Guilty downtime

I took the day off today to take care of the kids.  This afternoon, I had another one of those intervals that always throws me off:  I had a couple of hours to myself while Lindsey was away playing with her friend Chelsea.  I don't get many spare moments, so I never have plans to get anything done.  When I am surprised by a spare moment, I always have this nagging sense that there's something I should be doing.  There's lots that needs to be cleaned, organized, and fixed, but those tasks never make it to the top of my to-do list because I'm always in maintenance mode.

I started to think about what I should be getting done during those two hours this afternoon, but Caroline instructed me just to go relax.  I almost managed to follow her instructions.  I assembled our new grass trimmer and trimmed some grass first, but then I actually did relax.  I made it most of the way through my April issue of The Atlantic.  (Heaven only knows when I'll have time to start on the May and June issues, and I'm sure the July issue is coming soon.)

Lots going on right now.  The kids and I are going to see the Twins play tonight (and I'm none too thrilled about the dark clouds I can see off to the west).  Grandma Dennis gets here tomorrow.  That will take some of the pressure off of me as far as keeping up with the house and fixing decent meals.  I still haven't mastered the art of making well-balanced dinners complete with mutliple vegetables and fruits.  I'll get there.  At least we shouldn't have much trouble finding healthy food at the ball game tonight, right?