Spend The Afternoon...

I love this picture...and it's kind of a poignant reminder because its front-and-center in my calendar - the picture on the page facing my birthday week. Which just happens to be this week.

I like the pic not just because the image is one of my favorite things to do - hang out on a hammock/in the pool/lazing around - in my downtime. But because of the quote that goes along with it:

spend the afternoon, you can't take it with you ~ Annie Dillard

I don't know anything about Annie Dillard other than this quote, but I think the quote is enough. It's like the old adage that we should 'stop and smell the roses'.

This week isn't just a birthday week for me, it's a true change in my life. This is the first full week (minus Labor Day, but you get it) that bebe spends all day at school. That is a huge change because I'm a work-at-home mom. Yes, I'm a writer but I also made a conscious effort to spend as much time as I could with her for the first five years...RadioMan, too. Building that family bond. So this week has been...strange.

I've had an average of 6 hours 'extra' each day - time I've spent writing...and, yeah, goofing around on Facebook and Twitter. We're now squeezing 'family time' into the 4 hours before bed, which makes for a lot of giggling and silliness and some very interesting talks.

So that quote has really stuck with me. As much 'extra' time as I have, I know that writing from 8am through 4pm will not work for me. So I'm re-figuring the schedule I've always had. I have to make the time with bebe 'count' because we don't have as much time together. And while I'm figuring out a writing schedule, a wife schedule and a mom schedule, I'm also reminding myself to really *be* in those little moments, too. Like when she's chattering 90 miles an hour for the first fifteen minutes she's home. Or that hug before she runs out the door to wait for the bus (we don't hug in the bus line...kids don't *do* that anymore). Or reading before bed...and even those exasperating moments when I just want five minutes to wash the dishes or clean off the table. Or just flipping breathe.

So, my mantra this day as been to spend the time...whatever I'm doing. What is yours?