Relaxation was the Word

I was really looking forward to today for about a week now. Another military spouse had given me a coupon to get a 50 minute Relaxation Massage at a new Day Spa that opened in the town about 30 minutes away. I love massages! I use to treat myself on birthdays,anniversaries, etc but my lady stopped working in our town about two years ago  :0(  I never took the time until today to try someone new, so HAPPY that I used that coupon! I spent $10 for a wonderful massage. Scott had amazing hands & was very talkative! The room was quiet with a heated massage table. Lovely music playing softly in the background I almost fell asleep! It was exactly what this busy mom of four needed to recharge my batteries. I could go to bed now & it's only 6 PM! 

I know how lucky I was to have 3 weeks in July of kid-free time. But it was to early into this deployment for me to feel settled into a routine. I feel like now we are slowly getting into a routine of chatting with Paul everyday & SKYPING once a week. I also have been running non-stop taking the kids all over creation to enjoy the last month of summer. Especially since our weather perked up! Today was a much needed MOM day! I got up helped with breakfast then walked out the front door! Went & got my pedicure because my feet looked awful! NO way was I letting some body massage my feet when they where that awful! Then I went & finished back - to - school shopping. Jeremy needed new tennis shoes so I found a cute pair he loves! I also grabbed some new snack items for Paul that he requested. My man is doing cross-fit hard everyday & on a super lean high protein diet. Kind of hard to do in the desert! So he requested some different nuts to eat & I found a few cans of them I think he will enjoy. Then it was off to Panda Garden where I cheated & ate the yummy orange chicken I love. I can't remember the last time I ate there? No worries tomorrow I will be hitting the gym hard to work it off, but today I savored every yummy bite! Then it was off to my massage- BLISS..... for a whole 50 minutes. My muscles needed that & so did my brain.

Now I highly recommend you take time to pamper yourself once in awhile if your spouse is deployed. I can't say enough how much nicer I was to the kids when I walked through the door. All it took was a nice six hour break , pedicure, & a massage. I don't feel guilty as some might because with me being both mom & dad it's exhausting at times. The boys are constantly pushing the boundaries to see what they can get away with while dad is away. Just for today Relaxation was the word of the day !!

Hand & Stone  this is where I went today . They do offer Military discounts & are located in several different locations. I loved them & will be going back at some point.

How Much I'd Forgotten

As I am laying around trying this new thing called relaxation while the husband is gone as well as the kiddos, I had forgotten a few things about the "single" life.

1. Sleep is AMAZING!!!! I can barely remember the last time I could go to bed WHENEVER I wanted because I could wake up WHENEVER I wanted!! Even the dogs have figured out I am NOT going to get up before 6:30AM anymore to let them out- LOVE IT! Thanks to new allergy medication & pure exhaustion the last two night I have crashed hard & slept through the night!!

2. What do I want to eat & when? Anything my heart desires is what I can choose!! No chicken nuggets, no hot dogs, no macaroni, no peanut butter & jelly- NO KID FOOD!! It's so GREAT!! Plus I can eat whenever I feel like it not right on the clock that the boy's seem to have set for meals.

3. Read a good book WITH OUT interruptions! I started a new book & never had to stop reading to stop fighting over toys or TV. Do not have to help with anything! It's so great! I forgot what it was like to actually get through a whole book in three or four hours! Not Three or four days or even weeks!

4. POOL TIME ALONE!! As I went with a good friend to lay out in the sunshine yesterday to soak up some vitamin D I realized as I was laying out watching the kids swim they are not my responsibility at all! I would have jumped into to help if they ever needed it but I didn't have to! No watching the pool 24/7 to make sure the boys don't drown eachother. Instead I reapplied sunscreen several times ,laid around, & chatted with my friend- AMAZING!! I did get a little pink in spots where I must have missed with the sunscreen but its already gone & I so didn't care!

5. Dishes in the sink- there aren't ANY!! When I do decide to eat something I wash the one fork, spoon, or plate immediately . It is then put away & therefore my sink is shiny & clean!

6. Laundry time- NOPE!! There is hardly any dirty laundry & what little there is is mine! No arguing with the boys to pick up their clothes off their floors & not wait until they run out of clean underwear to tell me! Love not having to wash two loads a day & fold- how I'd forgotten the relaxation that comes from just not doing laundry all the time.

7. Messy rooms- nope no yelling about picking up their rooms.! I just shut my teenagers doors & walked away! Normally I would be in there with gloves, trash bags, & lysol but not this time! They are old enough to deal with that pig sty themselves! I will strip the beds at some point so they have clean sheets when they come home but that's it! They will be shocked to realize mommy went on a "mini" strike while they where away & they now are forced to clean it themselves upon their return!

These are just a few things I have loved rediscovering while I have the house to myself. I am finally getting into the swing of this whole relaxation thing. It may be rather hard to let it go in a couple of weeks. But at least I'll be recharged for the rest of the deployment & that is really what this all about. I tend to forget tot take time for myself when Paul is deployed so this is some much needed time for just me. Do I feel guilty- not even a little! All four boys have been calling & checking in with me. They are having a BLAST doing all kinds of fun things with their ommie & pawpaw. So I am relishing this mommy time A LOT!

 Just a little snapshot of how I spent my Saturday-ahhhh My legs are the white pale legs. Us red-heads tend not to tan very much- but oh-how I love laying in the hot sun!