It was the last one and it’s gone!

It’s feels so strange when you spend four nights with someone – a very rare occurence for DD and I – and then suddenly they’re gone.

DD and I had a gorgeous time together in Tassie, but the stars and our schedules aren’t aligning over the next month.

I dropped DD to the airport on Monday night for a flight to Tokyo. From there he’s gone straight to San Francisco for a conference until Monday.

My kids have been away for a few days at an Air BnB in the Hawksbury with their dad, so the house has been pretty quiet.

I think I’ve felt their absences more keenly because Facebook always reminds me in late January that we had our last family holiday together in Kingscliff four years ago.

Every few days another smiley “memory” pops up … we all look so happy.

Although I know that the reality was distance and awkwardness between my ex and I, coupled with constant fear that I was doing everything wrong as my marriage crumbled away through my anxious fingers.

Thanks for the memories Facebook. Can’t wait to see them again next year.

The kids came back last night and are potentially staying with me for the next 10 days or so. My ex is starting a contract job on Monday, so we’ve decided its easier for them to remain with me for the youngest’s first orthodontist appointment on Monday – far out I’m scared about how much that’s gonna cost long term – and to take her to her first day of high school on Tuesday, as for some reason a parent is required to be in attendance at the inconvenient time of 9.30am.

We haven’t entirely agreed on when the kids will go back to their dad’s place, as we are trying to realign weekends after our shambolic school holiday schedule.

DD returns home for a brief week before heading to the UK on a work trip and to visit his two daughters who are currently living there. He can’t wait to see them, he’s been missing them terribly.

But it does mean “us time” will be pretty thin on the ground for a while.

I suppose I should tackle my rather long to-do list, which includes finally ringing The Possum Man and getting the big furry thing that plods around on my ceiling at 4am removed; spraying poison on the weeds that have grown to tree height around the house; finding a tenor saxophone that won’t bankrupt me for the youngest to play in high school; and deciding on the perfect leprechaun costume for my 50th birthday party.

I thought I had that last one under control, but the whacked courier decided my address was wrong – it wasn’t – and the costume was returned to the warehouse … where they put it back on sale, despite me paying for it and them processing the money. What the? And THEN someone else bought it. And it was the last one left in the WHOLE WORLD.

Not an exaggeration. It really was.

Geez it was hard to be nice to the lady on the other end of the phone when she told me, but I figured a fight wasn’t worth the angst.

All the other girl leprechaun outfits available in the world resemble green Oktoberfest costumes with big, floppy top hats. Dammit.

#firstworldproblem

Anyways, I hope you have an awesome day off today, if you’re lucky enough not to be working. I’m off to the gym to tackle my Tassie spare tyre, then I’ll try and talk the kiddos into a surf.

Song of the day: Dexy’s Midnight Runners “Come on Eileen”