It’s the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Correction: it’s the Sunday after the last consecutive Thanksgiving that I’m hosting. The house is still relatively clean, the leftovers have been frozen and the china, “good” napkins and accoutrement have all been put away. In the meantime, kitties have been mentored and are slowly getting to be less work. In fact, we get a significant chunk of mid-day hours where everybody naps and we can go about our business.
It’s appropriate, then, that I am taking a few minutes to center myself and reflect back on a truly special week. The Thursday before Thanksgiving, my out-of-office went on. I then had six days to clean, decorate, prep food and generally get my act together in time for the holiday. Thanksgiving this year was a ton of work. My husband wanted to make turducken gumbo, but that required roasting a turkey, chicken and duck prior to Thanksgiving for both the meat and the rendered fat. Since he’s now working full time – including the day before Thanksgiving – I wanted to do the roasting in an effort to support his work. In addition, I decided to do a “fancy pants” green bean casserole that turned out fabulous. Then, there is the usual stuff – four pies, homemade cranberry sauce, turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, acorn squash and rolls. Add it all up and it was work. I am truly grateful to pass the baton and at least not host Thanksgiving every year.
Post-Thanksgiving, I did my usual Friday cleanup: a third load of dishes, laundering the napkins, taking the two leaves out of the table and generally debriding the house of Thanksgiving. That left yesterday and today without a lot to do outside of kitty mentoring, making dinner and generally enjoying some down time.
And since I’m here at down time, it’s a good time to reflect.
I enjoyed this past week because it allowed me to focus on home and family. I shopped – for food and Christmas gifts. I prepared for the entire holiday season and not just one meal. I spent the time I needed to with my three kitties – particularly the little, rambunctious one – and today I can sit back and enjoy the fruits of that labor. Before this week, the longest Doppers had been out of his room was three to four hours. Yesterday and today, the gate has been opened first thing in the morning. Granted, he’s been in timeout a couple of times, but that only lasts for a few minutes. And just about now? We’re sliding into our quiet time where the kitties are generally quiet for about four hours.
His progress has been nothing short of tremendous, allowing us to really enjoy our pets and recover some sense of normalcy and calm in our everyday. This will be especially helpful as we go back to work on Monday.
That, to me, is the “secret” in the secret life of being a homemaker. That I was able to anticipate what our little family needed, create opportunities for success and generally keep the house and our lives running smoothly so that we can appreciate time together.
I know I say this a lot, but I could really do this homemaking gig full-time. I just love taking care of our little family and making our house run. As it is, that’s probably not a reasonable option if we both want to retire early and generally, I’m okay with that, too. The work I do is interesting and I get to work with really cool people. Plus, I do it part-time, which is generally pretty awesome as well.
But, home? I just love home. I love having the time to make our lives quiet and calm. I love creating the space – both mentally and physically – to allow Darryl to both work and train for Ironman. I love helping the kitties to become integrated, although I will especially love that when the mission has been accomplished! I love thinking about where the Christmas tree is going to go, what to make for dinner and what to get Darryl for Christmas. I love envisioning what the house will look like when the floors are finally in and the downstairs is fully remodeled. I am looking forward to enjoying the season and making memories with family and friends.
And I love “me” this way. I love that calm, settled part of my soul that just really enjoys being a homemaker. I love the simplicity of homemaking. How it allows you to shut out the rest of the world and focus on just your little corner of it. When I am in my homemaking mode, I can actually feel my pulse slow and my breathing become deeper. I find that homemaking allows me to enjoy a part of my own spirit that I don’t always get to appreciate.
And finally, I love that homemaking allows all of us to build special memories. As much as I entered this week off with two priorities – make Thanksgiving dinner and get the cats more integrated – I am leaving this week with a whole new set of special memories. Darryl and I watching a move together. Doppers crawling in my lap and purring for all he’s worth. Meadow hugging my arm and purring her heart out and Twister cuddling in, giving a huge sigh and going off to sleep. I love the fun we had around the Thanksgiving table and all of the things we are grateful for. I love the game afterwards and the quick trip to my sisters’ yesterday to ensure that the Christmas gift-giving for the kids was even. And I will love today, for all that it likely brings loads of laundry, a walk in the snow and some dinner that isn’t turkey-oriented.
It dawns on me that being a homemaker does not mean not working. It just means that my focus generally is not on work but on home. That’s a pretty special focus.
The Yuppie Homesteader 