A Day Off

Yesterday was a day off for me.  Somehow the stars aligned and I was only going to have two kiddos here at childcare on Thursday and Friday so I decided to take them off.  I’ll definitely do that again if the stars would be so kind to align again.

Today was the day I needed.  I’ve been trying so hard to keep up and I feel like I’m treading water all the time…then slip under and then am back to treading water.  I just can’t seem to get caught up.

Kramer and I moved into the house here 5 years ago.  I still don’t feel like everything has a place.  I’ve tucked things under the bed and have no idea what is there.  I’m sure I could easily take 2 weeks off and busy the entire time.  It happens.  I think it happens to most of us.  By no means is it terrible, just not how I’d like to have it.

Being things were hairy here lately with Gannon and Kalissa needed help with Carver, I ended up not going to Buck and Lora’s like I have planned.  There were LOTS of kids gone from the public school here and I’ve had sick childcare kids earlier in the week so it was probably best I didn’t drag germs from here to them.

So now that the day was open, what’s a girl to do??  CATCH UP.  Well that was the plan when I went to bed on Wednesday night.  I had an early morning hitch though.  Gannon, my grandson had surgery on Tuesday wasn’t well.  He spiked a temp so Kalissa was off to the ER with him.  I volunteered to take Carver.  We hung out but I didn’t eat with the hope that Gannon would be okay and Kalissa would be back to pick up Carver.  It turns out Gannon has pneumonia on top of recovering from surgery.  That poor guy.  Kalissa will tell you more on her blog The Pink Shoelaces.

Kalissa got back and took Carver so I went on with my plans and had a fasting blood draw.  It was on my Friday agenda but I decided to move Friday’s plans to Thursday.  I was going to do every odd errand and thing I could think of to do.  Groceries, buying paint, stopping a the thrift store…all of that happened.

Then once home, this girl got a bath!


She didn’t love it but didn’t hate it either.

I changed the sheets, tidied my bedroom, cleaned and changed the sheets in the guest bedroom, tidied on the main floor, washed and folded all of the laundry, balanced my checkbook, paid the bills, wrote a couple thank yous….If it crossed my mind to do, I did it.

I have a gal that comes and cleans once a month.  Thursday was her day to come.  She does the dusting, all of the floors, the inside of the windows and the bathrooms.  It’s such a treat.  I’ve felt guilty for having her come but I love it and will keep that up as long as I can.  Kramer used to tell me not to feel guilty as most every business hires staff or outside companies to come and clean, why shouldn’t I with my childcare business.  (One of the many reasons why I loved him!)

I did everything I could on the main floor of the house, then when she came…I moved upstairs.  I’ve taken so much stuff upstairs and just dumped it in the sewing room.  It was terrible.  See?
I seriously had trouble walking into the room.  It’s not that I don’t love the things…I just have not had the time to properly find a home for everything.  UGH.  It’s actually much worse than the picture looks.  So I cleaned, sorted and organized into the evening and then at 7pm

I gave up.  I warmed up some leftovers from my night with Skinny Pete.  (read that HERE if you missed it) and did the sudoku from the newspaper.


Karl wasn’t here to challenge me but that’s okay.  He’s off spending the weekend in Houston.

I didn’t quit after supper.  I loaded up the recycling and have plans to take that out in the morning.  It’s another work day planned.


I kind of lamented taking days off from childcare only to work on getting caught up.  Most people have me time and quilt or go off and visit friends.  Not me….I know I’ll feel better if I simply get caught up.  For me, fresh sheets, organized spaces and getting a couple projects done is much more enjoyable long term than typical vacations most people have.

I am hoping to get a quilt on the machine and get it quilted this weekend…but alas, there is more to do in that sewing room, but for now (I’m writing this on Thursday night), there is a dog on my couch that needs some snuggling…I’ll take care of the other stuff tomorrow.

9 thoughts on “A Day Off”

  1. There are times on our days off from the norm that getting ourselves and homes in order is good for the soul. You’ve accomplished something that was weighing on you. And even though it wasn’t fun, it was needful. And I’ll bet you’re feeling better because of it. Continued prayers for Gannon for a full recovery.
    Love and prayers

  2. Mary Ann Mettler

    Cool to get all that done – homes do need that don’t they. Admire all you do. Just thought I was going to get a picture of you in the tub taking a bath before I clicked on the picture of you getting a bath from Rosie. lol In a couple of weeks we will get our grandpuppy to watch for a few days – I am sure I will get a lot of those kind of baths too. :)

  3. I’m with you 100% about a clean house. I think for me, it is like ‘clean house, clean mind’. And when I say clean, don’t take it that the house is spotless because it’s not. It’s more like ‘disordered house, disordered mind’. My sewing room looked very similar to yours as we had been traveling and I hit some bargains at thrift stores. Came home and dumped them on the floor. Now I’m cleaning everything and finding a home for my stuff. I have way too much but it will get sorted out later. Be sure and do a happy dance for you.

  4. It must have been in the air. I did a whole bunch of catching up as well! Honestly for me, getting caught up does fill my bucket as there is nothing hanging over my head today :-) Wishing you a Blessed Friday.

  5. I need a day like that—but I’m retired and I’m not supposed to get that far behind! We are downsizing, and I have gotten rid of half my fabric collection and notions by donating to a sewing class. It’s time to be realistic about my needs. However, everything gets rooted out before it moves to a new home or is put back to keep. A mess.

    Yesterday I spent time with my grandson helping him design his Pinewood Derby car. He wanted it to be a tribute to Clemson, hard for me since we’re Penn State grads. Grandkids take time, and I am grateful that they want my time and want to spend time with us. We are blessed to have this opportunity. I hope I leave them with good memories for the rest of their lives.

  6. Jo if anyone deserves a day off it’s you! Don’t feel guilty and don’t ever feel guilty about having someone clean for you! I really enjoyed the Skinny Pete story!!! So sorry to hear about Gannon’s health issues! Hope you get caught up this weekend!

  7. Judith Fairchild

    Jo, cleaning up the sewing area must be catching I went through and organized my sewing area and cleaned up pretty good. Praying for Gannon, it is so rough when it’s the baby who is sick. Adults you can talk to babies just know they’re hurting.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top
%d bloggers like this: