Why did I go out of town?

Our book club trip to South Carolina was wonderful.  What a lovely city.  We never stopped moving the entire visit, but we barely scratched the surface of things to do.  The beaches, the history, the architecture, the views, the food.  I'll most certainly take the family there for a vacation someday. 

I got back home on Sunday afternoon to much fanfare.  Two of the kids left little notes and gifts around the house, telling me how much they missed me.  The two little boys refused to leave my side, jabbering away until bedtime.  It was a lovely homecoming.

Monday came, and reality hit.  My kitchen ceiling literally started coming down.  The plaster that remained intact was damp. 

The little boys were still attached like glue, which is fine, but man, were they grouchy and demanding, which is very out of character for both of them.  (My daughter informed me after school that every time the one year old started to make like he was going to cry or whine, Grandma gave him a cup of milk and let him walk around the house with it.  He went through almost an entire gallon of whole milk in three and a half days.) They were going to have to be retrained into the rules of the house. 

I went into the basement to start some laundry, and found the dryer already running.  Apparantly, Grandma decided to do some laundry (which confused me, as I had washed every stitch of clothing in the house before I left).  She didn't know (I don't fault her for it.) that the dryer she used doesn't stop when you put it on the timed setting.  I found out later that day that she last did laundry on Friday.  My dryer had been running non-stop for 3 days and nights.  And inside the dryer.... two shirts and a pair of socks. 

To top it off, I was getting paid back for all of the walking we did in South Carolina.  My fibromyalgia hit like a brick wall.  There was very little moving around on Tuesday.  Certainly no cleaning.

But, things have gotten better.  Each day the little ones have thrown one less tantrum.  Yesterday there were none.  The guy came to give us a quote on getting the kitchen/mud room remodeled.  May be getting that a little earlier than planned.  The house didn't burn down from the dryer, so I still have a place to live and do more laundry.  The fibromyalgia has eased up more each day, to where I can almost run up the stairs again. 

By this time next year, all of this will be forgotten, and I will once again go on the book club trip.  I'll be sure to tell Grandma about the dryer, though.  And only leave half a gallon of milk in the fridge.