The Transition from Vacation

It ain't easy.

This is the second day back from vacation, and I'm doing videography work here and there, and doing housekeeping things alternately. Being gone for a week and the bills and things-to-do sure do pile up on you.

I'm a little more caught up today, though for the next few 4-6 weeks, I will be concerned that my iBook doesn't catch on fire, even though I've been warned that I should just run my iBook with power from the wall - but who in the world with a laptop does that? At least I'm not as concerned about keeping my battery fully charged anymore, since I'm going to return the battery anyway.

This campout is possibly the last one, since my mother-in-law will be selling the RV lot, and with the lot will go the country club membership. It has been a different sort of campout than the others, likely because everyone knows that it's going to be the last. My father-in-law's absence was greatly felt, and I think all the children just felt like they needed closure in order to move on, and they just needed one last chance to say goodbye to a family tradition that's been going on for years.

We visited the spot where his ashes were spread, we made a stepping stone marker that proclaimed our love for him and placed it at "Secret Falls", a place where he found by himself, and we just reveled in an environment that held memories for so many people, even myself. Some new memories were made as well, but mostly it was just coming to terms to losing our summer vacation spot.

Caleb, my nephew, really took a liking to me. He's usually just full of mischief in an annoying way, but since his sisters weren't around to egg him on and tease him, and he was suddenly the oldest kid under puberty, he took on the role of big brother to Alex and Zoe, and really took care of them. I was pretty impressed with his behavior with them, since all I usually experience from him in the past were just agonizing annoyance. But I just listened to him and encouraged him this time round, and he just really took to me. Pure guy is surrounded by so much drama, I must seem like the dull and stable presence that he needs to feel normal. But he's really a good kid, but he sure does need a good amount of guidance if he's going to veer off the destructive paths that his family members have chosen. I'm not just passing judgments, but when your mother's had three children with two men she's never married, and one of your sister's a lesbian whose lover decided that the first constructive thing to do when she got out of jail was to torch a car, and your other sister used to date a heroin fiend (who brought his drug crap with him to the campout last year - with my kids there), and is now dating a less destructive but still controlling man, that boy does need some positive guidance.

So, just getting back into the groove of things. Lots to do, and tomorrow I'll be back on my work schedule. Sigh. Just getting burnt out looking at what I have to do.