Taking a Time Out

As you may have been tracking, Riley has been away, serving as caregiver for her mom as they fight like girls against multiple myeloma. Back home, I ruled the house. With that great power, comes great responsibility. So while I am able to spend more time with the Xbox, which temporarily resides downstairs on the big screen when Roo is away, I also am in charge of the chores, dry cleaning and weekly menu, among other things. Not to say I can’t hold my own or haven’t been on my own before, but I don’t recall it ever being this long. I think the hardest part was creating the weekly menu for Jessica and me. It isn't that beef taco night or cheeseburgers on the George Foreman, weren't delicious but our menu wasn't nearly as diverse as Riley would have made it, nor did it possess anywhere close to the daily recommended allowance of vegetable servings. I didn’t have a problem telling Jessica to do her homework and I did manage the dry cleaning. Still, I have yet to align my definition of clean with Riley’s, so while maybe the bathroom wasn’t up to Roo’s standards when she returned home Friday, it wasn’t the disaster it had been on Thursday. Maybe I procrastinate too much, or maybe I work better under pressure. But to an extent, I think I take free time for granted, in the sense that I should have a better grasp on how to make the best use of it. If I didn’t stay up until midnight playing Madden, it’d probably be easier to match my socks at 6 in the morning. If I didn’t snooze the alarm or stall for stretching before softball, maybe I’d be able to update the blog more frequently or wake the next day without sore knees. Or maybe the way I use my time in part defines exactly who I am, it is just that all the time, no matter what I am doing, Riley is in my mind. All in all, in the time she has been away, I am so proud of the strength Riley has given her mom and family through her support. And I am so very appreciative of all she does to support this house, this relationship and so very appreciative of the time she is home. And she is home now, so I am going to spend less time on the laptop, and more with her.