October 8, 2007 | Mama Smith

change of plans

We’d anticipated a weekend full of conquering the ever-growing list of household tasks…until we realized we all needed a break. The half-built porch rail still lays on the porch waiting to be completed. The junk from our storage shed we destroyed is still scattered across our backyard. And the grass has reached an embarrassing height of over a foot tall in places. But our family is rested and enjoying each other much more than we were going in to the weekend.

Saturday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed, french pressed some coffee and loaded the boys in the car to make a trek up to Caesar’s Head.

Some cool, fresh mountain air is just what we all needed. One humorous part of the journey is that we somehow forgot four years ago, Caesar’s Head is where my family borrowed a friend’s cabin and where Matthew and I were engaged. We didn’t realize this until driving past the neighborhood we stayed in and remarked to one another how familiar it looked, then pulling in to the Caesar’s Head State Park where it all came flooding back. How things change in just four short years. One wedding and two kids later.

Brighton scrambled over rocks, raced through the woods, discovered nature and almost forgot he was a frustrated two year old. Until we heartlessly confined him to his car seat for the ride home.

Levi, of course, slept the entire ride, cooed and smiled when we arrived, then promptly fell back asleep. He is The Dude in the making.

It was unexpectedly freeing to leave the house be for an entire weekend, simply enjoying each other, the outdoors, and exploring our new home of South Carolina.

Poor B experienced one of the downsides of nature after being attacked by a nest of fire ants at the park. His little feet are covered in puss-filled bites and still recovering. I doubt he’ll let us take him near that park for awhile. Unfortunate, since it’s the closest one.

As far as weekend injuries go, mine is a bit more ridiculous. Callie and I recently became addicted to Prison Break. Watching the back seasons, just finishing up season 1 before she left for the beach. We watched the last five episodes in one evening, and I knew I was a little tense when I found myself clutching my knees, teetering on the edge of my chair for over 3 hours. The following day Matthew asked, “What is that?” pointing to the back of my leg. Well yes, it had been hurting a little bit that morning, but when I turned around, I was shocked to find a huge burst blood vessel on the back of my leg. Not from some vigorous exercise or an admirable deed…but from intensely watching a t.v. show. Now that, my friends, is sad.

Particularly sad because Matthew and I sold our t.v. at our yard sale back in PA. We weren’t big t.v. buffs. We hated commercials. So we tossed it. And now I am totally addicted. I justify it by the fact that 24 is still months and months away from start-up and Deadwood is completely over. Either way, a black and blue leg over Prison Break is still pretty pathetic.

Matthew mocked…until he was covered in sweat after watching Die Hard 4 the other evening. Stories. They really do capture us.