Are you ready blowtorch?????

December 19, 2011




TIME OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


One of the sad things about becoming an adult is that there's no one to force you into a time out. 


You have to take them on your own volition.


Make the adult decision that it is time for you to step out of the real world that is yours and bask in the peace and quiet of an alternate reality that doesn't include the mayhem and chaos of your own every day life. 


No marking.


No phone calls.


No emails.


No requests for drives to or from.


No nagging guilt over the tree not up, cookies not baked, presents not yet purchased.


No cavorting, incessant kitties jumping all over my keyboard, changing settings and moving toolbars.


After our amazing Quaker potluck, when all the dishes were done, put back into the special places where the "good" dishes sit until called out for duty.


The dishwasher brimming to full with everything that didn't need to be washed by hand.


The very few remaining leftovers contained and nestling in the fridge awaiting the moment they'll be pulled out and consumed.


In this house that won't be a very long wait.


I looked at Stephen and said I think, I need, we should absolutely take the dogs to the Thatch Road for a run.


Because they certainly needed it after their forced confinement in our bedroom during the potluck.


And if I didn't get out for some physical activity, fresh air, free of all modern technologies and time traps, I was going to snap.


Mentally.


Not physically.


That would be messy.


At the precise moment that we made this decision, the synapses present in Frankie and Tikka were firing at warp speed and the dancing and frolicking, whining and whooping started. 


Meaning I snapped on their leashes and put them in the back of the car until I could get my coat and sneakers on.


Because once those two start their OH-MY-GAWD-WE'RE-GOING-FOR-A-WALK dance it becomes virtually impossible to get anything on. 


Hence slipping on my Birks and just containing them in the car until we can get ourselves ready.


Which happened in record time.


The ten minute drive to the Thatch Road needed no musical accompaniment, as Tikka and Frankie provided the ambient whining we've become accustomed to hearing during our time in the car together.


Ah, the signifiers of a time out. 


And it was a lovely time out.


The second we were across the little bridge to the Road, I could literally feel the stress and tension disappear. 


Dogs running around, sniffing every thing that caught their fancy.


Stephen walking beside me.


Sometimes talking with me, sometimes not.


Frankie had several encounters with chipmunks who were not the least bit interested in playing with him, much to his chagrin.


He tried so hard.


Running back to the chipmunk inhabited trees repeatedly in a futile attempt to encourage them to come down and just play.


No go.


They were not convinced by the sweet brown eyes and pleading barking.


Imagine.


















90 minutes.


We were out for 90 minutes of heart pumping, leg moving exercise and fresh air. 


By the end of our ramble, the dogs were sufficiently worn out and rewarded for their earlier bedroom confinement.


I was so much more relaxed. 


Calm.


To the point of returning home and stretching my time out to include a nap.


A long, lovely nap.


Me and Frankie.


Jasper.


All snuggled together for as long as we wanted to continue checking out of the real world.


And when I finally awoke and was forced out of bed by hunger, I knew the time out had come to an end.


But the several hours of break time were absolutely and unequivocally fantastic. 


I'll have to hold on to them for the next several days while I continue to slog through the piles of paper in front of me. 


A blowtorch seems like a pretty good option right now.






Title Lyric: Betty Blowtorch Anthem by Betty Blowtorch