Less than 48 Hours

Thoughtful Gift of Lovely Flowers from our Sukkot Guest

When Commuter Husband comes in late Friday and goes back out Sunday, it feels like a whirlwind. He was here less than 48 hours.

I keep having the same word repeat in my head over and over. Grateful. So grateful for that time he was here.

Someone asked me last week why our weekends always seemed so busy? I laughed with both amusement and a bit of exasperation. As a self-pronounced experience junkie, my response was that meaningful experiences do not just happen - we work to create them.

What was meaningful this past 48 hours and took up our time?

• Giving Back to our World: Before picking up Commuter Husband at airport Friday night, the boys and I helped man a booth at their school for homecoming. Youngest Son sold "HORNETS FOR THE CAUSE" bracelets to support the Komen Foundation and Oldest Son helped younger children with arts and crafts projects.
• Food: Commuter Husband made Saturday morning pancakes for us. The boys look forward to this weekly!
• Sports: Commuter Husband and Oldest Son braved the chilly weather to watch Youngest Son's Soccer 4on4.
• Tradition, Ritual and Friendship: We hosted special Jewish friends (old and new) in our Sukkah for our last 2012 Sukkot lunch-time meal - lingering for over 2 hours to have interesting multi-generational conversations (business, politics, travel, Israel, family.)
• Fun: Commuter Husband played silly ball games in the backyard with boys and then watched Mission Impossible (the first Tom Cruise movie and then an old 60s episode.)
• Chores: Commuter Husband took down Sukkah early Sunday morning.
• Learning: Commuter Husband and I attended our Sunday morning adult Jewish Studies class (Melton's Jewish Denominations: Addressing the Challenges of Modernity) while kids went to Religious School.
• Israel: We had our first gathering of the 44 fortunate people taking the Israel Journey with our Temple December 23rd - January 4th. Oldest Son met with the other 6 B'nai Mitzvah kids and our Cantor.

This left just enough time for Commuter Husband to pack and head back to Houston on Spirit Airlines out of DFW. Late Sunday afternoon without Commuter Husband found Oldest Son, Youngest Son and I all spending time with our own individual friends in three different venues.

I would have a hard time prioritizing out any of those choices. Time well spent during those 48 hours.