Dear Friends, of all the things I hoped and wished for in my life, simple was not on my list. As a young girl I wanted a loving life where I felt seen and heard. As a teenager I wanted a fun-filled life filled with excitement and adventure. As a twenty something I wanted an enviable life filled with romance and trips. And then, as I grew into my thirties and forties, I began to accept life for what was ~ right in front of me ~ and became truly grateful to be alive. I stopped hoping and wishing and began creating and curating the life I wanted. And although my life is filled with children and schedules and so much of my life is less about me than ever before, there are some days that remind me that I am right where I am supposed to be.
Yesterday was one of those days.
It was beautiful and simple and filled with the mundane. My husband was out on estimates till mid-afternoon leaving me to negotiate terms and conditions with the summer terrorists. I had to remind them that the summer doesn’t belong to the iPads and iPhones. So I set up a three-hour max for the day on their electronics, to which I thought I was being completely generous. Thank God for the IPhone and the lovely app that tracks screen time. I made it their responsibility to track the time and anyone who goes over 3 hours loses their electronics . . . indefinitely.
Them: “What if we don’t use all 3 hours?”
Me: “There are no roll-overs.”
Them: “What if I use 3 hours and 1 minute?”
Me: “You lose it.”
The questions continued until we all got dressed and ready for Rock to come home. We ate a throwback lunch of leftover Mac n’ Cheese with cut-up Nathan’s hotdogs mixed in. We settled on going to the mall instead of the local pool on the 99 degree day, and we made sure the kids had on socks and shoes so we could buy new school shoes. Off to the mall we went.
School shoes, Starbucks, Bath and Body Works . . . the mall on a Saturday afternoon, God help us! The next stop was Target for school supplies and house staples. Then, out to dinner, at 4:30! We figured, why not? We were out already and after our early dinner, we could go home and relax.
At dinner Rock came up with the idea that would solidify this day and night in my memory as one of the most beautiful days of my simple life. He suggested Night Swimming. He came home after dinner and promptly got to work in our backyard. He sprayed for mosquitoes and lit the tiki torches. He started a fire in the fire pit and set up the UE Boom speaker. He skimmed our above-ground 16′ round 48″ deep Summer Waves pool and put in all the floats and pool noodles it would hold. Inside, the kids and I read books and clocked time on the iPads.
Around 7:30 Ryan was the first to jump in. Linda and I followed Ryan with Rock only a few minutes behind us. We watched as the moon rose higher in the night sky and the sun set quietly behind us. We stayed in that pool for nearly an hour and a half. We talked about the summer, the trips we were looking forward to, and the beautiful things people talk about when they take the time to be with each other. We floated under rafts and watched countless funny “dives” (not real dives because how can you dive in 48″ of water?) We looked at the stars and talked about the school year coming up and my heart gently swelled as I thought about the last two months. So many memories that were made within the daily mundane activities of life. We finished the night with s’mores over the fire pit and it was the end to a perfect day.
Looking back onto yesterday, I realize that I have the life I’ve always wanted. It isn’t how I expected it to be ~ it’s actually better. I am both seen and heard, by both big and little people. I have both excitement and adventure, negotiating with children and braving retail on a Saturday. I have romance and trips, simply by watching my husband prepare our backyard for a trip into our pool for some Night Swimming.
It is a Beautiful and Simple Life