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One of the side benefits of working from home and having no friends close by is that the only people I interact with in real life during the week are my hubby and kids, the Fed Ex guy, and (if I’m feeling particularly adventurous), the grocery store checkout clerk. There’s no awkward bus conversations, no meet-ups with other school parents, and (thank you Jesus) no parties.

There’s also a limited number of new experiences that can happen when one works in the basement, has no church affiliation, has no club memberships, and has independent children who don’t require pickups/drop-offs with their unavoidable chit chat with other picker uppers and dropper offers.

It’s not that I can’t do these things, or that I hate them after the fact (usually I quite like meeting new people after I’ve met them) – it just takes a lot out of me. Every year I realize more and more that 8-year-old me instinctively knew this: my BFF still teases me about coming to my door to invite me to play and I said, “sorry, can’t. Reading.” And where I used to feel inferior or boring, I’m now fiercely protective of that downtime and choose my energy outputs wisely.

What this all means is that now that I’m protected from the Big Bad World during the week, I actually have way more of an ability (nay, sometimes even a desire) to do things on the weekends. Which is good, because The Husband does love to do things. As you may have noticed.

This past weekend was full yet again (and guess who didn’t complain more than, like, twice)? Friday night was a concert – St. Lucia at this super-cool former church. We were a threesome since The Girl likes them, too.

See that awesome balcony behind us? (I’m just imagining surly teenagers crossing their arms and defiantly being booooorrrrrred during the sermon.) The only seats in the house, but 21+. So we hung out in the standing section with the youngin’ non-drinkers (although The Girl was super pumped to try her very first Red Bull). And enjoyed a superfab concert!

Such 80s. So neon. Very synthesizers.

We left early because the Red Bull had run its course (argh. Why do concerts start at 9 pm?! And then have opening acts and THEN have extended setups for the main band?! I’d totally pay extra if they’d start at 7) and because we had a big day planned for Saturday.

Yep – back to the ocean! The Husband wanted to take his new surfboard for a spin, and The Girl wanted to give it a shot, too.

What a beautiful day! It was 18 degrees with sunshine and a light breeze. I read and relaxed on the rocks, looking up every few minutes to make sure there were still three heads out there. I was also ostensibly on “shark watch” because The Girl is convinced she’s a choice morsel.

Alas, that was about all the stimulation this introvert could take. We got home and I crashed right into a nice mild stomach bug (“nice” because it was the “kinda off, feelin’ a little queasy, just lie here ’til it’s over” kind – not that other kind). And Netflix totes had my back on this one:

We may have watched all of season four in under 36 hours. So, so good. (Although we do need to talk about the wardrobe department and their refusal to buy the correct size for any of the women on this show. They’re all gorgeous – they don’t need to be sausaged into one size smaller for us to notice.)

A day yesterday to mop up the weekend damage (aka clean up the disaster that was the kitchen) and I’m back in business. And with The Husband headed out of town this weekend, it might be a whole 10 days before I have to have any more adventures!