If I were to make a list of my top ten favorite simplest pleasures, unexpected days off would be near the top of the list.  Since I’m a full-time mom, a lot of my time over the past 20 years has been spent taking kids to play practice, and music lessons, and football, and karate, and scouts, and play dates, and and and….

And I have been glad to do it!  My happiness has largely come from my kids’ happiness, and from being able to help them do the things they love.

But.

Cancelled plans are the Best Thing Ever.

A day when I don’t have to do any peopling?  Don’t have to make myself “presentable?”  Don’t have to speak in coherent sentences?  Don’t have leave my house at all?  Gimme.  It takes so much energy for me to prepare myself for outings – even pleasant ones – so when they are unexpectedly canceled, it brings a relief akin to finally spotting a gas station bathroom after 100 miles and chugging 32 ounces of soda on a desert highway.

Anyway.

Today I had plans to leave the house, and they were cancelled.  I could have stayed in my pajamas and watched TV all day (which, don’t get me wrong, would have been lovely in its own right), but I decided to use the day to get organized, to make a giant to-do list of stuff I needed to get caught up on, and to get started on said list.  I put on my favorite cut-off shorts, put my hair in a ponytail, and set my trusted timer.  The timer is my best friend.  I get… sidetracked… easily, but if I set a timer I can generally stay on task.  30 minutes of cleaning.  30 minutes of answering emails.  30 minutes of folding laundry.  30 minutes to relax and drink coffee and browse Facebook.  Etc.  It is currently 3:00 in the afternoon, and I have admittedly not gotten very far on my list – It’s really long – but I’m enjoying the process.

AND, I’ve even had time for some non-to-do list things too, like:

Chatting with a friend about an upcoming visit

Making a giant pan of scrambled eggs

Cleaning every nook and cranny of my desk, and erasing everything on my whiteboard (Also, on the top of that simple pleasure list?  Fresh whiteboards)

Getting my feelings hurt on the internet

Watching my daughter play with the hedgehog

Cleaning poop from said hedgehog that had accidentally gotten smashed into the floor

Like Clark says in Christmas Vacation:  “It’s all part of the experience.”

In about two minutes, my timer will go off (and I’ll be able to cross “Write blog post” off my list. Yay.), and I’ll be on to the next thing.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering?  I did finally notice the egregious misspelling of “Unexpected”, but it was only after I had stared at it ALL DAY.  It made me laugh harder than it rightfully should have, and somehow made my little day off all the more perfect for its imperfections.  One of the – many – things I’m currently working on is embracing the imperfections, the mistakes, and the foibles.

It’s all part of the experience.