Appreciating one hour

Things have been busy, busy, busy lately. It feels like I'm always moving.

Unfortunately, not much of that moving over the weekend involved getting out of the house. Just because I am a stay-at-home mom, it doesn't mean I prefer to "stay at home." I get a little nutty if I'm in the house for more than a day. I like to be OUTSIDE! Breathing fresh air! Doing stuff! Even if it's just to run to the store....

I know in the past, I have mumbled and complained over running around a lot. There have been times I'd kick off my shoes, change into my flannel jammie pants and declare, "I am NOT going out anymore for today!" But that's when I'm running around TOO MUCH. And being outside all the time. I like to be inside the house, too. Just not...all day.

So it was that Saturday, I couldn't get out of the house. Neither did the kids. Even though we wanted to go somewhere. And today, I had plans to go out. Spend some time at the library, maybe a Starbucks or window shop. Just, GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! You know?

But miraculously....hubby decided that today was the day he'd do yardwork. Which meant I was stuck inside the house, watching the kids. I know I could've put them in the car and we'd go for a drive. (We do that, sometimes.) But I wanted to have some "me time." Just time to myself.

But as the day wore on and it got late, I started to stress out about not being able to go anywhere. At around the time the library closed, I got upset. I put my foot down and made my case for getting OUT of the house. When that time came, it was too late for me to be able to be out for longer than an hour. And I decided to just forget it. It was either longer than an hour or nothing!

Hubby promised to make sure I could do that tomorrow. But as I sat reading a book and just letting my stubbornness pass, I knew that would not work. It was either one hour of "me time" or just wait until next weekend. I have a TON of writing work going on next week. I just can't squeeze in the free time next week; I KNOW I won't have any!

So I decided that I will take this one hour of downtime tonight. And while I made that decision, hubby got the baby into the stroller, got Jennifer onto her bike and they went out for a while, too. So I guess we were ALL going to grab our last chance of downtime in what was left of the day!

I went to the bookstore and I DID NOT take my notebook with me this time. I'd already spent the morning writing and meeting a deadline. Now it was time to STOP being a writer and just enjoy the world again. Be in the moment. I felt naked without my notebook, but I knew I had to just be a part of the world for a while and take EVERYTHING in. No writing allowed! Turn off the writer and turn on the observer.

Still, I read through some books while at the bookstore. And enjoyed some Irish Cream Latte (yum!!). I was also texting one of my sisters, and people-watching, too. It was nice to be able to do that again.

And when I got back home, I felt refreshed. It was good to be with my babies again. We were all really happy and enjoyed time together. We ended up in front of the couch, eating cheeseburgers and watching a movie. The world just felt lighter again and I'm grateful I took that downtime to feel renewed for it. Even if that downtime lasted only for just an hour.