Enjoy the nice moments when you can

Yesterday was kind of a difficult day. Tuesdays are generally so packed it’s hard to get everything done, anyway, but it was especially discouraging. I had planned to go to the temple as soon as John was out the door. He’s only away at school for about 3 1/2 hours, so if I’m going to leave home and get anything done, I really have to plan it out well. I showered, got dressed up in a skirt, got my temple things to the car, and then checked to see if my recommend was in the pocket of my bag like it usually is. Not there. Well, maybe I left it in my wallet. Nope. My purse? Nope. My church bag? Not there, either. I looked and looked everywhere I could think that it would be, all the logical places I may have put it. Not finding it.

It’s our stake temple week, and our Stake President has asked us to be in the temple as much as possible this week, and honestly, as much as possible for me meant one morning and one evening. That is really about all I can fit in. And there I was, blowing my one morning. After futilely looking for about a half hour, I decided to just bag it and go to the grocery store. I hadn’t bought milk or bread for my family for quite some time, and we were down to a few tablespoons of milk left, and NO bread. And I don’t really like to take mr. John with me grocery shopping, since he’s currently suffering from a nasty case of the “I want that”s. So, off to the grocery store I went, where I didn’t walk out of there with a free cart of food or anything, but I did manage to get pay only $100 instead of the $160 it first rang up as.

My plan was to come home, unload all the groceries, then FIND that temple recommend. I ended up cleaning out two drawers, but alas, did not find the recommend. When John came home I made something for dinner later and prepared myself for the onslaught of after school activities. Tuesday afternoons go something like this
2:40–Jenna and Natalie come home. I get them a snack and ask about their day, while we gather up the piano books.
2:50–We pile into the car to take them to piano lessons. Then I run and return library books before coming home.
3:45–It’s time to take Cole to piano lessons (somewhere else). I drop him off shortly before 4, so I can
4:00–pick up Jenna and Natalie from their lessons.
Then I stopped at my friend Lisa’s house to get the 411 on the curtains she has asked me to sew for her. Talking to her took a little bit longer than I thought, so I was a TINY bit late to pick up Cole at
4:30. On the way, I called Megan at home to make sure she was getting ready for her soccer game.
At home, I gave instructions that there was food in the crockpot, that people should start doing their daily jobs (which they DIDN’T do, by the way) and that all homework MUST be done before anyone even thinks about turning on the tv. I fed Megan a sandwich, and we left at
5:00 for soccer.
Once at the soccer field, she bounced off to warm up with her team, and I set up my spot. I had my chair, my purse, my book, a drink and a salad. I was set. I sat in the sun and just soaked in the warmth. And the quiet. For two hours, I didn’t have to go anywhere, didn’t have to fix anything, do anything, or break up any fights. I was there to enjoy the soccer experience. It was heavenly. Not all soccer games are heavenly, I must say. The vast majority of them are either too hot, too cold, windy, rainy or snowy, or there are just too many kids there to actually watch the game. I read my book while they warmed up, and then when the game started, I ate my salad and drank my diet coke. And cheered on my daughter and her team. Go strikers! It was fun. It was just the moment I needed after the afternoon I had had. And I felt myself relax.
7:00, the game was just ending, it was starting to get cold, and we had to move on to our next activity. Megan’s team won. Great job.
7:10, I dropped off a teammate, then Megan and I went directly to the church where her Young Women’s group was throwing a baby shower for one of her leaders. This lady and her husband are soon leaving to a foreign country to pick up their two babies. They don’t have any other kids. They need everything x 2. It was a fun shower. So many people came and gave her baby stuff–some new, some used (she had asked for used, as she doesn’t want to burden people), and I could tell it was slightly overwhelming to her. She is very loved, and we all hope it goes well with these two little kids. I was hoping that while I was there at the church, I could meet with a member of the bishopric to get my recommend. No. They were all at a regional meeting. Darn. But I had a good time socializing with neighbors and friends to celebrate the growing of this little family.
9:00-Megan and I came home. She was very hungry and wanted some kind of food, but of course NOT the dinner I had made for the family. I think she ate two pieces of toast.
9:30–I told the kids to turn out their lights, and I climbed into bed myself.
9:50–The phone rang. It was a member of the bishopric calling because his wife had told him about my dilemma. He offered to meet me at 8 the next morning to get me a new recommend. So, maybe I will get to accomplish some of the things I had planned for his week afterall.