A Halloween Tale for Grownups

   It was a cool and crisp fall day. Bill sat at the table staring out the big window and watched the trees, decked out in their autumn finery, cast batches of leaves about their back yard. His wife Jen joined him with two steaming cups of coffee and took the seat across from him.
   "Thanks" he said, taking the proffered mug.
   "Looks like you are going to have to clean out the gutters on the garage again." Jen commented as she sat down. "Think you will have time before the rain comes?"
   "Nothing wrong with the gutters." muttered Bill, as he glanced toward the garage that sat a little back from the house.
   "I think you will have to do something with them." Jen nodded her head. "Remember last year."
  "Woman, can't a man enjoy a cup of coffee?" groused Bill.
   "Fine, fine. I didn't mean right this second, now did I? Don't be such a grump. Enjoy your coffee and the view. It is such a nice view. I am so glad we decided to put this window in when we remodeled the kitchen. It makes such a difference, and it is so nice to sit here with coffee and watch the birds."
   "Hard to watch birds when someone is constantly handing out chores."
   "Oh, drink your coffee, you old grump." laughed Jen. She leaned back in her chair and tucked her graying hair behind her ear. They sat in silence for a few moments enjoying their coffee. "You know, now that we are both fully retired and this kitchen project is completely done, I was thinking we should take a trip."
   "Oh yeah? Where were you thinking." replied Bill with interest. A smile played about his lips.
   "I don't know, somewhere with sand and beaches I think. Get a feel for what we want to do next."
   "Anything but chores. I feel I have done nothing but work since I retired." A frown creased his forehead as he watched a car pull in front of the garage. "Isn't that Amy's car? You expecting her?"
   Jen nodded. "It is, and she looks like she has the boys with her."
   "Why aren't they in school? Isn't this a weekday?"
   "How should I know? I didn't even know she was coming." Jen got up to answer the back door as Amy herded two rowdy boys up the stairs to the back deck. "Amy, " she said opening the door. "Such a surprise."
   The boys shot through the door like dual cannonballs.
   "Boys!" called Amy. "Your shoes. Oh, they just don't listen." she laughed breathlessly.
   "Don't worry about it, it's not important. Come in, we were just having a cup of coffee. What brings you here?"
   "Oh I would love to have a cup. We were just passing though the neighborhood and I thought "You should stop and visit Jen and Bill' OH BOYS, DON'T DO THAT." she called. "They just got those new tools this morning, aren't they adorable?"
   "They look real." said Bill eyeing one of the duo as he hammered on an open cabinet door. "Stop that." he directed. "How come they are not in school?" He watched as the boys moved out of sight behind the kitchen island. A muffled banging noise began to fill the kitchen.
   "Oh they are real! Aren't they just great?" Amy swept into Jen's vacated seat. "We stopped this morning to pick up Starbucks and as the boys were getting their coffees, we saw them in the window and just had to have them!"
   Bill sputtered into his cup. "The boys had their own coffee? Aren't they a little young for that? They are what, 5 and 7?"
   "She doesn't mean real coffee, silly." said Jen bringing Amy her coffee.
   "Oh sure, they get their own coffee. They tried mine once and they really liked it. So I let them get their own. Sure beats sharing mine!" laughed Amy.
   "So do the boys have no school today?" asked Jen changing the subject as Bill purpled. From the corner of his eye, Bill thought he saw one of the boys leave the kitchen.
   "Oh they do, but it was so nice out, I thought we would take a day off..." Amy trailed off as her phone rang from the depths of her cavernous purse. "Hello?" she answered.
   From behind the island Bill heard a sawing noise.
  "Hey!" Bill exclaimed as he jumped up. "No sawing!" he moved around the counter to intercept the small blond haired boy.
   "Yes, I can come right away... Tommy, don't do that Honey....sorry, I was talking to Tommy. He just got a new tool set and they are the most adorable...."
   The blond haired boy named Tommy scooted around the island as Bill rounded the corner.
   "Give me that saw." said Bill as he surveyed the damage. "And where is your brother?"
  "Bye." Amy hung up. "Jen, I have to run a quick errand. That was Kathy and she wants me to come pick her up, her car is in the shop. I know you don't mind if I leave the boys here a little while? They are such a pain to get in and out of the car. You are such a dear. Thanks!"
   Before Jen could answer, Amy swooped up her purse and headed out the door. "No!" cried Bill to the closing door. A clinking came from the next room.
  "Oh my, what is that noise?" asked Jen looking bemused.
   "That damn kid put a huge cut in the cabinets with that little saw!" growled Bill.
  "Do you hear that noise?" asked Jen again. She frowned as she watched Amy's car back down the driveway.
   "And there is a hole in the wall next to the fridge!" roared Bill as he stormed about the kitchen. "We just redid this room and those little monsters are undoing it!"
   "Oh dear." said Jen nodding her head. "I hope Amy is not too long."
From the next room there was a crash and the sound of shattering glass, followed by giggles. Bill and Jen looked at each other and raced from their damaged kitchen... Moments later, two small blond heads peeped though the new kitchen window eyeing the discarded coffee on the table. With a miniature screw drivers they began tapping on the window.

Just pack and go, right?

   Recently, my husband and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary. To mark this special occasion we decided to take a trip, as we had planned years ago when we were first married. Years and years and years and years ago. Back then we had talked about taking a romantic, exotic, and adventurous trip down the Nile.

Our current status is typically in De-nial, so the trip was simplified.

   Being a little more conservative on our budget these days, we decided to settle on a less expensive getaway. We opted for Atlanta. Mostly because it would still be warm in the fall...and the airline tickets were cheap. But the important part of our trip was that it would be just the two of us going. No kids. No friends. No relatives. No pets. Just the two of us celebrating 8 wonderful years together. Um, I mean 25.

   The odd part was, I didn't want to go.

   Now don't get me wrong, I love to travel. And I love my husband, more than cheese and sliced bread and almost more than dark chocolate. My daughter can drive me nuts just like any other kid, but I love her, too. Yes, there are times I like to get away from my family and my friends as well as the bills and the chores and the endless to-do list. But if planning this trip had been left up to me, it might not have happened. Thankfully, my husband loves travel planning. So all I had to do was pack and go.

    Sorta. 

   Our anniversary is in September, which meant that our daughter was back in school. Before we could even book the flights (wait, what, we have to fly?) I had to make sure the trip was planned out during a week that we would not be missing any important dates at school. Due to job changes and a new work schedule for my husband, the date selection process became more complicated.

   Having passed this first hurdle, accounts needed to be double checked for any expenses that might come up while we were away, as well as making sure all the regular bills were paid. I know you can pay bills from anywhere these days thanks to technology. But seriously, who wants to pay bills while sipping margaritas on a beach?   

    Since my folks would be staying at our house to keep my daughter's schedule as smooth as possible in our absence, the house needed to be cleaned top to bottom. Not an easy task when you are finishing up several home improvement projects. Nor easy when you are a confirmed neat freak either. I managed to refrain from cleaning the ceilings. Mostly.

   This arrangement also meant advanced meal planning for easy meals. My folks were already taking a great deal of time out of their schedules (you would not believe how busy retired people are!) and doing a lot of work to care for our girl. I wanted things as simple as possible. I needed a meal plan, so I blew the dust off my cookbooks and started planning. Being out of practice, this took longer than I expected. After which I needed to go grocery shopping. Since updating our kitchen over the summer, food choices in the house had become interesting and unusual. The start of school had not made it any less unusual... just more interesting.

   Next I put together a daily planner. Since my daughter enjoys many activities, her schedule can vary from day to day. This way my folks could know when to expect my daughter to arrive home from school as well as any weekend activities that she would need to attend. Rides were coordinated for lessons when there were conflicts with my parent's schedules. I updated the morning and evening checklists for my daughter to help her remember things like taking her instrument to school and brushing her teeth.

   Then I did a mountain of laundry and packed.

   Packing was a lot harder for me since we would not have our camper with us. I had to remember to pack all the stuff I would not have normally thought about since it is usually in our travelling house. Thank heavens we went to a city where I could pick up all the stuff I forgot! 

    After all this prep, we were off to the airport (gulp). I am not nervous about flying, just getting through security. So we left early. Really, really, really early. Fortunately, security was a breeze. But no sooner was I through that hurdle, I found I missed my daughter. As our trip progressed, I kept thinking about all the stuff she would like. I missed waking her up in the morning and tucking her in at night. Okay, I didn't miss waking her up, but I did miss her hugs. In the end I survived.  We all did.

   Turned out this trip was an opportunity for growth for all of us. My daughter discovered she liked getting up early each morning (ugh) to take care of making her breakfast and getting her lunch together. Though she missed us while we were away, she felt more independent and took on responsibilities. She began doing things like homework, music practice and picking up her room without being reminded. (I have not ruled out the possibility of aliens taking over her body.)

   My husband and I rediscovered that we enjoy traveling together. Just the two of us. We are just as adventurous (though our muscles reminded us we are not as young as we used to be), continue to enjoy trying new things, and still crazy in love with each other. Or maybe just crazy...

   Despite my initial reluctance to leave my daughter behind and wander off with my hubby to explore and reconnect, I really enjoyed our time together as a couple.  It made all the planning and advance prep worth it.

But next time...we take the camper!