Camping Blues

I am supposed to be floating around a lazy river right now instead of blogging. I am supposed to be embracing the heat instead of grumbling about it. I am supposed to be camping. And, to be honest, I am a little melancholy that I am not. BUT, there's too much good this weekend to be in a funk. P is at his best friend's birthday party, having a blast no doubt. E has a pseudo sleepover last night, which ended at 10pm with both five year olds in tears- one because he wanted his mommy and one because he didn't want his mommy, but wanted his best friend to stay. Before the tears, however, we had fun at putt-putt golf and Chuck E Cheese (Thank you to whoever created the unlimited time play cards. You're a genius!). Today E's best friend came back over so he could go sweat to death with me on the sidelines, keeping me company during E's soccer game by telling me who he was taller than, who he could run faster than, who he could outplay in soccer. Then we had ice cream for lunch because, well, that's probably what we would've done if we had been camping. But, out of all the good that has happened this weekend, the best was a phone call I had with Rob this morning. He recently took a new job within his company after "beating out" over 30 applicants. The supervisor told him at the time that he knew Rob would be good for the job but he still had hesitations because the other three finalists were as, or more so, qualified for the position. That same supervisor called him yesterday to tell him that he is very impressed with the reports he's received while Rob's been on the storm work. He said that he knew he had done right when he offered Rob the position but that decision has been magnified over the past 10 days. I had no doubt from the get go that Rob was perfect for the job. He's the best of the best in line work and knows what needs to be done. He is also a workaholic and puts his job before just about anything else. So, for one of the big wigs to not only be informed of that but to call Rob and commend him on it made me more proud than I already am of him. Being away from us hasn't been easy and, while I miss him terribly, the boys have been stellar while he's been away. So that has helped tremendously. But, knowing Rob's on the road, heading our way even as I write this, and knowing that other people see in him what I've known for the past 11 1/2 years made the time apart worth it. There will always be another camping trip, another weekend to create those memories. I'm just glad that we've created the memories that we have this weekend...and even more glad that  Rob soon will be home to join in on them with us!