What happened to me?

When I was 13 or 14 a friend of mine came to spend the weekend. Mama and Daddy had bought a 10 person tent that summer and it was set up in the back yard. Anne and I decided to spend the night in the tent. Somehow that one night turned into almost 3 weeks and a stint at church camp. We lived in a 10 man tent in my parents' backyard all that summer. It was great.

Last night BabyGirl decided she wanted to camp out in our yard. Around 7:30 I dug out the tent and Husband and I threw it together out in the field East of the house (between the creek, ball diamond, pool, and pond for anyone who knows our layout). BabyGirl and I blew up the air mattress, packed up our bedding, and tromped down for a night of pseudo camping.

I say Pseudo because husband ran an extension cord into the tent so we could plug in a desk lamp (he thought we'd burn down the tent with the camping lantern or candles), we both charged our MP3 players to listen to as we slept, and we took the portable DVD player so we could lay in bed and watch Gone With the Wind.

I dozed off a bit shortly after Scarlett married Charles Hamilton but woke up as Ashley left Pitty Pat's house after Christmas. We put away the DVD player, kicked on our headsets (I cannot fall asleep without listening to classical music), and bundled down in our sleeping bags.

I do not sleep in the cold. I know many people who do, people who crank the AC up or crack open their window in the winter. I am not one of them. I like it a toasty 74 degrees or so when I crash for the night. The mummy bag I was in helped, but I had that thing cinched down to within an inch of its life. Only my nose and mouth were exposed. My body was warm but the air I was breathing in was not.

Sleep finally came to visit sometime well after 11. I woke up around 3 to Sadie barking like a crazy dog. I shifted around trying to get comfortable on the air mattress when I realized the sides of the tent were damp. BabyGirl was sleeping right up against the tent side so I climbed out of my bag and pulled the mattress to the center of the tent. As soon as I settled back in Sadie started freaking out again. After 5 full minutes of deep chested barks, she got quiet and the coyotes answered back. If you've never heard a pack of coyotes howling in the night, it can make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Add to that the fact that they sound like they're in your front yard and you're sleeping in what amounts to a giant pair of panty hose and it doesn't help with the sleeping business.

That went on for around 2 hours before tapering off enough for sleep to return.

This morning BabyGirl and I tromped back up to the house to shower and get ready for church. Bitsy was hoping tonight it would be her turn to sleep in the tent with Mommy. I hated to do it, but I had to burst her bubble.

Mommy is too old for camping. Mommy barely stayed awake through church. Mommy had to have a long nap on the couch after church. Mommy has ached all day like she started a new aerobics class yesterday. Mommy can no longer spend days on end sleeping in a tent.

Now an RV might change my mind........