NOT MOM for a day

Mother's Day was a week ago. I was still trying to recover from my nasty cold, so I didn't blog about it. But rest assured, my dear husband and kids treated me to a wonderful day - breakfast in bed, an afternoon nap, and a fabulous dinner (and I didn't have to do the dishes.) It was a lovely tribute and I very much appreciated it.

Of course, since I gave birth to children rather than stuffed animals, even the most thoughtful Mother's Day is going to be interspersed with many moments where I'm left thinking Mother's Day would be so much more pleasant without kids. I admit that, as far as kids go, mine are generally pretty awesome. But even so, I was feeling a bit wiped out (call it the End of Another Homeschool Year Burnout).

Thus, I decided it was time for a NOT MOM outing - a time to remind myself that my name is Brooke, not Mooooooom; a time to think in longer than 30 second stints; a time to go a full 24-hours without a single snotty face/muddy hand wiped on my clean clothes. I roped a few friends in, and as soon as the husbands/sons returned from the Father-Son campout on Saturday morning we quickly kissed them goodbye again, and off we went.

We took our time driving, meandering along beautiful back highways, stopping whenever a Dairy Queen appeared (LOVE those Midnight Truffle Blizzards!) or nature called (which is pathetically often when traveling with a geriatric group such as ourselves).

We arrived in Ocean Shores on a blissfully sunny, warm afternoon. We checked into our cottage (only a couple months old and so charming) and found an amazing surprise awaiting us. On the table was a plate of chocolate-dipped strawberries, a bottle of Martinelli's with 4 wine glasses, and a large vase of wild flowers. The card with the flowers read "To Our Wives." Inside, it read "Love, from The Husbands." It was the perfect way to start our weekend, knowing we had their full love and support.

The rest of the weekend was a peaceful, relaxing blur that passed all too fast. I went a for long run along the beach, we ate at a fun Irish pub (complete with 2 fat guys singing ballads), watched a beautiful sunset, then spent the evening lounging in front of the fireplace . . .

Sunday morning, I started the day with another run along the beach. Then we just took our time lounging about - chatting, eating, laughing. We stopped by the beach one last time before we left. Sunday was a bit overcast, but it wasn't cold. In fact, the sand was so warm that we all sat down and relaxed, drawing Zen patterns in the sand while we chatted some more. I have to say, being at the beach without kids to supervise is a whole different experience. There was no yelling to stop someone from throwing sand, no racing down the beach to rescue a toddler from being sucked into the surf, no sandy butts to clean off before getting in the car. I never knew a beach could actually be so relaxing.

We arrived home to happy husbands and kids, all glad to have us back. Nathan had taken pity on two of the other husbands and had them over for Sunday dinner. :-) I love being a mom, I love being married to one of the greatest guys on the planet. And I love being me - and having the chance to remind myself of who "me" is once in a while.