Thankful Tuesday: Such Pleasure!

“Oh Lizzie, it’s such a pleasure to run my own home…”  -Elizabeth Bennet’s best friend, Charlotte Lucas, Pride and Prejudice (film, 2005)

August and I made it home on Saturday night, despite our few hiccups: the fact that I had to pack extra bags full of baby clothes (left in storage from our move from Philly) and our Christmas presents and ask my sweet mother-in-law to help me drag them into the airport and through the line at the check-in, a two hour snow delay, my realization at the baggage check that I’d left my cell phone at my mother-in-law’s (not a great idea when your flight is hours delayed and you have no other clock on you), the wheels literally rolling off the new car-seat rolly contraption I bought specifically for this trip, the kind pilot of my flight (also delayed) working for fifteen minutes to fix the said broken wheel on my rolly contraption in the waiting area at the gate (thank you Captain Ellis!), and my son’s spillage of his chocolate milk treat all over his pants (no, I don’t carry a change of clothes for him…there’s no room!).

Other than those minor difficulties, we made it through the eight-hour flight back. My son slept for three hours (a Christmas miracle!), we had a sweet grandmother sit next to us and watch him while I dealt with my pregnancy bladder (God bless grandmothers!) and we made it back to San Francisco and my sweet husband and lonely cat. Which leads me to the previous quote from Pride and Prejudice.  As much as I love visiting my family, four weeks is a long time to be away from home. As I was riding back on the airplane, I thought of Ms. Lucas and felt my heart rise with her exclamation. It is such a pleasure to run your own home. I’ve missed it.

So, for this Thankful Tuesday I will list the pleasures of my home and why I’m grateful to be back in it:

• Mornings. I love waking up in the barely dark and drinking decaf from my stove-top espresso maker before the boys wake up. As much as I loved my time in suburban Amarillo and Philadelphia, I missed the city. There’s something incredibly beautiful about drinking coffee while I watch the sun rise over the buildings from my third floor apartment view.
• Choosing what’s in the refrigerator. This is where I’m in no way complaining. I’m blessed to have a mother and mother-in-law who constantly asked me what we needed from the store and made every effort to meet our needs, but I missed planning meals and choosing vegetables and generally being the boss of the kitchen. Does that mean I’m officially a grown-up?
• My bathtub. I love my bathtub.
• Schedules. As much as it’s a treat to be on vacation, I missed the consistency of a typical day in Hohorst-land. I’ve never been much of an organized type, but there’s a lot of peace in knowing what the day will hold. Time to pray, time to exercise (hopefully), time to write and rest and make a rocket slide with my kid. It’s good.
• Friends. Our friends here in SF and our friends back in Philly. It was a joy to be with so many dear people we love in Philadelphia, but as I come back I’m reminded what a gift it is to have friends we care about here in San Francisco. It’s makes coming home so much easier.

Okay. Time to list your pleasures.