I love my husband. Love, love, lovvvvvvvvve my husband. At the risk of making his head even bigger than it already is (love you, babe!), I have to admit that he really is a great catch and a very thoughtful person to boot.
I ended my workweek as usual, fully exhausted and wiped out and so ready for a relaxing weekend at home with my family. Friday nights after work are particularly challenging for me, because I start out with the best intentions to put all the drama and exhaustion of the work week aside and purposely spend quality time with my family all weekend long, until we have to begin the work cycle all over again on Monday morning. I try very hard to make that time enjoyable and positive, restful and fun for us so that we can rejuvenate ourselves and restore what the work/school week has drained out of us thus far. So were my plans this past weekend. Only, I couldn’t keep my eyes open to save my life once I got home from work on Friday afternoon. I tried. I tried sooo hard. But I was so wiped, so utterly exhausted, that the moment I sat down on my couch (it wasn’t even 7:30 yet, mind you), I couldn’t stay awake. I was in bed and knocked out to the world before 8 pm. So much for spending Friday night with my family.
So Saturday rolls around and I wake up happy and refreshed, ready to begin a great weekend with my husband and children. I did the laundry, cleaned up a bit, started my lesson planning… the typical Saturday activities for me. I got about halfway through my day when my husband came up behind me while I was working on the computer, and said, “I need you to pack an overnight bag. Be ready by 3.” And so my weekend odyssey began.
Unbeknownst to me, he’d rented a beautiful hotel room for me, complete with dinner, chocolates, fresh fruit, plenty of snacks for later, a beautiful card and a bottle of sparkling apple cider (yum) just for me. He also bought me a really nice laptop pad with a cooling fan (guess he knew I’d still be working on lesson plans) and gave me extra money in case I wanted to order pizza or something else later. And then he gave me a kiss, told me to enjoy my private, peaceful oasis, and left. He didn’t come back until checkout time the next day.
Wow. Wowwwwww. I absolutely loved it. Loooooooved it. No noise, except the noise I made myself. No constant requests. No ‘Mommy, I need…’ or ‘Mommy, can I have…’ … just … peace. Wonderful, wonderful peace. I had full control of the remote and the TV and the cable and watched whatever I wanted for as long as I wanted. Put the AC on (yes, in the middle of February, lol) and enjoyed the cool air for hours. No one there so turn it off because they were cold…yay!! J I lesson planned and wrote and blogged and shopped online and did all kinds of stuff that I don’t usually get to do. Had a nice, strong wireless signal so I could be online as long as I wanted.
The shower was amazing. Amaaaazing. I lounged and relaxed and did just what I wanted to do for what seemed like hours. And then I looked up and it was only 8pm. Cooooool beans!!! I’d done all that and only a few hours had passed. Oh, yeah… this was nice. I could get used to this!
So I stayed up and watched movie after movie after movie (hadn’t seen Braveheart in years!) till 3 in the morning, then drifted off to a wonderful sleep with the TV still on and the infomercials lulling me into me dreams. Waking up to a nice, cool room was heavenly in the morning. I’m usually really stuffy in the mornings from the heat in the house, so waking up able to breathe freely and easily was such a nice change. I got up and went straight to the workout room, and walked a mile on the treadmill, determined to start my morning off right instead of reaching for the habitual cup of hot coffee to wake me up. How invigorating! I’d not worked out in awhile, and had forgotten how good it feels to work out and get that natural surge of energy instead of getting one from caffeine and sugar. I capped my early morning off with a nice, hot shower, then sat down in front of my laptop to get back to work. Started knocking out progress reports and upcoming IEPs and the like… very, very productive time.
What an amazing day and evening. And I so, so, sooooo needed it. I’m so thankful for a husband and children that pay attention enough to know when Mom needs a break from the everyday responsibilities of work and motherhood and being a wife, etc, etc, etc. Being a mom is hard enough. Being a working mom can be freakin’ exhausting at times. Our job is one of those that doesn’t end at a certain time or at the close of a particular shift.. it just keeps going and going and going. And although we’re thankful for the blessing that is our family and wouldn’t trade it for the world, a break every now and then is just what the doctor ordered.
And do you know what this wonderful man said to me when he came to pick me up at checkout time the next day? ‘Once a month. We’re going to make sure you get this chillout time once a month, because you work so hard and you deserve it.”
Wowwwww. Yep, I’m a very, very blessed woman, and I sure do love my husband. J
No comments:
Post a Comment