After a particularly stressful week, coming at the end of a terribly stressful month, I had a busy day scheduled. There really wasn't much room for additional emergencies thrown into the mix, and I was trusting the Almighty that He'd deemed my quota of such things FULL.
The phone rang at 7:15 this morning, after I'd showered and dressed to go to my first appointment. It was a mom cancelling our 2 hour session (she has 4 kids, so I teach them back-to-back.) That was followed by another cancellation call...these people had emergencies of their own...perhaps the universe was still desperate to disperse the back log of crises, but at least they weren't being distributed in MY direction...for a change.
Ok. So, I was ready to face the world, but had nowhere to rush to. What to do with this unexpected bonus of free time? Don't waste it! Well, first and foremost must come a cup of tea. Ahhhhh...yes. Then sit and savor my lilies for a few minutes, while I waited for the kettle to boil. (DD gave me a huge bouquet of various shades of pink lilies for my birthday, just before she went away to college...sniff...) These lilies only had a few open blossoms when she gave them to me a week ago, and had a lot of really tight buds. Now, they are an absolute riot of deep burgundy, dark maroon, pinks, mauves, some with curly white-tipped petal edges, some with smooth edges, with orangey-yellow pollen dust and dark green foliage. There are 21 fully-opened blossoms right now, with others still waiting to show their true colors. And the fragrance! Sooo beautifully pungent, spicy and sweet, almost cinnamony, and not allergy-inducing (which is always a plus!)
Tea made, I settled in front of the computer to take care of odds and ends of paperwork for school and business. The morning quiet was lovely...DH worked a late shift last night, coming home in the wee hours of the morning, so I'd let Little Sir stay up really late...they could both sleep in a bit.
Paperwork done, I checked the clock...the library was open by now, so I thought I'd pop over and do my printing there, to keep it quiet. Also got to do my library errands, including entering the raffle for the adult summer reading club (maybe I'll win dinner at a restaurant!)
Now, I'm all done, and I still have some time before my next commitment.
Unexpected free time is a wonderful thing.
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7 comments:
Oh yes, it is a wonderful thing, and it's good to hear you did some little things for yourself too.
Don't you love the adult reading clubs at the library? This summer I got a tie-dyed tee shirt and a cute little water bottle--all for reading a few books.
Sometimes adults need rewards too!!!!
I haven't won anything, yet...I did enter every week, tho', and now it's for the grand prize. Even if I don't win anything at all, it was worth it...my unassigned, non-career-enhancing reading time was something of a guilty pleasure...the chance at getting a tangible reward gave me the validation I admit I needed. (silly, huh? With so much required reading for school, I feel almost irresponsible reading a novel or mystery or something.)
It didn't even occur to me to enter the adult reading raffle. I saw it, I overheard a librarian explaining it to someone else, but it just didn't connect in my own mind that I should do it. I read quite a lot this summer--gobbled up probably 10 books. Next time, I'm gonna be in it to win it. Good luck, J-M. Hope you get dinner out somewhere good. Having gone to a restaurant last night, and paid dearly for what I considered a mediocre meal at best, I vowed not to eat in a restaurant again anytime soon--unless I win something. :)) We blew a week's grocery money on one lousy meal!! I feel a whole post coming on about the cost of food.
Oh...I know! We hardly ever go out to eat any more! I have to have a coupon and some promo, and even then, I'm careful. I'd rather buy reallly good ingredients, splurge on something special and cook it at home, than get less-than-my-worst at a restaurant.
Oh, and Nancy...it's not too late. That adult raffle is good 'til Aug. 30th, I think. You just get a list form from the ref. desk, write the titles, authors, your ratings & info and drop it in the box.
Good luck!
How nice to have unexpected free time, Jean Marie. I'm a little jealous.
I have planned time without my children right now, but I'm supposed to be getting a project done - name cleaning out the "bins" for the kids (and me) to get ready for the start of school. and clearing the clutter from my desk. both daunting and unpleasant tasks, and I'm quite sure that I'll find lots of things aside from checking blogs to procrastinate with.
I need some REAL free time, tho.
Amen, sister!
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