An Unplanned Day Off

I know I'm not the only mom up at midnight doing laundry so her family will not be naked in the morning. Also, my favorite pants are in that load. I need my favorite pants.

Today's unplanned day off was a huge blessing. Kris went to work--Mr. Emergency Management is essential--but the kids and I had a wonderful day at home. We threw open all the windows. I had grand plans of mopping the floor. That's still on my list.

We finished other work, though. We dragged dead branches from the woodsy area of our property over to the burn pile. To any passersby hearing one of my children at that moment, I was apparently making use of slave labor. What an awful mom I must be for making my able-bodied children work outside on a 60+ degree, sunny day.

The other child happily helped wherever help was needed. The complainer was only that for a small part of the day; don't misunderstand. Food and the threat of video games being taken away for the rest of the week worked wonders in that case.

I can use names now to talk about the rest of the day.

Kal invited me outside to shoot basketball with him. He's a pretty good shot. I made four in a row. That's probably the best I've ever done. Kal couldn't believe it when he saw me even string two in a row together. Fun times with him!

Kal also invited me to ride around the neighborhood with Kara and him. We all pedaled around what we call the Big Loop. It's basically the main circle of the neighborhood.

He's getting too big for the boy's bike he rode the past two years. Time for my old Cannondale to be put to use, which was my favorite bike from my teenage years. A boy's bike, but red and it fit my frame just right. Even now, I get a thrill with the speed it has. I forgot how much fun it was to ride. Now Kal is enjoying it.

Guess who made chocolate chip cookies all by herself? Kara did! She asked if we could do it, but I was getting messy with yard work. Since she has helped me enough in the kitchen already, I suggested she try to make the entire recipe herself, and she did except for the oven part.

We had significantly fewer cookies to bake than usual on account of somebody's kids who just couldn't keep from sampling the cookie dough--many times. Yes, we eat raw cookie dough, and we're not stopping.

Kris cooked dinner by ordering Dominos. I always love food I didn't have to make.

By the way, it was so nice to see him come home. I usually am at my shop, and he takes the kids home when he gets off work, then I come home later. I loved today being there when he came home to us.

All the world feels right when he walks in the door.