It's All About Me

As a mom those are words that very rarely, if ever, are true.  As Scotty's mom that statement is well... take your pick...at no time, don't hold your breath, forget it, nevermore, no way, not at all, not ever, not in any way, not in the least, not on your life, not under any condition a true statement.

Except for one week every October when my brother and I run away from home to a little cabin in the woods in the mountains of Pennsylvania.

For one week I get to nap.

I linger over my coffee.

I sleep when I want, 
eat when I want, 

and read when I want. 

 I get to do absolutely nothing.

I take deep breaths...long, healing breaths.

 I listen to a silence so quiet 
that it feels heavy in my ears. 

 I see rainbows.

 I see beauty. 

 I see God.

We spend our days reading, laughing, reading, driving around, reading, sitting on the porch, reading, drinking wine, reading and debating whose turn it is to lay on the couch to read.

My brother says he reads my blog...doubtful...he probably skims it at best so.................

Every year we pick one card game to play for the Championship of the Universe.  This year we played Monopoly, the card game, and kept a running tally for the week and well you guessed it....

 Once again the Universe is mine to champion!

 Poor guy has never won...not once...EVER!

So for one whole week it really is all about me and I am so very grateful for the time away.  I am so unbelievably appreciative of my incredible husband and this gift he gives to me once a year.  Even in his exhausted and frustrated state he never complains or whines or tells me how hard it is to manage all alone. 

I get to come home to a squeaky clean house...well except for dusting, because he doesn't dust...or toilets, because he thinks that for the last 29 years they have magically cleaned themselves...or freshly mopped floors, because he vacuumed so why do you need to mop??? 

Basically, he vacuums and puts clean sheets on the bed...both a HUGE deal in my book.

I get to come home to a husband, who already participates 150% in caring for Scotty telling me he needs to help me more.

I get to come home to my own little whirling dervish who loves with the same intensity that he exhausts.

I get to come home...to a place filled with memories and filled with people who love me. No matter how many times I go away, home is the only place I really want to be.

So for one week every year I have time to step back and take a good look at my life that often times seems overwhelming.  When I step back I can see past the noise and the chaos and see a family that is committed and loving.  I see a family who is willing to sacrifice all that they have and all that they are for each other.  

I also know that the same God that sent that beautiful rainbow in the mountains is the very same God who is in my living room every single moment of every single day performing acts of great beauty and great love.

I gained some much needed perspective 

and my spirit is refreshed and renewed.  

I am so very, very blessed.

"I love people. I love my family, my children . . . 

but inside myself is a place where I live all alone 

and that's where you renew your springs that never dry up."  

~Pearl S. Buck