The other day I read a book to the kids called “Mrs. Claus Takes a Vacation”. It was really cute. In this book, Mrs. Claus feels like since Santa travels the world every year she should get a chance to get out too, and she does! She travels the world and has a great time (while Santa tries his hand at some of the more domestic duties at home). Eventually, she misses the North Pole and is ready to come back. There is a surprise ending though so I won’t spoil it.

If you are a feminist you might not like the predictable gender roles in the book, but I completely related to Mrs. Claus. I am a stay at home mom and I rarely have any time to get away from the house by myself. I recently was going through an emotional rough patch and I knew I needed time alone or I was going to explode. So the day before Thank giving J watched the kids so that I could do my own thing. He even made me a Dutch Baby which is like a specialty crepe pancake and it is my favorite food!

 

After breakfast I went shopping. I started off at a thrift store, then Half Priced Books, and Rose and Remington.

 

Thrifting, reading, and “R &R” are all happy places of mine so I was feeling mighty fine.

 

For lunch I went to a local place called Harvest Market.

I had local spaghetti squash with pesto and feta from their hot bar. I don’t eat out much so when I pay for someone to cook something my expectations are pretty high these days. This hit all the right notes. Let me tell you it was divine. I finished off with a dandelion latte and started strolling along the streets of downtown hoping to find something sweet for dessert.

The walk was nice and the weather was perfect but I still needed chocolate. 

 

That’s when I decided to finish off my outing with a warm cookie from Chick-fil-A. Thedrive-thru line was and I thought maybe I should just go inside. Why not? I have no children to unbuckle and get out so let’s do this! I went into the noisy restaurant full of moms and children (everyone was out of school). I walked straight up to the counter and ordered one cookie. That was it. One cookie to go.

Some people probably stopped reading because this story is so detailed and boring but to me it was an incredible first time experience to be savored! I went into Chick-fil-A by myself, got a cookie, and left! Here is a graphic I shared on my Instastory-

Chocolate milk? No. Play land? No. Fighting? No. Trading a toy for ice cream? No. Heping a child wash hands while listening to instrumental worship music? No.

Cookie? YES!

I was home by three and then J had to go lead worship for the youth group so it wasn’t even a full day, a big trip, or a night out. It was enough though. I walked in the door and said “There. I’m better.” It was just the reset I needed.