So today, when I saw the sun was shining I told Shawn I was heading out for a much-needed walk. Alone. The key there was the "alone" part. I tried telling the children to just pretend I wasn't in the house but that didn't work. Today is one of those days when at least one of them is constantly calling my name, "Mom!" "MaMA, MaMA!" "Moooooooommmm!" Can you guess the call of each child? Mazy is the short, to the point, "Mom!" Violet is the sweet, but at times ingratiating "MaMA! MaMA!" and Bo, depending on the question or problem is almost always the long, drawn out, insistent, "Moommmmmmmmmmmm!"
Most days I revel to hear that word, not matter how it is spoken. But today, mama needs a break. Frankly, mama could use a bottle of wine, but I settled for exercise instead. So I put on my workout clothes, dug my walking shoes out of the closet, grabbed the only stocking cap I could find (a striped Green Lantern one) and joyfully skipped out the door alone for a good, long walk.
And my first step out the door I nearly slid off the stoop and fell on my head. The steps, driveway and every sidewalk I could see were still pure ice.... The sun was trying its best to melt things, but it was treacherous walking. The kind where you're gingerly walking with both hands out for extra balance and seconds away from pulling a muscle when you hit an icy patch and try to regain control.
Well that was obviously not going to work for a nice, long winter's walk. So throwing caution and safety to the wind, I decided to walk on the street instead -- something I constantly preach against doing because it is just dangerous to be that close to Des Moines drivers... But in the name of my sanity, by god I did it! The street was not icy at all and in our quiet neighborhood I only met two cars the entire time.
Though the sun was shining (but that didn't last long...), it was still brisk in my sweatshirt, no gloves and tennis shoes. But I loved it! I have seriously missed walking and communing with nature. It was just me and the squirrels. I didn't meet or see another human being on my 20-minute walk. It was kind of weird....
We had been in the habit of walking just about every night -- always along the same path near our pretty Union Park and we always encountered lots and lots of people at the park. But today it was just me. The squirrels, so happy for a warm-up, were EVERYWHERE. I suppose they've burned through more food than in recent winters and were out collecting it while they could.
Anyway, that's been my day. I just made a pan of homemade granola bars -- I'll let you know how they turn out. They're cooling in the porch. Now I'm debating making cinnamon roll dough, but I don't know if I have the whole yeast/punching dough motivation in me today. The punching part actually sounds quite lovely...
Shawn and Violet are out grocery shopping. Gotta love that husband of mine. She's back on the mend today and it probably didn't take much to see that it would have been a very, very bad idea to suggest leaving all three at home with me. Little Miss Red is into EVERYTHING, especially when she is not feeling well and is refueling her ornery with each breath she takes.
Well the boys have found me. I'm simultaneously being asked to listen to Pokemon card statistics and being shown how strong our toilet paper is based on how it can hold a number of different items...
Happy Saturday.
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