The Sounds of Silence

Did you hear the silence today? I was in the house without another human being for five-and-a-half hours. Of course the three cats and two dogs were still here but that was okay; they weren’t whining or talking or fighting or making noise at all. Kara had meetings all day so she took Dolly to school and then headed to wherever it was she needed to be. I got the first set of kids on their bus at 8:15 and 45 minutes later got the second set of kids on their bus. That’s when the silence set in – loud and clear. I didn’t know what to do first.

I went to the kitchen to get some breakfast but, just as I was about to put my English muffin in the toaster, I decided to shower first. I didn’t have anyone knocking on the door or talking through it to ask me questions about things that could just as easily wait until I was done. I got to shower and dress in peace; and I never felt the need to rush. That was great. Then I headed back upstairs to eat my breakfast. While my muffins were toasting I got some other stuff done and even got a couple of things in the mailbox to go out today. This was stuff that should have been done last week but couldn’t get done because of the chaos that was going on around here.

After I finished those couple of things and ate my breakfast, I headed down here to my computer to get Ty’s birthday pictures uploaded, edited, and posted on Facebook. I got to do that without interruption, too. I was even listening to music on Winamp while I worked. I turned the music up really loud and sang along, too, and not one kid complained about it. Know why? Because they weren’t here!!! I was listening to John Denver so I’m sure they would have asked me to shut if off had they been here.

Since I was listening to John I decided, after my pictures were done, to go upstairs and use Kara’s computer to watch some videos of him on Youtube. I could have stayed down here but I thought I should enjoy the common areas while I had the chance. So I made a cup of hot chocolate and watched John for a while. I was having such a good time that I made a second cup of hot chocolate and watched some more videos. Then I had to do something else. It was a toss up between taking a nap and playing video games. The video games won.

There would never be a better time to have the Wii (Kara’s, I don’t have one) all to myself. Her kids don’t have a lot of games so I played their mini golf game. It was fun but hard; I’m surprised the kids can play it at all. Some of the courses I had to play over and over because I kept going too far over par to get any score. Before I knew it I had to stop playing and get ready to pick up Dolly from school. I had to wait for Kara’s boyfriend to get here first, though.

Remember last night we discussed conflicting schedules and all that? Well, that’s what happened today. Kara was going to pick up Dolly after her second meeting but her first meeting got rescheduled for a time after the second meeting. She wouldn’t be able to pick up Dolly so I had to, but then we didn’t have anyone here to get the first two boys off their bus. Kara’s boyfriend had to leave work and come home to be here for the boys so I could go get Dolly. When I got back with her, the boyfriend had to leave to go to a networking something-or-other. It sucks not having a bus for Dolly.

We called transportation for the school district but they don’t have any way to help us. I’ll have to do more research to see if I can find anything. Driving her back and forth sucks but I have no other choice right now. At least it’s just for the rest of this year. Next year she’ll be in Kindergarten so she’ll definitely be on the bus. Anyway, that’s not what my topic was for tonight. I was so relaxed and stress-free all day that I forgot to clean the freezer and go to the hardware store. They just flew right out of my head when the silence clobbered me. Oh well, I can always do them tomorrow. Kara will be home so it won’t be quiet here; she’s as loud as I am. We’ll probably just go together; after food shopping, that is. At least I got to have one really peaceful day. I may get one again next Tuesday. I’ll let you know.

Until next time…peace to all.