Tuesday, December 6, 2011

A hall pass

OND 2011

Our men are bike riders.
It doesn't matter if it be road or mountain bike riding.
It is their "thing"
Their exercise, their sanity time, their "me" time, their pack time.
My hubby has his tribe.
A few blokes who ride together a couple of times a week
and head off for secret men's business a couple of times a year.

OND 2011

We are the bike riders' wives who don't think of ourselves as needing a tribe.
But we certainly wont knock back a chance to grab a hall pass
and get away and just be girls
for a weekend.

OND 2011

We adore our kids (mostly)
and adore our partners (mostly)
but the chance to get away for a little while
is, it has to be said, liberating and relaxing.

OND 2011

No forced meal times, no defined get up times, no set bed times;
no sanitised conversations;
no mobile phone reception
(now that is liberating);
no telly, no internet.
No stress about excessive calories.

OND 2011

We tossed our "mummy" and "wife" badges
onto the table as we headed out the door.
OND 2011

Our weekend was spent at the spectacular Deep Creek Conservation Park.

OND 2011

We walked over 20 kilometres
and, while we notched up one twisted ankle and one humungous blister,
(owning up to the blister here)
at least we old girls didn't break any hips.
OND 2011

Trekking up and down hills
made the indulgence of good fine and wine
at the end of the day so much more enjoyable.

OND 2011

We came home with a renewed appreciation for the stunning natural beauty
so close to our back doors.
OND 2011

I have a tendency to embrace solitude unless I am given a kick up the backside
so I am grateful to these girls
who expect my participation.
OND 2011

(I did take my knitting, of course)
OND 2011

At the end of it all,
we came home rested and ready to face the chaos
that is the end of school term and the start of the Christmas holidays.

OND 2011

We came home with those good aches in our bodies from a good amount of exercise
and those red patches where we forgot to sunscreen properly.
OND 2011

We came home,
sated from conversations about
pink bits, celebrities,
religion, tummy tucks and boob jobs,
perineal piercings (I kid you not),
boyfriends from our youth,
book recommendations,
the pros and cons of blogging and other social networking,
the basics of knitting
and lots of other interesting topics in between.
OND 2011

We also came home with an appreciation that, as mums, we didn't have pouches
and that we didn't have stretch marks associated with a gangly adolescent
refusing to leave "home".
OND 2011

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