I thank everyone who perished while serving in the US military. May you rest in peace, and thank you for your service.
I had five days off – Friday through Tuesday. No concrete plans were made but I feel like it was fun after all.
Friday. L’s pre-school was closed while R’s daycare was open. She and I had a mommy and me date- went to the mall, tried on lipsticks and bought two, bought a hair clip, and had lunch and dessert!
Saturday. T took the kids to Massachusetts to see their great grandma for a day road trip, and I stayed behind. At first I didn’t know what to do with myself and frantically started cleaning the house. And watering plants, and yard work, and, and… Then I was like “stop”. Go and do something for yourself.
So I went to a Korean sauna in the next town. There, I toasted my bones in a variety of saunas, read my book, had juice, took a nap in the napping room. Did more soaking. Did more sweating. Went home tired and very clean. Upon my return I watched two documentary films on HBO Max, one about foster care and another about teenage mental health. In the evening I started feeling anxious and wanting them to come back (they were back around 8).
Sunday. During the day we spent time together, playing outside, doing some gardening, and using the pool. I took the kids out of the house briefly since T had to film something. We hit Asian Food market for some snacks then went to the playground.
In the afternoon we went to dinner at our neighbors- a Russian-Puerto-Rican family. They had prepared a feast!
Monday. I wanted to go to the beach but T dissuaded me- the first weekend of summer down the Jersey shore can be packed. So we stayed behind. Monday was probably the most low key of all days. The kids played, whined and demanded things and snacks, then played some more. We gardened, I read my book, and T was editing. T finally folded all of our laundry and went to the shops for some barbecue stuff. A neighbor stopped by for a bit with her son. We barbecued and did s’mores.
Tuesday. Kids to school, us: freedom! Morning was spent hauling rocks from behind the garage and adding them to the dumpster bag that will be picked up next week. Apparently previous owners used that area to dump construction debris- in their own yard! To me, that debris sitting there is bad energy (although noone can see it) so we are clearing the area since the yard and house go together. I actually think that the area behind a garage could be an area that is draining the chi, sort of a poison arrow because of that debris sitting there. I used to study feng shui as a hobby 😉
Afternoon was a long walk with a friend in the nature reserve.
Looking back at these five days...
Have I had time to rest? Yes.
Do I feel rested? No.
Was I productive? Somewhat, yes.
Did I do any work related to teaching? No.
Did I waste any time? Not really, no. I feel like all my activities somehow contributed to my contentment and wellbeing. Even the two documentaries expanded my knowledge base.
Could I have done more this weekend? Ha. Of course.
Could I have done less? Yes, but I’m content with the amount of activities.
Do I feel accomplished? No.
Should I feel accomplished? Absolutely. So I am giving myself grace.
Thank you for all these wonderful memories, big and small.
Mom of Children 