Busy Life

Somehow I only have 2 kids, yet I feel frazzled, busy and stretched to my limits a lot. How does that happen, you might wonder? Maybe it has something to do with the 5 soccer practice a week, 2 play rehearsals, 2 volleyball practices and a mysterious number of school and volunteer meetings tossed in haphazardly. Where is my relaxation time??

Due to all of this coming and going, family dinners are rare. Sometimes Maria might be home only from 5:45-7:15pm while other days she gets home for dinner at 7:30pm. Isabelle can occasionally be spotted at the kitchen table eating dinner at 4:00 because she has soccer at 5:30. She lives in her room a lot working on Chemistry equations and French phrases, that I couldn't possibly understand.

No really, I could not possibly understand the stuff she is learning. It's true.

This is why we like to eat breakfast together. Birthdays and Valentine's Day are celebrated over pancakes and scrambled eggs. I have a deep love of breakfast foods.

Last night I dropped off Isabelle at practice at 5:30, and then had to find  Kinko's to get some player cards laminated. Morrie was simultaneously driving Maria to her practice, at a different field at 5:30. I then decided to go look for my friend who said she was going to Starbucks, but I must have missed her. Maybe it was the Starbucks down the street. Maybe it was the one on the other side of the parking lot. Why are there so many Starbucks??? It confuses me!!

 Morrie tipped me off that Maria's practice was looking good, so I headed over there with my Starbucks drink.

What? I HAD to get something while I was at Starbucks, it's just rude to walk in and not buy anything. My mother taught me that. Thank you Mom!

So I hung out for the next hour at Maria's practice and found myself actually relaxed and breathing normally. It's like my spiritual meditation- watching soccer. Plus Maria was killing it, so it was fun to watch.

It's the only time of day when I am not thinking of a million things that I haven't done but should be doing. It's the only time of day where I don't have to change the laundry, run the dishwasher, or respond to a work email. I don't worry about what's on the agenda for the next day. I think about soccer. I think about my kids who love soccer and my friends who love soccer. I think about having long conversations about soccer with anyone who will listen. I catch up on Twitter, where I only follow soccer players, soccer teams and soccer news. It's where I find happiness.