camping with the girls

I recently wrote about wanting to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, in hopes of breaking out of a mundane mold I seem to be in. Well, since I haven’t found anyone whose willing to fork out the cash, to strap me to a Mark Wahlberg (think ’91 Calvin Klein ads) look-a-like sky diver, I’ve decided to try camping.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine was talking about wanting to do something for her up-coming birthday. We were going back and forth with ideas, and then immediately cancelling them out, because we are some broke-ass Mommas right now. It’s somewhat difficult to “go cheap” when planning a spa weekend with the girls.

“Lets go camping!!”

My dear friend is a pretty brilliant chick. It was a cheap, adventurous idea.

We were so gung ho and pumped, thinking about leaving everything behind for a weekend. We decided that going camping with a bunch of women will be epic. We will eat like queens, sleep on air mattresses and be prepared for the apocalypse.

If I’m being honest though, I’m a teensy bit nervous about this trip. I am a country girl – yes. I am not dainty. However, I am not the tough-it-out-if-I-don’t-have-to type.

I can forego showering for a few days; however, I prefer to poop in a toilet. I highly enjoy running water and being the supervisor of things like say, putting up a tent or chopping wood for a fire. This is kind of a big deal to me. It will push me back to basics and out of my comfort zones.

It’s not just the physical challenge of it (don’t laugh!) that I am looking forward to. I feel like I have a lot going on in my head these days – more than just contemplating that elusive “balance”, I keep reading exists.

I’ve reached a point in my life where I want to push more in the directions I want to go – even if it scares me. I want to do more things that make other people say, “Really? You did/said that?” I feel like I am trying to wiggle out of my shell, but need some convincing and the right opportunity.

Thinking about this camping trip is loosening that shell. I’m excited, intrigued and a bit nervous – just the right ingredients for a little soul searching, boost of confidence and FUN that I need.

I’m looking forward to re-connecting by disconnecting. I want to eat good food cooked in a (semi) primal way and drink good wine. I want to talk about deep shit and maybe have a drunken Kumbaya moment with the girls. I want to come home refreshed, with a little more self confidence, slightly hung over and laughing randomly at the memories made.

I don’t want it to rain. I need to figure out how a percolator works or I will be a mean bitch in the morning.

It’s time to take off my Mom hats and put on my big girl panties. I honestly can’t wait to pack up the truck with things that I may or may not know what to do with and head in to the woods. I’m going with a group of down to earth, fun women, that I know will mix very well with cocktails and conversation. They also have much more camping experience so don’t worry, I just may make it out alive.

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Starting this week, Yeah Write is turning in to a family-free zone. All stories entailing kids, husbands, wives, sisters, uncles, etc, are off limits. I was intrigued. Once I sat down to write, I was stumped! It’s amazing to me how much of my thoughts, even in my writing, is devoted to my family. If you want to learn more about how Yeah Write works, click on the badge 🙂