NOLA Weekend!

There are many, many things that make my husband remarkable, in my totally unbiased opinion, but his sweet, unassuming and unhesitating generosity is something that sets him apart. (From me, at least...) It's a family trait that he shares with his mom and siblings and most of the rest of his blood relatives, but I still find myself being surprised by his ability to give so cheerfully in so many circumstances. And even though I am far from achieving that level of unselfishness myself, he continues to give graciously to me, day after day and week after week.

There is no doubt that my dear P spent this past weekend giving me a truly wonderful gift: time away from home with my best friend Sara. He rearranged all his work commitments (as well as all his free time) to take care of the kids so that I could fly to New Orleans on Thursday evening and have a glorious weekend of mani/pedis, shopping, eating, shopping, walking, eating more, sightseeing, eating, museuming, and eating - all accompanied by nonstop talk between two old souls who will never be strangers at heart. As I was boarding the plane home on Sunday, I texted Sara to say that I literally felt like I'd "been to the world's best spa for the soul," which is horrifically cheesy and as far from poetic as one might travel, and yet still a pretty perfect way to describe the weekend. We laughed together about our children's reactions to the idea that we were each spending the weekend with a friend ("Mom, you have friends?"), and then we offered up prayers of thanksgiving for the precious, precious gift that our friendship has been - and continues to be, in spite of the distance between us.

When I got home, I found out that P had not only kept the kids and dog alive all weekend, but he'd cooked dinner TWICE, made it to karate practice and school and church, and handled two different vomiting kids and three loads of vomit-y sheets, leaving no trace at all of the chaos for me to have to deal with. In fact, when I walked in, everyone was upstairs putting the finishing touches on cleaning the kids' bedrooms. If that's not a miracle - and a gift of the highest degree - I don't know what is.

So the next time you see my lovely spouse, pat him on the back - and maybe invite him to a deer lease or something. He could probably use it.