1) Good old fashioned family time. Had some free travel time this weekend and went on a trip (about 3 hours away) to Colonial Williamsburg and Yorktown. It was great just hanging out with my boys, not rushing through things, and not thinking about laundry and chores to do when we got back home. My son was completely excited about staying in a hotel and going in the pool. It was a great time.
2) Olive Garden. After 2 days of lots of walking and eating out at restaurants, I told my husband I just wanted to eat in the hotel room. I knew my son would think it was fun and I really didn't want to spend my meal occupying him in a restaurant. I suggested to my husband just ordering pizza. We had just spent time in the pool and were drying out and tired from a long day. (Let's just say Palm Sunday is penitential for the parents because it is an even longer service to try to keep your kid occupied for). Anyways, my husband found out that there was an Olive Garden near us and he picked up our food and we enjoyed a peaceful, good dinner in the hotel room. My son thought it was awesome that he could watch Charlie Brown on mommy's iPad and eat his dinner and my hubby and I enjoyed not chasing after him or asking him to use his indoor voice.
3) Stepping back in time to appreciate what we have. As you take a trip back over 200 years to see how life was before oven mitts, ovens and restroom facilities, it really does make one appreciate what we have to day and the rights that we have as citizens, particularly women and minorities..
4) A friend who's just as crazy about gardening as I am. We are getting a 20 x 25 foot lot and we both have toddlers (who love to play with each other). She's becoming just as enthusiastic as I am about gardening and I think we might actually get a lot of produce this summer and our kids should have a good time learning about plants and growing. We aren't sure if our husbands have totally bought onto our idea or excitement, but I'll keep you posted as it goes!5) God blessed this broken road- that country song reminds me of Arizona. My in-laws are currently traveling there and I'm having memories of all of my favorite places and things I did, and how they changed me to make the person I am today. I was speaking with a colleague last week regarding my husband. He's a wonderful man. My pre-Arizona self would have never been interested in him (after all, what kind of guy wears white shoes and white socks and stonewashed white jeans?). I overlooked our incompatible fashion taste (most people would agree I'm no fashionista, but I don't typically look like I came out of an episode of Saved By The Bell). All the character traits and virtues I had not been wise enough to look for in previous relationships I found in my husband. So with that, thinking of Arizona and its mixed memories are bittersweet.
A Bonus- I'm thankful I'm learning to be more flexible. On Wednesday, I was supposed to make a meal for a family who just had their 5th child. I contacted the mom earlier in the week and she said she didn't need the meal on that day because they would be going to a restaurant for a celebration. It was a day I had originally scheduled to be available to make the meal and we had already bought all the ingredients, so I asked her if I could just drop it off and then they could use it on another day. She said that was fine. Then I found out that my son's daycare was suddenly closed, so the day of all the "kid-free" errands I was hoping to get done, changed.
My son was fairly good until lunch when he had a breakdown. He was just trying the whiny, nothing is ever right routine and I pulled out my old Sunday-school teacher face and said, "ok, you don't want to be here, sure, we can leave and I'm just going to throw this chocolate milk I got for you on the way out." That, combined with the stern look of two police officers nearby, got my son back in line, to the point that he ate his hummus, brown rice, pita chips and chicken with nare a complaint. He even commented, "I'm being very good." He continued to be good the rest of the day for the most part. We dropped off the meal and it turned out the family really was going to need it. They had an emergency come up and it was a blessing that they didn't have to worry about where that's night meal was coming from. I ended up taking my son and our gardening buddies over to the park (even though it was getting to be nap time) and they had a great time playing and getting all their energy out and my friend and I were excited to see our garden and make plans. My son then went home for a long nap, which was rewarding for all. My go-with-the flow attitude really helped make what could have been a trying day, a lot better.
My son was fairly good until lunch when he had a breakdown. He was just trying the whiny, nothing is ever right routine and I pulled out my old Sunday-school teacher face and said, "ok, you don't want to be here, sure, we can leave and I'm just going to throw this chocolate milk I got for you on the way out." That, combined with the stern look of two police officers nearby, got my son back in line, to the point that he ate his hummus, brown rice, pita chips and chicken with nare a complaint. He even commented, "I'm being very good." He continued to be good the rest of the day for the most part. We dropped off the meal and it turned out the family really was going to need it. They had an emergency come up and it was a blessing that they didn't have to worry about where that's night meal was coming from. I ended up taking my son and our gardening buddies over to the park (even though it was getting to be nap time) and they had a great time playing and getting all their energy out and my friend and I were excited to see our garden and make plans. My son then went home for a long nap, which was rewarding for all. My go-with-the flow attitude really helped make what could have been a trying day, a lot better.
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