Thirteen Hours

One thing I didn't know about myself until recent years is that I need alone time. Some of that alone time needs to take place in my living space. When I figured that out, it was a big "Ah ha!" moment. Scotty would tend to come home from work, find me overwhelmed, and send me away to recover. I would leave for a while, but I would never return feeling better. Then one Saturday, Scotty took the kids hiking, and I stayed home, and that's when I discovered the missing element - I need to be alone in my house. It didn't always help me to be sent away somewhere for a few hours. I never had anywhere to go, so I would just wander stores and go out to eat and then come home and feel just as overwhelmed as I was when I left. The key is, I need them to leave, and I need to stay home... alone.

As you can imagine, alone time is sparse during the summer. The only time I'm really alone when the kids are out of school is when I make a quick drive to a store without them, and that usually has be be before 7:00 a.m. so I can sneak away while they're still asleep, and they can't stow away in the van. I usually return home to pure chaos, so that brand of alone time isn't very healing. 

This past weekend, I got some alone time, courtesy of my sister-in-law. Scotty and Nicky were backpacking for a few days, so it was just the girls and me at home. Amber invited the girls for a sleepover, so I was able to have alone time for thirteen straight hours!

There's a phenomenon that most moms can probably relate to where you have time without your kids, and you feel immense pressure to use that time as wisely and productively as possibly, but the stress of of it makes you so paralyzed that you end up doing nothing. I wanted to make sure I didn't use my thirteen hours like that, but I also didn't want to clean the whole time. I decided to strive for half productivity and half enjoyment. Here's how I spent my thirteen hours:

-First I went to see Elvis. I got a reclining seat in a corner all by myself, and it was glorious. I've never been to the movie theater alone. Several years ago, I never would have wanted to do that, but now I have no qualms over going solo. 

-From the movie theater, I ordered Applebee's carside to go. Then I went and picked it up, took it home, and ate dinner while finishing an audiobook. 

-Then I finished a puzzle and watched 4 episodes of Virgin River on Netflix.

-Then I cleaned the bathroom 50% (I didn't do the shower or the floor) and did 30 push-ups.

-I went to bed and read Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand until I couldn't keep my eyes open.

-I woke up at 5:13, 6:32, and 7:05. Then I dragged myself out of bed and ate breakfast. 

-I finished my Come Follow Me study for the week.

-I went outside and listened to an audiobook while I did some work in the garden.

-I clipped a bunch of sunflowers and made some bouquets to put around the house. I had to pull out several sunflower stalks that were knocked over during a storm the other day, so I wanted to enjoy the blooms as long as I could. 

-Then I picked all the veggies that were ready and put some out on the curb (I do this a lot in the summer because I always have way more tomatoes than we'll ever need. I might can some this year - it's been a while since I canned tomatoes. I just don't feel like cleaning up the murder-scene-esque mess in my kitchen afterward).

-I took my rugs outside and beat them, then brought them inside to wash.

-I swept and vacuumed the main level of my house (and sweated so very much!)

-I wrote a blog post.

And then three girls came pounding on the front door, and my thirteen hours of alone time came to a sudden end. 

But, ah! It was wonderful while it lasted! Now I'm renewed enough to get through the next few weeks until school starts... I hope. Then I'll go through that other motherhood phenomenon where your kids go back to school, and you don't know what to do with yourself, and you feel super guilty for a few days, but then you get used to it and return to a state of homeostasis whilst living in your car.