Nothing is quite as easy when you are away from home.
From getting ready in the morning ... to those quiet moments of the early morning that I cherish ... to the ease in which a-regular-day unfolds ... to tending to the day-to-day things that need to be tended. It is simply easier when you are at home.
I felt torn in too many directions while we were away. My Youngest wanted to spend time with me. I wanted to spend time with him. And my mom. And my brother. And his family. And a few friends. Plus I was longing to simply spend some time 'with me'.
The days were simply not long enough. The nights were even shorter. The one morning I decided to sleep in a little bit, my mom barged into my room in a slight panic. She thought maybe I was dead because I was the only one in the house that had eaten a piece of the dessert (that had raw eggs in it) the evening prior ...
I stressed my mom out to the max. From a misunderstanding about our estimated time of arrival; to a further misunderstanding about the amended time of arrival; to gadding about and taking longer than she anticipated that I would when I was out; to forgetting to call when I ran late while visiting a friend; to checking in on me after I arrived home the one evening that I cautioned her to just go to sleep and I would see her in the morning. Her worry button was on MAX throughout the duration of our visit and I think I wore her out. Which wore me out ...
Finally, finally we turned around and headed home one day later than planned. My Son was constructing a deck at home while we were away and between work and rain, he was running behind schedule. He begged us not to arrive home before 9 p.m. last night.
I did my best, but we arrived at 7:30. The deck looks wonderful but he didn't get a chance to finish all that he had hoped to do. But I get the feeling that what I see is the completed project. We were supposed to talk about that this morning ...
... but my morning started on the run (a comedy of errors on no one's part in particular meant that I was the one who had to deliver the Sunday paper this morning which was a two hour job that was not a part of my Sunday morning plan).
While I was delivering papers, I got a phone call from a prospective Daycare Parent who asked if they could come over ... in two hours.
I had time to complete the papers, tidy the house and finally, finally have my breakfast smoothie and my first cup of coffee of the day before they were due to arrive.
I hadn't quite finished my coffee when the phone rang. A friend who has just returned back home (after her second long-term stint in the hospital this year) called and asked if I would be able to spend the day with her tomorrow since she is not yet up to being home alone. So I will go over there first thing tomorrow morning.
We barely got off the phone when my Daycare Family arrived. We spent close to an hour getting to know each other and talked of Daycare Issues and such.
We were shaking hands and saying our farewell when the phone rang. It was a friend that I had hoped to visit while I was on holidays but didn't dare take the time to call (since I was already treading on thin ice with all of the time I was gadding about while I was supposedly visiting Mom). So ... I gave this friend all of the time that she wanted and we chatted for a few hours.
It was 4:00 when I hung up the phone. And the doorbell didn't ring. Neither did the phone. No one needed or wanted me to do anything. Even though I tried (by this time, I think I was being shunned by My Son who had counted on us sitting down and talking about the completion of the deck first thing this morning).
I sat still and alone for the first time all day. I looked at Google images of deck seating that will most likely not be in our deck's future. I made supper. I searched for bargains for that-which-I-will-need for my Daycare Revival.
By 6:00 p.m. I was ready for bed. I can't believe I'm still awake (I got a call back from a guy who had a deal fall through on his barely-used-bargain-playpen which revived me).
I must get up early tomorrow morning so that I can find an hour to call my own before I go and spend the day at my friend's.
The Sunday morning at home that I wanted so badly was not meant to happen today. Nor tomorrow. At least the bookkeeping job that I was scheduled to do on Tuesday & Wednesday was cancelled. Maybe I'll get my 'Sunday morning' on Tuesday ...
Holidaying has never felt so exhausting. I'll be relieved when I get my Daycare Doors open once again and add some structure back into my days at home. I am looking forward to weekdays that feel like workdays ... and weekends that feel like weekends.
After a holiday like this one, I relish the idea of returning to Work As I (used to) Know It!
No comments:
Post a Comment