A Dream Come True

What would you do if 24 hours just suddenly landed in your lap--free of obligation, kids? Or 48 hours? What about a full three days?

Am I the only mom out there that sees this as their greatest wish in life--time completely to themselves to do whatever you want?

Long story omitted, I had three full days home alone this last week--Thursday at 6:30 am until Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm, to be exact. Brad stayed a few extra days in Utah and offered to drive the kids home alone. It only took a nano-second for me to accept his offer.

I was giddy. GIDDY. I pondered and planned and plotted. What to do, what not to do. Brad kind of had his feelings hurt that I was so excited for this time alone. I tried to convince him that it was nothing personal, I just craved the time to recharge my mom batteries.

I made a list of what I wanted to do: temple, lunch with my aunt, lesson preparation, hair cut, preview the auction, catch up on blog reading, tweeze my eyebrows, write a few new EFY talks, shop for Easter, shop for the March/April birthday onslaught (Hyrum, Lily, Grandma T, Brad, Ben), clean out the fridge, organize my hobby room, finish accessorizing Evie's room, exercise, get a pedicure, garage sales, organize the master bedroom.

I made a list of stores I wanted to peruse:  IKEA, Razmataz, Qcumberz, Pottery Barn, Nordstrom, The Rack, Williams Sonoma, Tuesday Morning, Target, TJMaxx, Anthropologie, Hobby Lobby.

I made a list of the food I wanted to eat and where: The Egg and I, Crackers, Cheesecake Factory, Pei Wei, Sweet Cakes, Tia Rosa's.

I outlined what I'd do when, and I knew there were not enough hours in three days to accomplish it all. Sleeping in and relaxing didn't even make the list. But in order for this to all work, the house had to be clean.   Brad and I made sure everything was straight before our trip, so I came home to a clean house.  No worry there.

I decided my first priority to do with no kids around:  gut my bedroom.  I cleaned out shelves and drawers and trunks.  I removed everything off every shelf and surface and looked at it all with a fresh eye.

Then, of course, I had to shop.  I found a few new pillows and accessories and then I spent the majority of two days reassembling the room--free from little hands mixing up carefully sorted piles of stuff. 

no matter what I do that candle won't stay straight . . . .

Of course I had to eat--Tia Rosa's, Cheesecake Factory and Crackers all made the final cut.  But I invested most of my energy into this room.  And I'm happy with the results.

In the end, I exercised every day.  That's the first time in I don't know when.  I woke to my body clock--about 6:30-7 every day.    I squeezed in a pedicure, which I deem a waste of time.  I submitted one EFY talk and worked on my lesson uninterrupted--pure bliss.

I tweezed my brows and got my hair cut.  I donated five huge bags of stuff to DI, threw away at least five more bags, and piled stuff up even higher in my hobby room. I returned everything that I'd bought but didn't use (a huge time-swallowing feat in itself).  I also found three suitcases for Tucker's mission. Alison and I had breakfast, and I caught up on all of your blogs. I even found a treasure for a friend at a local garage sale.  I hardly uttered 50 words a day.  The house stayed clean and quiet except for the occasional sounds of Pandora or HGTV.

The fridge is still messy, Evie's room isn't finished, no shopping for birthdays or Easter. And somehow I managed to erase EVERYTHING off our DVR.

At the end of my time, I looked around and realized it probably hadn't been the best use of my time.  But it was so fun. And when would I again have this chance to make my bedroom a peaceful, clean, organized sanctuary?

The best part?  When the kids came home Saturday, Evie saw me and ran to me and hugged me.  She never hugs anybody.  She'd get down, explore a familiar corner of the house, then run back to Mama for a hug.  She'd get down again, find a little snack, then run back for another hug.  My kids missed me.  Brad missed me.

My house is cluttered again.  My house is noisy again, but I discovered a fundamental law:  It's not how clean it all is or how organized or beautiful it all is.  It's just a house until everyone is there.  Then it's home.

And I missed them.


Still, I can't wait until the next time.  I have a lot of things left on my list. Like reading and sitting and sleeping and relaxing and . . .

What did you dream up? Would you go somewhere or just stay home?  Would you clean and organize or would you sit and ponder and read and write?  Would you pamper yourself with long baths and trips shopping? We'd love to hear. Link up below.