Mama's Moments of Zen

Sometimes when you're a mom, you need to sneak moments for you when you can.  They can seem really insignificant, but sometimes they're just enough to keep you going and help you feel like "you". No matter how random, sometimes you just have to do it.

Last week I worked a 15-hour day for our big Day of Giving.  It was a very long day--a good one, mind you--but LONG.  It went relatively quickly, fortunately, but it took me (and all my co-workers) days to recover.  It was actually a pleasant day outside aside from some intense rain showers from time to time, and we could merely just watch from a conference room table.  But then...a fire drill!

Feeling the pleasant day outside, even just for a moment, was blissful.  So I took a picture to remember just how lovely that moment was.  Back inside, at one point I needed a mental break and snuggled our little mascot for the day, Groundboi.

He's a stuffed version of a campus-favorite groundhog who has an entire marketing plan centered around him...so snuggly!

 After one of the rainstorms, we happened to see this...

A rainbow!

It was cool that it looked like the rainbow was ending on campus, since we were raising money all day and creating our own "pot of gold"!

On Monday we finally had a truly gorgeous day!  It was in the 70s and sunny.  I knew rain and cooler weather was coming so after work I ran over to Highland Park, home of the Lilac Festival, to check out the Tulip Garden.  I love tulips but they're so short lived!  I was nervous about missing them, so I desperately wanted to take a few minutes to see them.  It was well worth the stop, even if I was only there less than 10 minutes!

I was sort of bemused by the two "oopsies" on the corner of this bed of yellow tulips!

I had a friend post a picture of tulips like this in their yard, but I'm not sure I'd ever seen them in person!

Tulips for days!

They were truly stunning!  Even though it was a quick stop, I was very happy I did it.  The sight of those pretty flowers (and how much I've enjoyed these pics in the subsequent days) was well worth the extra few minutes it tacked on to my commute.  Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get another chance to see more, if the weather decides to cooperate at any point in the next week!

So, anyway, just a reminder for moms (and busy-non moms) that taking a few minutes for yourself, no matter how random, silly, or speedy, is a great thing.  Who can't use a little extra beauty (and fun) in their life?