Beautiful Day

I am sipping on a cup of hot chai, nibbling on a freshly baked lemon-cardamom scone from the Co-op, and listening to possibly one of my most favorite songs in the world, "Catherine" by the Rosemarys*. It's not too unusual to do these things on a quiet Monday morning, but indeed, the QUIET part of Monday mornings is not usually there. Not with a boy who is 1-year and 361-days old running around. But here's the thing:

HE'S NOT HERE.

Squeal! My Kid is gone! The house is quiet, except for the noise I choose to make! I am thinking clearly on my own without someone pulling on my leg and demanding juice!

Don't worry, I didn't pop and kick him out or anything. (I may have entertained the notion last week, but seriously...I love him too much for such drastic measures.) I've discovered a new and fantastic solution to the stay-at-home-mom woes: child swapping. Jackson goes to his friend's house one morning a week and she comes here another morning. Brilliant. I know we're not the first moms in the world to realize this possibility, but it's pretty damn exciting, regardless.

Given that I'm still a pretty busy-bee, it's not like I've got my feet totally up and am getting a massage or anything (that's a great idea though). I've done the shopping, hit Target, have laundry going, did the dishes and have just now sit down to the computer to do the bills (with a distracting blog post first, of course). But the simple fact that I've been able to do these things this morning, on my own, without a small one begging to "be all done!" as I compare price-per-pound in the produce section, is mind-boggling. I do believe it will enable me to be a better Mom this afternoon, since my "clutter" will be out of the way and I'll actually not mind playing with my son!

If I had done a "love, friday" post last Friday, it would have included:

• Love the whole bed.

I don't love that my husband is out of town on business (which is why you've seen less of me and why I'm even more stoked about this morning) and while I do miss him terribly...I also love the whole bed. The cat can have as much of the bottom of the bed as he wants, Jackson sleeps for consistent 11-hour stretches in his own bed across the hall, and I've got the rest of our bed to myself. I love four pillows, I love not sharing covers (which Dan says I don't do well anyway) and I love waking up when I'm done sleeping (vs. someone waking me up) to find that my Kid is still asleep.

I would also, possibly, have added:

• Love a healthy Kid while Daddy is away.

...but that would have been a little too tempting for the Fates. Jackson has been sick on 100% of the business trips that Dan has taken in the last two years - sometimes horribly, horribly sick, like weirdo viruses and late-night laundry, if you know what I mean - causing me to dread the trips immensely. So far, so good on this one, but Daddy doesn't come home until Tuesday night. Please send healthy vibes our way for the remainder of this grand experiment!

I do have photos to share, but the camera cord is upstairs, and my clock is ticking this morning. More later, including Jackson's first time bowling last weekend. He got a spare BEFORE the bumpers were put in place. Do you think we should invest in a light-weight bowling ball and shoes for him at this tender age of almost 2?
_______________________
*Sorry, no link for the song or the band anywhere. It's an old 90s song from college..."Oh Catherine, you make the world seem brighter..." Love that song.

"It's a Beautiful Day" by U2 is on now...totally perfect.