Well, today is one of those days when the entire world shifts suddenly under your feet, and you’re standing in an entirely different spot than you were the day before. This morning the whole family walked down the hill, and Aaron and I watched Carter, our third child, get on the schoolbus with Jamison and Clay for his first day of kindergarten.

No tears–just a lot of happy grins and kung-fu posing for the camera by an elated five-year-old.

Then, it was off to drop Grant, number four, at Barnyard Buddies for preschool and daycare. Daycare was one of those things that never made financial sense with more than one child at home, but it was clear that Grant would be bored out of his mind without something to keep him occupied while his brothers were at school. So three days a week, while his brothers are in school, Grant will be, too.

So for the first time in over a decade, I have large chunks of regularly scheduled time without my children. I don’t feel bereft, and I don’t feel elated. In fact, I’m not sure I feel much of anything right now–I may be in shock, LOL!

What will I do with all this new time? Well, right now I am sitting at the Red Mug (my absolute favorite coffee shop in the entire world!), sipping Ugandan coffee and nibbling on quiche. Soon, I will get to writing a series of articles examining diet pills. (Oh, the glamour!) I will organize my music for camp this weekend, and if I have time, I will start outlining an article I’ve been meaning to submit to one of my favorite magazines. I don’t have a lot of hope of working on my novel today, but that’s okay, it can wait until next week.

I’ll have time.