The big tent

My first Brewfest with Todd was in 2007. In 2008, he was on the road, and in 2009 we had a brand new baby so no one went. Todd joined me again this year, 2010, for a day of beer sampling, eating, and live music, and a night of campfires, friends, more beer, and camping. Since it had been a couple of years since he had been able to go to this favorite-of-events, Todd has been thinking about it and preparing himself for quite some time. It's one of our favorite things we do together,
and we're excited for next year when Johnny will be old enough to go with.

We camp once, maybe twice a year, and I am a big baby about it. I like an air mattress, comfy pillows, a fancy propane camp grill, and as many other comforts from home as I can pack into our vehicle.

But I am also a frugalista, so I try to get all the necessary creature comforts on the cheap. Which means we have had, since 2007, the smallest tent known to mankind. Which I got on sale. At Wal-Mart. Turns out that tent got broken last year at a bonfire and thankfully that fact was discovered before we set out for our night of camping in the cold and rain. Todd went to Wal Mart to purchase a new one, and a new air mattress since we seem to put a hole in them every single time we use one.

A little backstory: recently we got a $200 rebate from Sprint that we had forgotten about, and since it was something of a windfall, we decided to use some of it for a really nice dinner out on the town - something we haven't done since March 2009 when Todd's brother came to visit.

But Todd came home from Wal Mart and announced that wasn't gonna happen. He'd bought a bigger tent. Wal Mart was out of our cheap tiny tents, and he saw that as an opportunity to upgrade. After all, we'd need room for the baby in our tent soon.

There went my fancy dinner money. We got something practical, something we can keep and use again and again and something that will allow for many family adventures in the future.

I'm a little sad I don't get to do something frivolous and indulgent, but I think the message here is strong.

We enjoyed our big tent, and made mention of its castle-like largeness several times over the campout. We've adjusted our expectations, and put off our fancy date yet again.

I'm just happy we had the money on hand to buy the necessary supplies for our campout and I'm grateful that we stayed dry all night even though there was rain.

And this is the life we've made for ourselves. One wherein our needs are met, and sometimes our wishes aren't. Wherein we choose the big tent over foie gras, and keep ourselves happy with camping instead of Marriots. It's a good life, and don't you forget it.