I don't want to miss a thing…

We had a really nice day today.
Sure, it started like many have recently, with James waking up upset and a bit cold, so I had to go in and settle him at around 3:30am, and ended up falling asleep myself (eventually) next to him. Then up at 8 (Di let me sleep in a bit) and sorting out breakfasts, coffee (there’ll be an entry on my coffee addiction shortly) and then pottering around for half an hour while Di took Zoe to Ballet lessons.
Ballet’s an excellent thing for Zoe to be doing; apart from the whole exercise thing, it’s also a good way to teach her poise and control — and not hopping around like a coffee-chewing cephalopod. Back from that, and we headed out to the local primary school — or, as Zoe thinks of it, “Big” School, where she’ll be going next year — for a Church mission fete. I think in our minister I’ve finally found someone with the same sense of the ridiculous I have, which is the nice way of saying that I want his hat.
The kids had lots of fun — James had to be dragged off the bouncy castle, and took an alternate approach to the rubber duck fishing by simply deciding to walk into the duck pond — while Zoe was temporarily transformed into a kitten via the medium of face paint. We could relax and just let it happen; far too often when we’ve got both kids out, we’re on our toes all the time, especially with Di being a bit slow and round at the moment.
From there, it was on to my brother’s place for a quick lunch with him and our mother, something we dropped on Zoe as a surprise (at least partially because it was thrown together at the last minute). Again, we could relax; Gus had lots of fun (and the occasional challenge) playing with the kids, which he doesn’t get to do all that often. We got to relax, chat, plan holidays and even eat most of our own lunches. From there, it was off to the local DIY to pick up some acid, something I hadn’t done since high school.
Now, before the drugs squad decends on this blog, batons in hand, the acid in question was of the hydrochloric variety; if I dropped a few tabs of that, I’d be pushing up the dasies. In this case, it’s for cleaning all the excess grout off the tiles on our deck, an activity that I imagine will take up most of tomorrow afternoon for me. Also some paint for the house; it’s about time the brown was driven out, although that’s no small undertaking. Anyone want to volunteer to help me out here? I’m sure I’ll be doing it for more than a few Saturdays, and it gets lonely up on the roof by myself…
Home for baths, bed settling and some quiet TV time with my wife, as well as updating this blog. It’s been such a long time since we’ve had a single, genuinely “nice” day from start to finish, I’d begun to forget what nice days were like.
And the best part? The bit that stands out above the rest? That would be when my lovely wife gave me a hug once the kids were asleep.
It was then I realised a very simple thing: After twelve years together, through the highs and lows, I still really, really love my wife, in a way that’s both complex and simple at the same time. And you can’t get a better part of any day than that.