Right Now

It’s only eleven in the morning, and it’s already been a fairly eventful day.

I woke at eight, realizing I had a head cold. Yesterday I had noticed that my ear was bothering me, and now I wake up with a head cold I laid there wondering at this – until my most recent illness, I had only had one instance of ear issues, and that was when Matt was little. Back then I had an inner ear infection. The most recent illness that kicked my ass and knocked me down for over a week involved a double ear infection. Yesterday as I was completing yard work with Matthew, my left ear began to hurt. It bothered me through out the day and I hoped that I would wake up and it would be gone.

Unfortunately while I took hefty meds before falling asleep, I woke up with this cold. The ear pain was gone, but I feel it coming back as I write this. I want to get some writing tasks done today, so hopefully it holds off for awhile, or I’m able to take motrin and make it go away. I have a checkup appointment tomorrow, no sense in me going today.

So, anyway.

I woke up at eight and immediately checked my stats on EJ. A staggering 2.5k views. I again sat there staring at my phone. This shit is absolutely unreal to me, guys. That’s damn near as many reads as the blog here on WordPress has had all year, and this post will make 144 posts for the year. . . 2.5k views – On one article! I’m just blown away.

I had plans to get Chase started on his school work at ten, so I needed to get my ass in gear. With our schedules it’s going to be rare for me to be home with him during his homeschooling, it will be Emma quite often. I wanted to take the opportunity of me being home during the week to work with him some. I forced myself from my bed, and as I walked into the dining room I noticed something strange as I walked past the windows. . . The umbrella that normally sits over the deck was upside down on the deck. I knew it had rained during the night, but I hadn’t noticed storms or high winds. I quietly opened the back door to see the umbrella upside down, with my chair and laptop table sitting on top of it. The door was unable to be opened. I sighed heavily and closed the door. That was a problem for after I was a little more awake.

Water, vitamins, cold meds, tea, shower. I felt a little better after that part of my morning routine and proceeded to get laundry going and clean the bathroom. I cleaned the tub drain of the build up of hair that is inevitable when two women reside in the same home and removed the rugs so they could be washed later.

As I moved on to my bedroom where I intended to make my bed and do a short meditation practice, Meeha whined at me from her cage.

Uh-Oh.

Meeha always went out the back door to use the bathroom, and it was still completely blocked by the overnight catastrophe. I had decided to wait until Matthew was up so he could help me fix things out there, and also until it was dry so I wouldn’t get all wet while remedying the problem. But now the damn dog had to pee, so how was I going to conquer this?

I attempted to open the door for her, and she attempted to squeeze under the upside down umbrella, but it was a no go. So I picked her up and went out the front door, walking up the driveway to the backyard where I set her down. Then I stood on the porch steps, assessing the situation.

I wish I could show you a picture of the predicament, but I hadn’t thought to take one. I was more concentrated on how I was going to fix it.

Right about that time, the backdoor opened, and my little Chaser stood there with wide eyes, and laughed. “Do you want me to get Matt?” he mouthed at me through the closed screendoor, and I shook my head. “Can you see if you can get out, little one?” I asked him. He gingerly pushed the screen door open, and squeezed his little self through the small space. “Good job little Chaser!” He carefully moved the chair and the table off of the umbrella and out of the way so I could lift the umbrella up, and was my eyes so I could set it on the ground next to the porch without hitting my cucumber plant.

It’s definitely an advantage having a child like my Chaser. Besides his slight build and ability to fit into small, tight spaces, he has the attitude of one much larger than he is. His determination makes the impossible seem possible.

Having conquered this situation, we moved on to breakfast. Somehow the child spilled his cereal, and we cleaned it up. I switched the laundry and finally made it to my room, but realized that it was too late to fit in a meditation practice. I made my bed and lit my Eucalyptus Mint candle, and sat down to make my to-do list for the day. I realized that we hadn’t brought his laptop in the prior evening from the car, and after venturing out to the garage, I walked into his room. “I thought I told you to get dressed?” I inquired as I encountered the child laying on his bed sideways, watching Hulu on his tablet.

“I caaan’t!” he cried mournfully. He turned down his mouth in a exaggerated look of sadness.

“Why exactly can’t you change your clothes?” I asked him, looking behind him to his dresser. I thought maybe something was in the way of the drawers opening.

“Because! I want to have a pajama day!” still with the exaggerated sadness on his face, big brown eyes pleading with me.

“You have to do school work today,” I reminded him.

“I know. But I don’t have to go to school so what does it matter?”

I hear you, little buddy. I rather enjoy working from home in comfy clothes, too.

So now I am sitting here writing this post as my little one sits in dinosaur pajamas solving math facts.

As I wrote this my numbers jumped up to 2.6k and I conversed with a fellow writer and friend about different writing avenues.

I really can’t believe that this is my every day life. I am continually reminded of how very, very fortunate I am to be where I am and living the life that I live. It hasn’t been easy to get here, and I have some more traveling to do. . . but right here is pretty terrific, too.

I have a quote post to write today as well, but for now Happy Monday. Find the joy in your day to day life. There are people that would love to be where you are at right now.

Photo by Tim Meyer | @timm.jpeg on Unsplash