Summer, days 97-98

Two days of posts. First, Sunday: I worked in the evening. The shift was easy, but I was annoyed when I went to Costa Vida, normally open until 8, to discover it closed at 7. Nothing else is open in the mall that late, so I drove to Wendy's for dinner -- not what I had in mind. I threw the ball to Popcorn in the morning. Did some laundry in the afternoon. Worked in the evening.

Now today, Monday. This was my first full day of both boys at school the whole day. I had made this big list last week of everything I want to accomplish with the hours of extra time I will now get with Ben in school all day. So after not sleeping well last night, I woke up, ate breakfast ... and didn't know what to do next. I couldn't even fall back asleep after my rough slumber. I posted my plight to a stay-at-home-dads forum I read, and someone gave good advice: The list can wait; enjoy the serenity of today. Then another day posted this suggestion: Go to the pool and swim without the kids. The sun was shining, the weather was hot, and I found myself at the pool.

I didn't swim much (maybe a couple laps) but did jump in three times. In between, I did take the nap while soaking up some sun and listening to a fantasy football podcast. I sat in the hot tub for 10 minutes -- normally off limits to kids (and why I never get to sit in it). I took a shower afterward, then went to pick up the boys from school.

For dinner, I tried a pork tacos recipe I found in Men's Health. It turned out all right, and I was sufficiently stuffed afterward. Popcorn got some play time with the neighbor's dog, so I didn't take her for a walk tonight. I'm going to wrap this up soon so I can get to bed early in advance of my first full day of co-oping (I'm volunteering for both kids on one day) of the school year.

I'm not going to lounge in the sun every day with my new explosion of kid-less time (the pool closes in a week anyway). I can't wait to tackle all the initiatives I listed. But the serenity for 90 minutes in the sun and water was a nice way to start the week, as well as a nice way to start a new focus in my life.

Another double post on its way.

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