i kinda put myself in charge of keeping it going all weekend. mom fixed dinner (italian sausages and i don't remember what else!) and we just chilled out after eating. sat out by the fire for a bit since it was such a nice night. i actually got sleepy so i went to bed around 11 maybe. it's hard to tell what time it is when you dont have anywhere to go or anything in particular to do!

saturday i woke up early to watch the sunrise, a birthday tradition since my 27th birthday when i was in the bahamas. it's really a beautiful way to greet the day. a little mindful meditation and reflection on the past year and setting an agenda for the coming one. i sat there for a couple hours and read a book (knit one, kill two). had to get the fire going again but that was a piece of cake. after going to the bath house to shower and dress, we literally sat around all day, chillin' out. we got NPR on the radio and listened to my favorite saturday shows (weekend edition, car talk, whaddya know, wait wait don't tell me etc) while i knitted, momma made jewelry and dad napped. perfect way to spend the day! we nibbled on birthday cookies to feed our creative juices too. for dinner we had chilean sea bass, steamed asparagus and corn on the cob. yum. then more knitting and reeeeeelaxing! i almost got NAM's clapotis finished, which is good cuz i want to make one for me next. anyway we ended up changing radio stations at some point and they were playing all 70's music. me and my folks were laughing and talking, they were reminiscing about the songs, and the dj was asking trivia questions. she asked what happened on august 16, 1977, and i knew the answer so i called in (yes i took my cell phone only cuz my best friend went into the hospital on thursday. tell ya about that later). couldn't hardly believe it when i got through but i was like, "that was the day elvis died!" i didn't win a prize or anything but i told the dj it was my birthday so she sent me a shout out. can't remember her name for the life of me cuz i hardly ever listen to that station but that was around 11pm...a great way to wind up the evening. shortly after midnight i decided to go to bed and i slept like a 30 year old baby :-)

and this morning, i woke up again at the crack of dawn (funny how it's hard for me to get up that early for WORK!), and did a bit more knitting before breakfast. i resurrected the fire one last time (y'all ain't voting ME off the island!). after that we all got dressed and packed up to go home. it was a very low-key, low-stress, low-maintenance weekend, exactly what i wanted. thanks momma and dad!