Have you ever noticed that sometimes the perfect day you had planned looks absolutely nothing like the perfect day you end up with? 

That was precisely the way things worked out for me today. 

I had every intention of getting up and having breakfast with the entire family—Mom, my sister, our husbands, and my kids.  It was going to be a beautiful sunny Sunday and we were going to dine on the patio at my favorite local restaurant.  Our reservations were for ten this morning, and in a cruel twist of fate, the hot weather we’d been having decided to take a little respite for the day, and it was barely fifty degrees in the shade where we were sitting.  On a positive note, none of my children were up for the task of getting out of bed that early, so I didn’t have to listen to them complaining about the cold as we huddled under our jackets and warmed ourselves with hot coffee.  Breakfast was still very good, even if my fingers were going numb and my teeth rattled as I tried to chew. 

Not surprisingly, we didn’t linger after our food was gone, and I said goodbye to my mother so she could head back up to Tennessee, and I jumped back into the car with my husband.  We were barely on speaking terms after a slight disagreement the night before, so we rode quietly on the way back to the house. 

I didn’t get out of the car when we got home.  Instead, I put Barry White on the radio, and sang along to Can’t Get Enough of Your Love.   It is one of those songs that puts you in a good mood whether you like it or not.  And I liked it. 

Within a few minutes we were backing out of the driveway and heading off to points unknown.  I didn’t ask where we were going, and he didn’t offer up the information.  Thirty or so minutes later we were out in the middle of nowhere, driving past cows in open fields. 

There is almost nothing more relaxing than vintage Paul McCartney on the radio as you fly down an old country road.  Before long, Mike and I were talking again as if nothing had happened. 

Fast forward to several hours later after a leisurely afternoon nap, a Mother’s Day dinner with my son and my husband, a shopping trip that found both of us in the same changing room (minds out of the gutter please, I was merely reading a book while my husband tried on clothes), one floppy hat, and at long last, a pair of comfortable sandals later…we were in line for a movie. 

Of course, our movie was sold out.

I was not willing to let that ruin my day.  Instead, I insisted that we wait for the next showing (an hour later) and we were first in line for the theater. 

That brings us full circle, where I sit in my bed contemplating my mother’s day in the same spot it started.  I never did see the girls today.  I assume they are asleep in their beds after their brother collected them from a friend’s house while I was watching my movie.  Ideally we would have spent the day together, but these things don’t always work out.  The girls got what they wanted, and I get the entire house cleaned and dinner cooked for me tomorrow evening.  It’s a win-win situation—my favorite kind.  And maybe I’ll toss a little guilt trip in there for good measure.  It’s a mother’s prerogative after all.  We are the givers of life and all that crap. 

Until the next time…I’ll be spending a quiet day off…on a Monday of all things!