Long weekend

Is it mean-spirited of me to hate these oh-so-French and oh-so-common-at-this-time-of-year "long weekends"? We've already had a four-day weekend (five-day for kids as they have no school on Wednesdays), in honour of "Ascension Thursday" on 2 June, now we have "Pentecost Monday" tomorrow.

I'm pretty sure these "long weekends" are a great thing if you have the kind of job that a) pays you even if you don't work that day (not like my teaching, for example: any teaching day that falls on a public holiday either has to be moved to another date or not paid) and b) implies working in an office or somewhere out of the house. It must be great to not have work to do, just like that.

When you work from home, and are too poor to turn down any work, "public holidays" cease to exist, just as weekends cease to exist. Worse than that: they're regular work days WITH THE CHILDREN AT HOME ALL DAY.

I guess it is mean-spirited.

I should love having my girls home with me; I should love having the time to do stuff with them, go places with them, hang out with them. But the truth is, I don't actually have time to do all that, so I end up resenting the days when they are here: I'm frustrated because I can't concentrate properly on my work and, at the same time, can't just hang out with my little girls.

Gah.

That said, we have been invited to lunch tomorrow (Monday) with a friend who lives out in the middle of nowhere. So far out into the middle of nowhere, in fact, that she's picking us up this evening and we're spending the night. Then she'll bring us back tomorrow, probably late afternoonish.

The girls are thrilled at the prospect - this friend has a daughter the same age as C and the three of them get along famously. They also love sleepovers.

I, however (and this will come as no surprise to you), am a little less enthusiastic. I'm a homebody, I love sleeping in my own bed, and a night away puts me outside my comfort zone. Also, this friend is someone I'm not particularly close to and with whom I actually have little in common. She's nice, and kind, and well-meaning, but I'm concerned that 24 hours together might just be a little too much. We'll see. Oh, and there's also Tom, who's going to be on his own for 24 hours and he HATES that, so I'll likely find cat vomit on my bed or some such delight on arriving home.

But I'm not a complete grinch (contrary to popular belief) and I am grateful that this friend thought of me, thought of us and is going to so much trouble for us. I'm sure we'll have a great time: I haven't been anywhere in so long that it no doubt will do me good to get away for a bit.

I just can't be arsed, to be honest.