Hiya -

Summer arrived at my house on Friday, which means 100°F heat indices, gnats, ailing tomato plants, and absolutely enormous hair.

And yet, at 9:03 pm on Saturday (which is past my bedtime), I came inside from playing fetch with Whiskey Sue and had this absurd conversation with Prince Jack.

Me: It's actually almost pleasant outside.

PJ: [watching a drag racing video on Facebook] Hm.

Me: I'm tempted to take Eloise's tent outside and sleep in it.

PJ: [eyeing me suspiciously] Oh?

Me: Yeah. It's kinda' small, though. (Eloise is 3 years old.)

PJ: Where would the dogs sleep?

Me: Yeah, that's a good point. But I might try it. Am I ridiculous?

PJ: [resisting the urge to answer that question]

Me: Yeah, I'm probably ridiculous.

PJ: We could go to Walmart and buy you a tent.

Let's pause here for a second. Notice the man said, "We could go," not "You could go." This is one of many reasons I call him Prince Jack. He's a dream partner.

Me: Really?

PJ: Are you going to be disappointed if I don't sleep in it with you?

Me: Nope. Let's go!

So we did, even though I loathe Walmart nearly as much as I loathe mushrooms. (Do not come at me about your morels. If you wanna eat spongey fungus, you go right ahead, but I shall not participate.)

ANYHOO. By 10 pm, I had a three-person dome tent set up on my back patio. I need you to be impressed, because the tent came with NO directions. And I need you to be sympathetic, because the tent packaging neglected to reveal how tiny the persons would have to be to fit three of them.

Once the tent was up, Jack equipped me with a flashlight and an only-slighty-thicker-than-a-yoga-mat mat from the garage, and I hauled out a pillow and a blanket (unnecessary).

The dogs were unnerved and nearly leveled the tent trying to enter and exit through the zippered-up door. But we had a good time. And my back will eventually recover.

It really was RIDICULOUS. But it was also spontaneous and fun and gave my neighbors something to talk about.

Which leads me to today's pep talk...

Pep Talk #040: Embrace "ridiculous."
As grown-ups, most of us just don't have nearly as much fun as we should. As we NEED. The spontaneity we embraced in childhood has been supplanted by to-do lists and responsibilities and bills and BLECH.

And look, it's not lost on me that some folks don't have $30 to spend on a tent. I even said to Jack, "This is the very definition of disposable income."

But the thing about being "ridiculous" is that it doesn't have to cost anything.
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> Go to a playground and swing.
> Yell "Marco!" from the grocery store chip aisle and see if anyone responds, "Polo!"
> Borrow a comic book from the library.
> Make homemade playdough.
> Call someone who makes you laugh.
> Play some funk and dance around the kitchen. (My new obsession is Cory Wong.)

It's easy to think, "I don't have time to do that stuff." But I'm telling you, : We don't have time NOT to do that stuff.

Adulthood is over-rated,
Kelley

P.S. What's the most ridiculous thing you've done in the last week? Month? YEAR? Has it been that long?

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