20 minutes

It is 7:30 in the evening. We have eaten dinner, the kitchen is clean, Lil' Man has had his bath, we read our bedtime story, sang some songs, said our prayers and now he is tucked in bed. Me? Oh, I am sitting on my back porch with a Sonic drink by my side and nothing but this perfect evening to enjoy. Birds are chirping their evening song, my normally annoying dogs are now settling in for the evening, my chickens have roosted and there is enough light outside for me to just sit and enjoy the view. My Luke Bryan station is playing on Pandora and I could not be more relaxed. Tomorrow is Friday and I am doing good. My lesson plans are done for the coming week, so I can, without guilt, anticipate the weekend.

Does it matter that we had Little Caesar's pizza for dinner? Does it make me squirm that my bedroom needs to be cleaned up? Am I thinking in the back of my mind about the few dishes that did not get washed this morning? Am I wondering why I heard my son's train set being played with as I stepped outside? Am I annoyed by the fact that the moment my dogs see me they feel the need to "entertain" me with their obnoxious noises?

No, tonight is about enjoying this great evening. I hear the thunder rumbling in the distance and it soothes my soul. It is about listening to my son singing "Jesus Loves Me" as he got ready for bed. It is about watching these amazing looking clouds roll by. The peace of nothing but the music coming from Pandora meeting my ears (yes, my dogs have forgotten I am here and are asleep again). This, my friends, is what I consider a great evening.

Why 20 minutes? Well, the good Lord decided that is all I needed of this therapeutic evening. How do I know this? Please read the following bullets:

* The door behind me slowly opens.."hi mama". Yes, my little man decided to see what the heavenly glow coming from his mom was all about I guess. "P-note...pease, mama...note". Translation? Okay, "Please milk...please, mama...milk". Fine. After a glass of milk I was honored to have another 10 minutes of conversation, which included - "Mama, wow...look, clouds...light" (he saw the lightening in the clouds) "Mama, bubbles sleep" (his fish, Bubbles, was floating upside down. Yes. He does this every night. Seriously.) A big thunder boom, "Oh. My. Gosh". As a bonus to my evening, I was treated to a little dance show (just a couple of new moves he has learned from watching DWTS).

* My phone receives a text "KFOR Severe Alert. New Alert. Severe Thunderstorm warning in effect for Grady until 04/19/2012 21:00".  REALLY???  It was time to go check in with my good pal Rick Mitchell (you know, from KOCO). I need to check on how "severe" these storms are and what time it was going to hit since I have NO IDEA when 21:00 is.

* As the storms moved in..."Mama, I'm scared. Pease, Mama's bed?"  




So, here I am, preparing to go to bed. I plan on pulling out my iPad so I can read for a few minutes a book I bought on iBooks the other day as I wait out this storm. Going to bed alone? Oh no. A very content 2 year old is tucked in and already asleep in my bed and a very excited Rick Mitchell is talking about the storms on my TV. As I fall asleep tonight...I will remember those great 20 minutes.