The kids have a short week this week, with days off tomorrow and Friday, and I am really needing this break from the weekday routine. I’m nearly always home on the weekends, but they rarely feel like real breaks as I’ve either gotten home around midnight on Friday and am using the weekend to recoup from the previous week, or I’m leaving on Monday morning and using the weekend to gear up for a week away. This time I’ve been home for nearly a week and I’m not traveling again for a few days, so I feel like I’ll have some time to relax and also to get some things done in a more leisurely manner.

We’ve got a quite a few things that need to be done around here, including raking up the winter debris from the yard, and as luck would have it the forecast predicts a few days of lovely weather. It shouldn’t be much of a struggle, then, to get everyone out for a few hours to get at least the outside of our place in more presentable shape. The inside is another story, but I’ve all but given up on ever getting that entirely sorted.