The day started out like a typical Tuesday... (it was last week, 10/16/18).
My alarm went off at 5:30 am, but I was awake well before that. Groggy & tired, with stellar bed head (you oughta see these curls when I wake up in the morning... woof!)
Ellis was yelling "DADDDDY," from his crib.
So the day begins!
Shower, get myself half ready, breakfast is done... fried egg on a toast, always (thanks Zac!)
Ellis poops - diaper change. Then fight to brush his teeth, finish getting myself ready, pour coffee, and out the door 10 minutes later than I wanted.
Get stuck behind a bus, daycare drop off, auto-pilot drive to work. Work on the cube farm for 9 hours, auto-pilot drive back to daycare, home. Throw supper together, spend way too much time trying to get Ellis to eat it, clean up kitchen, play with Ellis for about 45 minutes, bath, books, bed.
This is what most workdays during the week look like for us.
Except last Tuesday, was an exception.
It was a typical day, though work was a real pain in the you-know-what that day. A day where you can't stop to eat lunch & realize you're still drinking (cold) coffee at 2:00 pm. Just really busy, you know?
On my drive home though, I noticed how nice it was outside. And we needed to get outside. We needed to break the cycle of the mundane week day. But if you're from Wisconsin reading this, you will know our October thus far has been rain or wind... not the kind of weather that makes you want to lollygag outside.
So I'm home from work and throw together a venison stir-fry. The "dump all" kind where you just toss in whatever you have left in your fridge that you need to use up because tomorrow is grocery day and you're working with wilted peas & questionable minced garlic from the jar.
By good graces of God, Ellis LOVED the stir-fry. Had two helpings, actually. And from turning on the stove-top burner to loading the dish washer, we were all fed & the kitchen was clean in 28 minutes flat. This meant we had 1.5 hours to play outside in the glorious weather (well, low 50's isn't
that glorious, but I'll take it). It was a Tuesday Miracle!
We hopped in the car and headed to
Bay Shore Park, our resident standby place for nature walks & exploring.
Zac says, "let's jog tonight"... and I about had a heart attach, but jog we did. And it felt GOOD! Except for the 10 minute period that Zac momentarily lost his phone. It apparently jogged right outta his vest, but we ended up finding it on the path after back-tracking our steps, so all was well.
Ellis was laughing and waving and holding all the leaves he could grab... being a real dreamboat of a baby... and on the cusp of turning two, "dreamboat baby" behavior doesn't happen that often these days.
Although nothing was
really that spectacular about the night, it just felt like a
really good evening. One that fills up your empty cup, and makes you double count your blessings because they are so abundant. And so, I knew I need to document it, to remind myself (and you) that sometimes you just need to switch it up.
Get outside. Spend time with the ones that you love on a random Tuesday night. Stay up past normal bed-time. And eat s'mores with a side a milk before brushing your teeth & calling it a night.
It'll be worth it, I promise.
