A Quiet, Noisy, Up, Down Mother's Day

For my Mother's Day treat, I received a day or so without small children underfoot. John took Trevor and Sean to visit his parents from Saturday afternoon until tomorrow morning.

Of course, when they are gone, I often feel greatly conflicted about how to spend my time. On the one hand, I would like to claim the time for myself, relaxing with a book or watching movies. But, on the other hand, there are many tasks which are so much easier to tackle without the constant interruptions or offers of help the little boys provide. I had several goals in my head. Indeed far too many goals to accomplish in a little less than 48 hours.

I hoped to put our guest room back in order. This was a bigger job than merely tidying up because we recently had to have quite a bit of work done replacing our heating and air conditioning systems. The access area for all of this work is through a hole in the ceiling of our guest room's walk-in closet.

Sadly, the hole was too small to fit all of the necessary equipment. Thus, the hole was forcibly widened. On Tuesday of this week, another workman came to the house to re-frame the access door and apply new drywall. Anticipating the dust and debris, we had cleared almost every thing out of that closet (all the winter coats, several storage bins, umbrellas, loose and unwanted van parts, and oh, about a thousand shoes ... well, maybe not a thousand).

It took two hours to wipe down and vacuum up all the yuck left from that job, replace every last item to its proper place in the closet and then dust and vacuum the guest room. Of course, with the help of little hands and breaks for wiping bottoms, getting drinks, changing channels, supplying tape, etc. that job would have taken three times as long. I merely cranked up some tunes and set to work.

After I finished, I called my own mother to wish her a happy Mother's Day. I informed her that she could hear my present over the line. It took her a minute. She even said, "I don't hear anything," before she realized that was exactly the point. The quiet and the noise (my own, that is) of today have been bliss.

I didn't want to spend the entire day tackling chores, however, so I went shopping for a Mother's Day gift for myself. I had received a lovely coupon in the mail from J.C. Penney's offering $10 off any purchase of over $10. A few weeks ago, I had even clipped (from their ad) a photo of a beautiful top I would love to wear.

It was a gorgeous day for a drive (it takes a half hour to get to our nearest Penney's store) and I really enjoyed the freedom to just leave the house and drive off on a shopping venture. I even was able to use the road with the round-about, which gives me such pleasure (and a happy smile of nostalgia for Britain).

Unfortunately, once inside the store those positive feelings began to fly away. I really do hate shopping for clothes. I never did locate the pictured top. So many things on the racks today were covered in bold patterns, with funky accessories or gathered waists (like I want to draw attention to that part of my body, thank you, but no thank you). I tried on five items and not one looked even half way acceptable. Plus, it seemed to remind me of the fact that I have put on weight. Erggg!

I decided to change tactics. I looked in the men's department for something for my husband's birthday next month. Alas, that didn't seem to work either, since I was pretty sure he would say he didn't need a thing.

Next, I looked at waffle irons. My own waffle iron (a wedding gift from my grandmother) bit the dust a few months back, after almost 20 years of reliable service. It still worked fine, but it was so covered in gunk from years and years of spraying with cooking oil that it began to look unappetizing.

They had three different options. There was an $80 Belgian waffle machine similar to the ones in hotels (where they flip the thing over) on sale for $30. There was a regular $40 Cuisinart round waffle iron on sale for $30 and there was a Cook's brand small Belgian waffle iron marked down from $50 to $25. I spent probably a good half hour debating myself on this decision.

The first one would be such a great deal, but it would take up so much space in an already crowded kitchen. The second one was closest to the one my grandmother had given me, but the third one would take up the least amount of space and cost the smallest amount of money.

In the end, I didn't go with any of them. I reminded myself that the boys tend to prefer pancakes over waffles. Really, I'm the only one who enjoys making them or eating them. Plus, I really shouldn't even be eating them these days, if I'm going to work off those extra pounds.

Not wanting to leave the store, without using my coupon (that would feel like throwing away money), I made my way to the linen section. We are planning to purchase a twin bed for Sean soon and I might need an additional mattress pad or vinyl protector. Even those were a no-go.

Never fear, however, I finally (after almost an hour of shopping) purchased two new pillows. They were $20, on sale for $11.99. After my $10 off coupon, I paid $2.13. Plus, after returning two unsuitable items to Target, I came home $20 richer.

I do know what inhibited my shopping experience. Last night, after watching "The Notebook" (see, usually I tackle the relaxation first and then hit a frenzy of trying to look like I spent my time more productively), I killed several hours reading the news on-line.

During my browsing, I came across a powerful video called "The Story of Stuff." I watched a clear-cut demonstration of how Americans are caught in a harmful cycle of over-consumption. It was very convicting. Thus, when I went shopping, I didn't really want to buy anything, unless we absolutely needed it. Watch it, yourself, and see if it curbs some of your materialistic impulses!

I also watched several videos from "The Happiness Project," by Gretchen Rubin. I'm hoping to look for the book, next time I am in the library. For now, I have watched ten of her short motivational videos for making 2010 a happier year. You may want to search out her inspirational videos on You Tube, as well.

The third week's goal was to toss and organize. I spent a few hours this evening working on designating things from the little boys' room for our upcoming garage sale. At the moment, the room is cluttered with various piles of clothing. Man, those boys have too much clothing. I am tempted to count up their number of shirts, because I know it has to be over a hundred ... for two little boys. Ridiculous!

For now, I'd better follow her advice from the first week of The Happiness Project. The first month focused on "Energy" and the first week included a reminder that the best source of energy is a good night's sleep. I'm off to pursue that and then hopefully finish the boys' room before they return and decide to have a hey-day destroying all of my nicely folded piles.

It was a really good day, but even good things must come to an end.