As if I weren't having a hard enough time returning to blogging already, our internet has been down for nearly a week and was behaving quite poorly for over a week before that. Hubz, Cheez, and I all just thought our computers were having issues until we started talking to each other, which was right about the time Biz came over and got on his computer and informed us that we were having internet issues. Oh. And then it just stopped altogether. Apparently our cable modem is in its final stages of life or something like that. The cable company is coming to fix it tomorrow, hooray. Of course, they will be charging us a service call even though the modem technically belongs to them. Hmmm. All the more reason to switch to another service. We are running out of arms and legs to pay this one anyway. Funny how they hook you with a good price and then the fees go up and up...

Okay, sorry. You are not here to read about my internet woes. (What are you here to read about, anyway?) And I have only yea much time before this coffee shop closes and my computer and I have to go back to our home netless home.

I have oogles of headblogs clamoring to get out of my brain and onto the blog. Unfortunately, I can't blog, even here. There is a lovely duo here at this coffee shop playing some lovely gospel-y bluegrass-y music. Not only is it really difficult to not sing along; it is also really difficult to THINK! Blogging (unlike Facebook) requires thinking; ergo, if I can't think, I can't blog.

But I have to post something. It has been far too long. It doesn't take an abundance of brain cells to copy an old post, so while the majority of my brain cells are engaged in mentally singing along to "I'll Fly Away," the remaining few still in service have found an old post for you to enjoy.

This post was written a couple years ago after I had picked Spaz up from his second year at church camp. Tomorrow I will make the same trip, but I hope not to have the same conversation... 

As noted in my last post, Spaz was at church camp this past week. This was his second year.  Due to certain issues Spaz has (including, but not limited to, a tendency to go into meltdown mode), we were a bit hesitant last year to send him.  But Spaz is well-known, well-liked, and well-understood at church, and we had peace knowing that, whatever arose, he'd be loved and taken care of.  And he was.  One counselor stayed up talking with him til 2 am when he couldn't sleep one night, another calmed him out of his sole meltdown, and the camp nurse deftly removed the head of a tick from his upper thigh.  All in all, he had a great time, and his counselors, despite spending 4 days with a bunch of 9-to-11-year-old boys, seemed to have most of their sanity still intact.

It always helps Spaz if things are kept simple.  (Hint to other parents of KWADs: I also make sure HE is the one who actually puts everything in the suitcase, in hopes that it will help him remember what he has & where it is.)  So in preparing for camp, he & I packed "clothing rolls"-- socks, underwear, T-shirt & shorts rolled up and secured with a large file-size rubberband.  (Socks are not normally a staple around our house in the summer, but state law mandates that kids at camps wear socks and close-toed shoes.)  One roll for each day, plus one extra.  A couple 'pajama' rolls, too (which of course, since he is 11, are not actually pajamas, but rather T-shirts and knit shorts that he uses specifically as sleepwear).  He thought this was great.  I figured that, like last year, he'd come back with a couple rolls yet unworn, but it never hurts to be on the safe side.

Post-camp conversation at the ice-cream shop:

Mom (observing Spaz' filthy camp T-shirt, swimsuit, and lack of state-mandated socks):  So, Spaz, how many of the clothes we packed did you actually wear?

Spaz:  Um, what I came in.  Plus this shirt they gave me.  And I wore my swimsuit all the time.

Mom:  Spaz!!!  Didn't you put on clean clothes after showers?

Spaz:  ShowER, you mean.  I just put my swimsuit back on.  It was clean from the pool.

Mom:  You didn't by any chance wear your pajama shirts & shorts to bed?

Spaz:  The first night I did.

Mom (not really wanting to know):  And then...?

Spaz:  I told you, I wore my swimsuit the whole time.

Mom:  Ooo-kay.  And did you, perchance, use your toothbrush?

Spaz:  Yup!  Once.

Alrighty, then.

Though not apparent at camp & the ice-cream store, the smell became quite noticeable upon our arrival home, and he was sent almost immediately to the shower.

At least I don't have a ton of laundry to do.

*Sigh* Memories...

Well, the singing has stopped but the coffee shop is closing, which means it is time for me to go "Fly Away". Here's hoping we'll be hooked up again tomorrow.