Summer Camp for Mama

Himself and I took the girls to Girl Scout summer camp yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, where they'll reside and have a blast until Friday.  Here's all their gear:

Everything went smoothly at check-in; Miss Priss was a little sad to see us go and required more than one hug, but she'll be fine.  Tiny Girl merely waved a distracted good-bye, since she was in the middle of a game.  Same gene pool yet so different!

I must admit it feels weird at home without them here.  I am very aware of this being part of what I call the Slow Good-bye, i.e., my children growing up and away.  I never went to summer camp, so I'm excited for my girls to have this great opportunity to learn new things and grow in their abilities and confidence.  But I'm also a little sad.  It's bittersweet, this whole growing-up thing.

I can't say it's exactly quiet at home, though, since Jasper's here with me.  I let him into the study for the first time so he wouldn't be lonesome while I was on the computer, but that wasn't such a fab idea.  I've had to chase him down more than once and prise paper documents from his mouth!

You may wondering what I'm planning to do while they're gone.  So am I, but I have a few plans:

• Clean out and straighten up the study.  Frankly, it's a wreck and needs to be readied for our next school year.  Which brings me to my next undertaking for the week:
• Plan our next school year.  I never make an extensive plan, since then I feel burdened to follow it.  But I do make a loose plan based on Ambleside Online's schedule, supplemented by Tanglewood Education and The Well-Trained Mind.
• Go through all our books and take some to a nearby used bookstore.
• Get a massage at a nearby day spa.  Yes, it's an extravagance, but I'm going to treat myself.  The last time I did anything like this was more than two years ago, for my fortieth birthday.
• Go out with friends.  This evening, Himself and I are having dinner (when I go out, I say "dinner," but when I eat at home, I call that evening meal "supper"; funny, huh?) with his former roommate, from when Himself and I dated, and his wife.  We are really looking forward to seeing them, since they now live in South Africa, and it's been a long time.  I'm also planning to go out with some girlfriends of mine.
• Take care of the garden.  All the vegetables and flowers need fertilizing this week, and I need to do some light pruning and dead-heading on my roses.
• Go on a few walks with Jasper in the cool mornings.  The morning weather has been fantastic lately, sunny and breezy.  It was 69 degrees this morning at 8 AM!  The afternoons are another story: hotter, humid, and often stormy.
• Read, read, read!

That's all I have on my list so far, but it's probably enough.  Now that I've made a list, I see I have lots to do to fill the time.  The study clear-out and school planning are both big projects in terms of time and effort.  I think I may schedule a certain amount of time per day to work on these, and then read or blog (and read blogs) the rest of the time.  I'll call it Summer Camp for Mama!