Three day weekends...

Thought for today - "Hang on to your humour. Don't ask for permission, just do it! Make everything fun." Georgia Ulrich

Almost everyone I know lives for Fridays. They signal the beginning of the weekend. What's not to love about that?

This weekend, for us anyway, is a three day weekend. Monday is Family Day here in Alberta. What a great holiday. And what a great place to live, despite the cold temperatures and the three feet of snow currently outside my window. Where else (besides Disneyland) do you get to celebrate having kids and being part of a family?

This weekend, two of the kids have soccer games, and then the rest of the weekend belongs to us. Unscheduled, free-flowing family time. Time to play a game of Clue. Time to bake some cookies. Time for an old fashion snowball fight. Time to build a 1000 piece jig-saw puzzle. Time to laugh.

Not so very long ago, I would have had "a list." The list would contain all the unfinished projects we should conquer during the three days. Rooms to clean. Clothes to mend. Repairs to be made. Homework to be done.

Then all of a sudden, one of my children became a teenager. Gone, so it seemed, were the days of coming to me and claiming to be bored and wanting to spend time together. Now there are friends and malls and she has her own "list." When did "lists" become my enemy rather than my friend?

Thankfully, she's a "young" teenager and I still have time. I've put away my list. It will still be there on Tuesday. The aroma of fresh baked cookies and hot cocoa, the challenge of that jig-saw puzzle, and the music of laughter in front of the fireplace can still intrigue her and coax her out of her room. For the next three days, we are simply a family of five, loving, laughing, and enjoying being together.

Carpe diem,
Kellie