A really great day in the life

My morning meeting just got cancelled so I feel like I have all kinds of time on my hands. I don't, actually... I have a million things I could be doing for work. But my terrible, awful laptop is misbehaving -- it won't open one of the files I need to work on -- so I'm taking that as a sign.

Accept the fact that your day might be extraordinary

Yesterday was a really good day, somehow. (I know, right? How crazy.) I wouldn't have thought it would be anything special: it started out very normally, although I did get to sleep in slightly (6:17) and take the kids to their gymnastics camp, and I didn't even bother doing work from home in that extra hour. Take that. 

I went to work after dropping them off, naturally. Checked off tasks: A content spreadsheet. A landing page. An advertorial. I took a very short lunch break to sit outside in the sunshine for a bit. It was really gorgeous out there, despite being hot. There was a breeze. I closed my eyes. Listened to turtles plopping into the pond.

Late in the afternoon I realized I had a deadline tomorrow (today), that I hadn't even started! Whoops. A media guide, 8 pages or so, that needed updating. Not writing from scratch, mind you, but still! I tried not to panic and in fact, got it done with no real problem. 

Maybe, I thought, it's because I haven't logged in to Twitter one time today, that I'm being so productive.

I picked the kids up at gymnastics. They've endured this week really well -- I think their days have been  l o n g  since I've successfully weaned them from day-camps in the last 2 summers. ;) But they were happy. Since those days are long and iPad-free, I'm fine with them logging into their devices when we get home. Admittedly, I linger on my phone when we get there, too. Yesterday, however, I decided I'd not seen their FACES enough lately -- only the tops of their heads. I set a timer and after 20 minutes of online time, we turned everything off and met on the couch To Talk. Just about nothing. They were so funny: "What are we going to talk about?!" We found plenty of topics, of course, and had an enjoyable time together. (We did have to consult the iPad to see pictures of a Marvel hero I didn't know, but that only added to our conversation.)

It's really little things -- small investments of time -- that make a difference 

Shawn came home and we ate dinner and then commenced a tournament of Uno... which ended badly. The one child who feels, ah... emotional when she doesn't win -- STILL, although she is old enough not to -- did not win. There was wailing and gnashing of teeth. But she conceded to let me hold her later while she finished being upset over it. And then she asked me to jump on the trampoline with her. 

I really didn't feel like it (mosquitos, hot, I'd already had wine, did I mention HOT), but I knew two things: It was the loving, life-giving thing to do, and I needed 10 minutes of some kind of exercise. So I begrudgingly put on my flip-flops and met her outside. 

like this, only brighter.
photo credit @BG_TO_U
on Twitter.

And we were treated to an amazing show in the sky. Pink clouds, reflecting the sunset in such a spectacular way, were right overhead in our backyard. There were rainstorms around -- in fact, we'd heard thunder earlier in the evening -- but our skies were perfect blue behind the clouds. Huge, puffy ones. Crazy three-dimensional shapes, where you could see white, then gray, then cotton candy PINK. I have seen sunsets before, but I'd never seen clouds like this, honestly. It was so bright, in fact, that it felt like there was a flood light shining on us. I said to Kate, "I bet no one else in the world is seeing this same thing but YOU and ME right now." We laid down. I wouldn't allow either one of us to take photos; it just felt too special - I didn't want to cheapen it, somehow, by bringing devices into it. I just wanted to BE in the moment. Kate didn't understand why, but finally agreed to it.  ;) She started finding animals and shapes in the sky. Every so often, she'd scoot closer to me. We looked at the sky for a good long while before the pink faded away. 

Then we played trampoline games and laughed and got our exercise, and the whole thing is still taking my breath away this morning. It's so clear to me that God sees each one of us and gives us little gifts, directly. Just what we need, if only we're open to them. And that ordinary days really can be extraordinary.