Nathan has been in Guatemala this week on a medical mission trip, so I've had the kids all week by myself. It's really been a good week. Things were pretty calm, the kids behaved fairly well, and I actually quite enjoyed it. Thursday, Mom called and asked if she could get the kids at lunch on Friday and I would get them back sometime on Saturday. At first I hesitated because I don't ever want to take advantage of their free babysitting and also because I was doing okay by myself with them- I wasn't pulling my hair out or anything. But the more I got to thinking about it, I thought it was a great idea. I'll go shopping, I thought, and shopping I did! I shopped for 4.5 hours straight which is a long time for me since my kids rarely afford me more than 1 hour or so of shopping with them. And the best part is, I got fabulous deals... a regularly priced $68 shirt for $5 on clearance at Marshalls and a shirt for $3.99 at the Gap just to name a few. I literally shopped til I almost dropped. Seriously, my feet were starting to hurt and I thought Visa might call me for all the transactions I had made in such a short period of time. I would show you pictures of some of my deals, but I'm sure you will see me wearing them in future blog pics!
I decided I might as well take full advantage of this rare time to myself so I went to dinner and the movies by myself. I got the Lite Turkey sandwich with fruit at Sweet Peppers Deli and fully enjoyed a meal full of silence. You've probably got to be a mom to really appreciate that. No getting up to get someone something, no encouraging a child to eat and quit playing, no picking food up off the floor... you get my drift. I used to always feel sorry for people I saw eating alone but I hope no one had pity on me tonight. I loved every minute of it.
So funny story on the way from dinner to the theater... I was stopped at a red light for what seemed like forever, so I start looking around. Apparently the man in the backseat the next lane over wanted to get my attention- he honked then rolled his window down and smiled and waved. I wanted to flash him my ring finger- I'm happily married to the man of my dreams and am still totally in love with him- and have eyes for no one else (God definitely knew what he was doing when he brought the two of us together ) but I didn't. I just looked away quickly. But it was nice to know I'm maybe somewhat still attractive (since I certainly don't feel that way)... or maybe it was just that I was in my mom's honda and not driving our less than cool minivan with a white scratch all the way down the length of one side (a mailbox attacked me one day on my way to church!). I can safely say that thankfully I've never even gotten any glances while driving that! Thankfully my light changed right after that and I sped away. And I must mention that a small car is so much more fun to drive than my train as Noah calls it.
Anyway, there are so many good movies out to see right now that it was hard to choose. I decided on The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock. I had heard that it was a great movie but honestly had no clue what it was about. It was SO GOOD! And makes me want to be a better person and a better mother. Go see it if you haven't already although I'm sure you all saw it 2 months ago. I never get out, what can I say.
Barnes and Noble was next on my agenda. I always want to just go in and browse and lounge around reading but rarely get the chance. I went straight to the kids section and just happened to see Ferdinand (a book referenced in the movie). I've never seen or heard of this book before and thought it funny to walk right in and there it was but only one copy. I bought it. As well as So Long Insecurity, Beth Moore's new book. If you don't know, they are going to be doing a weekly study on her LPM blog through it and I thought I might go along for the online journey. I flipped through a couple of house magazines trying to gather more ideas to stick in the back of my head for when I finally have a house to decorate.
Oh yeah, also grabbed a frosty on the way home. They were out of the chocolate. Seriously? I mean, shouldn't that be a crime? For goodness sakes. I'm sure I just put on the 3 pounds that I recently lost, but it was worth it. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day. I felt quite revived from my solo outing. I mean really, I was out 9.5 hours doing exactly what I wanted to do without having to think about anyone else's needs. Absolute bliss... now I'm gonna go to bed and sleep in as late as I can! And then I'm gonna go squeeze my babies tomorrow because I really do miss them!
Thanks Mimi & Grandpa for letting me enjoy a little "me" time!
