Anyway.. since I have been feeling under the weather I haven't bothered to get dressed and have spent the past week or so in pajamas pants, teeny camisoles, and over-sized sweat shirts. So, yesterday I threw some tennis shoes on to go along with my lovely ensemble and snuck outside to snap some quick photos of the flowers after the rain. Of course I assumed that everyone was either working or at school and that I was safe.. until my neighbor/friend decided (what I'm assuming was) to take a lunch break at his house and drove by waving. I quickly waved back (or shooed him away with my hand, however you want to look at it..) and sprinted back into the house.
So then, last night I sent our landlord an e-mail telling her about the raccoons in our garage. Yes, raccoons! I know this because they ate through a huge bag of bird food we had stored in there, and also because I sweep up their dirty little footprints every morning leading from the garage door across our porch. (As I'm writing this, I just watched a giant groundhog run across the patio. I'm blaming him for the frog being knocked into the lily pond every day. And the squirrels for getting into the bird feeder. The animals in our neighborhood are all out of control.) Anyway, back to the story.. Well, I didn't check my e-mail this morning to read that she was sending someone over this afternoon to set up a trap in the garage. So, he shows up and I'm in my floral pajama bottoms and practically sheer cami. There was no time to go throw something else on because I would have had to run past the (glass) door up the stairs and it was too late because he already saw me. So, I'm standing in the doorway trying to cover myself up and quickly warned him to stay very far away from me because I am very sick. Pretty sure those were my exact words. He explained the trapping procedure and assured me that he would not kill the raccoons, that he would come back each morning to see if the "hotel had any guests" and then release the "guest" into the wild. Unless of course I noticed them coming out in the day time which would mean something is wrong with them and he would have to take other measures, in which he would be sure not to share the details with me. The entire time I all I could think was how badly I wanted to put on some clothes and hide. He made sure to let me know that he would not come to the door in the morning, but would honk his horn 3 times to alert me of his arrival and then proceed to the garage to check on the "little motel".
Oh, and speaking of modesty.. and to other moms in particular.. do your kids and husbands just burst into the bathroom without knocking? Last night I was in the bathtub praying (because.. yes, that's where I tend to hear God the clearest) and the 3 of them just come barging in all at once to brush their teeth. Um, Hello?! After I complained about the lack of privacy in our house, J decided to knock very loudly and with much exaggeration each time he entered the room after that. What's funny to me is that my boys are both very private. If they're going to the bathroom E will make sure to say "Nobody look!" and then very rudely shut the door in your face. Or if I'm reading in the bath and one of them needs to use the bathroom, they will make sure to shut the shower curtain so I can't see them. Yet when it comes to my privacy, nobody seems to notice or care!
Honestly though, I don't know when I became such a modest mouse. We live in a college town where many of the students walk around in their pajama bottoms, and I get embarrassed when answering the door in mine? Maybe it has more to do with the fact that I worry people think I am just too lazy to get dressed and that makes me look unproductive? Whatever the reason, I've decided to post a photo of me in my rose jammies along with my flower photos as a way to help get over my insecurities. "Hello world! Here I am in my pajamas!" There, I just screamed it from the rooftop for all of the neighborhood animals to hear.
But you know, as frustrating as it is sometimes to rarely have any peaceful private moments to myself.. I know one day when my boys are all grown up, I will miss those things about them. They will maybe go off to college themselves and I will be left alone with the whole quiet house all to myself. And I will yearn for one of them to burst through the bathroom door to tell me excitedly that daddy bought them pancakes with Star Trek guy pictures on them at the store. I will miss the push and shove fighting at the sink because one of them needs to spit their toothpaste out and the other needs a drink of water at the same exact time. And it makes me break down in tears to think of the quiet emptiness my life would be without them..
So, I thank God for every living breathing noise they make and for the fighting and the outbursts and the lack of privacy.
Please press the stop button on my other music and listen and watch this video all the way through.. I think it's important to occasionally remind ourselves of the blessings we have so we don't take them for granted. I say this as my youngest is throwing a tantrum on the floor next to me because he wants a clone trooper mask for Halloween, even though we just bought him a brand new knight outfit with his birthday money, along with a ninja turtle costume at the thrift store last weekend. This is exactly why I need daily reminders.
I wrote the first part of this post yesterday and as I'm finishing now, a car horn just honked 3 times outside my window. :)
XOXO, Erin
