Vacation Time!!!

Last week was just crazy.  Some of it I scheduled  in but the rest was imposed upon me.  I do try to plan ahead and I most often look at the week and have my outfits ready to go as I fold the laundry.  One day in particular was so planned, then unplanned and then it changed again . . . I had switched outfits for the following day 5 times and then when the dust settled I ended up wearing what I had picked out originally.  I'm sure in crisis my outfit should not matter but knowing what I'm going to wear the next day gives me a sense of having a jump on the day--as if one day I may actually get the early worm. 

Friday was very busy in a very fun way and at the end of the day, Joseph and I were talking about our week, and I told him I felt like I could use a vacation.  He was so excited "where will we go Mom--Legoland again"?  I had to break the news to him that I wanted just a vacation for me and to spend it in my bed.  "Without us"?  So I tried to explain the best way I knew how that I loved him very much but sometimes I just want to sit in the quiet and not really have to do anything.  "Isn't that what naptime is for"?  I agreed that naptime was the perfect time to have a quiet Mommy time.  All was right again in his world.  But the idea of having time to just sit was one that I wanted to hold onto.

On Saturday Eric came home.  He stays for 22 hours and then leaves.  This weekend we had only a few errands that included all of us and I was looking forward to a nice meal together and then a quiet evening.  My friend had offered to watch the kids so we were able to have some time together without kids--to not have interruptions was a beautiful thing.  We could start and end entire sentences.  We could finish an entire topic without forgetting what we were thinking.  It was refreshing.

By the time Eric left-- we had the laundry done, grocery shopping done, meals for the week planned, outfits in order, and the schedule for the week updated with the latest events.  I was finished.  Except for lunch, dinner and bathtime.

So I sat on the couch and watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Brum with my kids for the afternoon and worked on a knitting project.  What an amazing vacation.  It lasted about 4 hours.  I sat and my kids came and went working on several different projects.  I think that they enjoyed my vacation too.

Thank you God for giving us the gift of time.  Help me use each moment of the day to serve you--and when I fail please gently remind me that I have right now, this moment, to change.