Regarding Time

At some point this weekend, the power went out at our house.  I'm not sure when, because we were out of town, but none of the clocks in the house were at the correct time when we walked through the doors.  I've been spending all of today unpacking, doing laundry, and cleaning up the inevitable chaos that occurs when a busy toddler is kept inside most of the day, and I haven't had the time (ha, ha) to change the clocks yet.  I know Ryan will do it when he gets home; he likes everything to be perfectly coordinated to the official time, so I am leaving them for him to fix.

It's strangely liberating.

I spent a lot of last afternoon and evening looking at the clock in the car.  Dylan has decided that long car rides in the carseat are not his cup of tea, and most of our drive home hinged on how long we could drive before it was necessary to stop for a little break.  After watching minutes tick away like that, it's freeing to not have any clue as to what time it is.  Since I have a computer and cell phone, the time is easy to find; I am just choosing not to look for it.  We're eating when we're hungry, getting dressed when we feel like it, and figuring out when the bread is done rising by looking at it.  (Ok, that's pushing it; I used the oven timer for that, but you get the point.)

In general, I'm a planner.  I love making a schedule for the day, the week, the month, the year.  I love consulting my lovely Lilly Pulitzer planner to see what's on deck for the upcoming days.  Lately, though, I'm starting to feel as though I am a little too tied to the clock.  Maybe a little more breathing room would help us all enjoy each day a little more fully.  I don't know exactly how long it took me to get the kids to this point:

note that she is cuddling her big giraffe and not her giraffe blanket - we forgot Boop in the stroller, which is coming home with my parents later this week - she is taking it surprisingly well

and I don't know how long they will stay like this, but I know that it gave me time to type this post, fold a load of laundry without each piece being taken out of the basket as soon as it is put in there, mix up a batch of bread AND a pizza dough for dinner tonight, and have a glass of water, with ice cubes. 

*vacation pics and stories coming soon...there's a lot to sort through, both picture-wise and emotion-wise!