1. Order warm, sunny, glorious spring weather. Check.
View from my bedroom window. Love.
2. Spend Friday morning at the computer finishing your warm, sunny, glorious ebook. Check. (More on that later. Excited!)
3. Spend Friday afternoon getting mani-pedi at Walmart while waiting for your oil to be change. Wait–did I just admit to getting a mani-pedi at Walmart? Yes I did. I had an hour to kill and no shopping to do, and my digits were in need of some pre-summer love. And wouldn’t you know it–the Mart has a nail salon sandwiched between their credit union and kiddie arcade (both of which reside just south of their hair salon, optometrist, tax service booth, and Blimpie. If you’re scared that Walmart’s going to take over the world, don’t worry—it already has.) I ran into an old friend there and we chatted happily while a mysterious tattooed man with a shaven head gave me the foot massage of my life. Just as he was brushing the final gloss on my freshly-pinked up toenails, I heard my name over the loudspeaker, announcing that my vehicle was ready for pick up. With my oil changed, my fabric softener purchased, and my hands and feet gorgeous, I was ready to roll into the weeknd. Three cheers for Walmart! (Whenever you’re done booing it. No pressure, really.)
4. Spend remainder of Friday afternoon at the mall with your youngest daughter then meeting up with your brothers family for dinner at local Mexican restaurant. Your jovial brother’s company makes up for the misery of trying to find clothes that your seventh grader will actually wear. Pat yourself on the back for ordering a salad instead of the arroz con pollo you really wanted. Tell yourself said salad cancels out your pre-dinner inhalation of massive quantities of chips and salsa.
5. Spend Friday evening reading, for two hours alone, while your younger kids are at grandma’s and your teenager is out to dinner with dad. Almost finish The Lowland. (More on that later. Excited!) Finish out evening by watching latest Parenthood with the Hub. (More on that later. Disgusted!)
6. Spend early Saturday morning driving said teenager to take the ACT test. (She is only a freshman, but will take it every year through high school then keep her highest score. Now why didn’t I ever think of that when I was her age? Things could have turned out quite differently for me, I’m sure. The least of which being that Walmart would not have played such a prominent role in my adulthood.) Recognize what a warm, sunny, glorious daughter I have. Tell her so. Again.
7. Spend remainder of Saturday morning cleaning out fridge and freezer. The immense satisfaction earned upon completing this nasty chore makes up for its unpleasantness. And my kitchen doesn’t reek anymore, which is a bonus.
8. Spend a warm, sunny, glorious half hour afterward walking the neighborhood with a bestie who stopped by. Recognize that spontaneous bits of time with a friend should never be foregone, regardless of the cleaning frenzy you may be in. You will return to the task at hand happier and healthier, and hyper-er. You feel thankful for good friends.
9. Spend Saturday afternoon cleaning out your closet (it was bad), the downstairs hall closet, and storage space under the stairs. See #6 for satisfaction-to-unpleasantness ratio. It was awesome.
10. Spend remainder of Saturday afternoon cruising Costco, running into every person you’ve known since childhood and picking up a hot new Calvin Klein hoodie while you’re at it. (I’ve notice Costco carries a lot of Calvin Klein. Is it really Calvin Klein, or is is Calvin Klein-for-Costco? And is Calvin Klein still cool?) (Was it ever that cool?)
11. Spend Saturday evening supervising said teenager’s movie night she was hosting in your bonus room. Just as you’re pulling out the ironing board downstairs (you had to keep yourself awake somehow–it was past ten o’clock), a mom of one of the guests, who happens to be another bestie, stops by. She says she wants to keep you company while you stay up with the kids, since both the Hubs were in bed already. After kissing her repeatedly, you talk for hours while catching up on a month’s (not kidding) worth of ironing. Recognize, for the second time that day, that time with a friend is better than therapy. Cliched, but true. Fall asleep feeling like you had a rockin’ girls night out.
12. Spend Sunday morning at killer church meetings. Recognize that killer church meetings are better than therapy. (No cliche there, unfortunately, because few people are saying that these days.) But true.
13. Spend Sunday afternoon napping with the kids then making a killer dinner of pork tenderloin, baby potatoes, asparagus, and and artichokes. Whipped up some biscuits to boot. Strawberry shortcake for dessert. Ah…spring.
14. Spend Sunday evening bumming with family and getting organized for week. Made plans for Easter week; excited to try some new ideas.
15. Fall asleep thankful for good weather, good friends, good family, and a freshly cleaned closet (!) Relish an ancient, almost forgotten sense of anticipation about All Things Possible. Recognize that small joys in a small town lead to big happiness.
16. Wake up early Monday morning and punch out an assignment for your writing class, which is to post an unedited first draft. We’ll call this ramble of thoughts a “first draft,” and, as you can tell, I refrained myself from going back and editing any of it. I’m closing my eyes and clicking “publish.” Please forgive (or ignore) it all. And have a killer Monday!