A Day in the Life
Last Saturday started much like any other. At 6:15 am, I woke #3 son and his friend, who had spent the night, tried (unsuccessfully) to interest them in breakfast, packed a bag of protein bars, water and cheese snacks, and delivered them to the high school for their cross-country-meet bus with 30 seconds to spare.
Then, it was back home to prepare my daughter for an 8 am mother-daughter charity-league meeting. At the meeting’s conclusion, I passed my girl off to her aunt and cousins, who would take her for the day.
My husband then met me in the dog park with “son” #4 (the Golden-doodle), so we could exercise him before heading for Idaho, where we would watch son #2’s high school football game.
Next, we rushed to the airport for our noon flight to Spokane, which is 40 miles from Coeur d’Alene high school. (My husband wisely suggested we fly instead of drive; because he travels for work, we have plenty of frequent-flier miles.) Lunch was a bag of trail mix from the airport gift shop.
We battled traffic en route to the field, arriving just in time for the game’s start. It was a beautiful, sunny day; my son’s team played well, but lost. We ate soft-serve ice cream and popcorn for a “second lunch,” and at the game’s conclusion, rushed back to the airport for our 6:30 flight home.
Back in Seattle, we collected our daughter, checked in with #3 son, played with the dog and settled in for the evening. I gave my husband “permission” to watch the Huskies game he had taped (the team played poorly, and lost); my daughter and I rented a movie. Dinner was… hmmmmm… I think I grabbed a yogurt at about 9 pm.
Did I mention it was my birthday?
Years ago, I would have felt very crabby about spending my birthday in such a fashion. I always had high expectations for a fantastic day, but never knew how to let others know what I wanted or anticipated. As a result, I almost always ended my special day feeling underappreciated and disappointed.
Recently, I learned that if I take steps to make myself happy, I’m more apt to see the blessings in a day, instead of what’s missing. For more about how this birthday turned out, click here for the entire PermissionSlips post. To subscribe, email PermissionSlips1@gmail.com.
