A Day Unscripted

I tend to be a planner. I color code my tasks in my Palm Planner. There's a color for all the school stuff, the soccer stuff, the family stuff, the "to do" stuff, the random activities, and scheduled friend activities (there can NEVER be too much YELLOW in my schedule). I like knowing what is supposed to happen and when I can do it. That said, I don't always like what the to do list says so I don't always follow the list. Then there are the days like today that I had nothing on the list - a million OUGHT TO DOS & NEED TO GET TOS, but no commitment to get anything done. I'm telling you, it turned out to be one of my best days.

I dropped the boys off at school, made a grocery list, tried to convince Jessica to brush her hair (a trying task), drove Jessica to preschool, and then bought groceries. I wandered (painfully because of the pinched nerve the baby is giving me) around the store with NO interruptions. Once home I enjoyed a surprise phone call from my mother-in-law & from my scrapbooking friend Peggy who now lives in northern CA (she's coming to town for the Scrapbook Expo - yeah!!) A productive, enjoyable morning.

At noon I returned to pick up Jessica along with her little friend Kate - it was kind of on a whim because her mom Sara was finishing a big project today. Jessica LOVES having a playmate. They got along SO well which meant that my daughter was cheerful and NOT whining at me - another side benefit to my day. I drove Kate home when it was time to pick up the boys from school. As we were leaving campus, my other friend Sara said she was walking her kids to the park and invited us along. It was a temperate, overcast day and I knew that I had chairs in the car to relax in. The park was THE BEST! No pictures, no snacks, no sand toys - just an enjoyable, spontaneous outing. We ended up staying 2 hours instead of the 1 hour I negotiated with the kids.

Homework, dinner prep, & bedtime routine were a bit more stressful because we were rushed, but it was worth it. I even tried a new recipe for dinner (have you heard of Jessica Seinfield's new cookbook "Deceptively Delicious?" She was on Oprah last week sharing ideas of how she sneaks pureed veggies into all her kids' favorite meals). My Jessica was wiped out, so she fell asleep before dinner. This meant NO whining all evening and NO bathtime routine to pull off myself while Jon was away. I even did the dishes and kitchen clean up which Jon usually does when I cook. The shooting pains in my legs let up for a couple hours & I had the treat of feeling baby kick under my ribs while punching my lower abs. Do I get credit for Kick Boxing exercise today too?