Friday, August 10, 2007

Red Rain is Falling Down

Okay, so it’s not red, but it’s still raining. No, my basement hasn’t flooded. No, no trees have fallen on my house. I’ve made it through this week of storms and possible tornadoes totally unscathed. My problem? You may remember that I’m taking the boy and one of his friends camping this weekend.

The weather is supposed to turn gorgeous, but for now, it’s not. And I’m afraid that I’ll drive up to the campsite tonight to find nothing but a big patch of mud, and not a place to be able to secure tent stakes. I don’t mind dirt and mud (if I did, I’d never go camping in the first place), but I do mind not being able to set up the tent. I don’t know what to do.

My parents’ house isn’t too far away from the campground, so I’m considering taking the boys out there to spend the night. My mom will be thrilled, and maybe we can camp tomorrow when things have dried out a bit. I guess one night spent fireside is better than nothing.

In related news, I have introduced my son to the card game called Phase 10. Do you guys know of this? It’s a sort of Rummy-related thing that’s shelved with Uno and Skip-Bo. I’m no fan of the other two, but Phase 10 may be my favorite way to pass time with other people. It can become a rather nasty game, filled with nerves and fear and risk-taking, and much shouting of things like, “What are you doing?” and, “You are EVIL!” and “Why do you hate?” The boy’s dad and I used to play this with our friends when we lived in Michigan, and I’m so pleased the boy seems to like it as much as I do. He can’t wait to take it camping and beat the crap out of his friend. Nice boy. Little does he know that I will be beating the crap out of the both of them.

I’m taking some Wodehouse with me, and also some (likely horrible) librarian mystery (I think it’s called The Cataloger of Death, or some such thing) that I picked up for free. I’m also taking a new Fables comic and The Doomsday Book, to give that one another go. Should I find myself with time to read, I’ll be well-stocked.

Until then, I’ll just be over hear, waiting for the sun to come out. You know, tomorrow.

5 comments:

Joke said...

Hanging out at your parents' sounds ideal.

Will they let you build a fire on the lawn?

-J.

BabelBabe said...

my guess is that gina's parents would. they'd even help her build it.

i LOVE Phase 10. I need to teach Primo. I love how bloodthirsty you sounded when you said, "Little do they know that I'll be beating the crap out of both of them."

Gina said...

My parents have the kind of outdoor fireplace you can sit around and put your feet on, so the fire is taken care of.

And if I can add whipping my mother at Phase 10 into the evening's activities, then so much the better, isn't it?

If I hadn't already paid for the campsite, I wouldn't be sweating this at all!

Jess said...

Do your parents have a decent size backyard? Pitch the tent there!

And my husband introduced me to Phase 10. Appparently they play rounds of it between ambulance calls.

Kathy said...

I don't know Phase 10. My mother and I used to have killer sessions of rummy though and you said it was rummy-related so I suspect I would like it.