Like Sand Through An Hourglass...

My kids have been out of school this week, which is an unfortunate pitfall of a non-traditional school calendar. I'm not sure what my expectations of year round school were except that I thought they would be in school...umm...ALL YEAR!

Not the case. In our school system, the interpretation of year round school means that the summer holiday is shortened by several weeks and then those filthy days are spread out in week long segments through out the year. Practically every month, the kids have a week off, PLEASE KILL ME NOW which affords all of us parents the ability to spend some quality time with our little tykes.

"Don't complain", says the administration, "It gives you plenty of opportunity to vacation during off peak times with your children." Oh yes. And this would be of great benefit if one actually believed that a holiday included children, ketchup and bug spray. Please. I love my kids (obligatory preface) however, my idea of a vacation involves a tropical beach, very little clothing and plenty of distilled beverages.

In the past, I have been forced to work from home and as you know, that is a lot like a bikini wax in that there is just nothing positive you can say about it. This time, Dallas has looked after the children, allowing me to flee go to the office and I can't begin to describe how leisurely the last week has been.

Every day, I have had a coffee waiting for me on the bathroom counter after my shower. My breakfast has been prepared and lunch is delivered to my office. The children are fed, watered and entertained and dinner has been on the table by five thirty. The laundry is done, the house cleaned, the lawn mowed and I haven't had to grocery shop in forever. Come to think of it, most of my days are like this even when the children are in school. Dallas takes care of EVERYTHING. Except the carpool and for some reason, the whole Perry Como vibe goes straight to hell when I've got a car full of kids.

Imagine that.

This week was full of small delights. Yesterday, I had the luxury of having lunch with a friend.. at a restaurant..LIKE A NORMAL PERSON! Usually, I stay at my desk so that I can leave work early to fulfill my carpooling duties. On Wednesday, I rode my Harley into work. I parked it right outside of my office window. There was something supremely satisfying about sitting on that bike and changing from my riding boots into my kitten heels. I have slept an extra half hour every morning because that is usually how long it takes for me to wrangle Dylan and Olivia into the car on school days. Not once have I had to say, "Do you have your lunch?" Pure, unadulterated joy.

Next week, we are back to the usual routine and ten days from now, Dallas is starting his new job so my hours of being pampered like a queen are numbered. I had always wondered what it would be like to have someone taking care of every last detail and I envied my male counterparts whose wives did not work outside of the home. Now that I have sipped from the domestic bliss cup, I'm not sure that I'll ever be satisfied with the status quo. So, I'm going to savour every minute of the last few days that I have left of this fantasy life that we've been living.

Shhhh...please do not wake me when it's over.