It’s my birthday week. It’s a thing in our family – kinda. It’s just a week where we try to make each day just a little special, different. We don’t worry (as much) about spending the money to order a meal in or have a fancy coffee. It’s just celebratory and fun.

Tonight, despite having our regular Wednesday date night respite care scheduled, I hadn’t made any specific plans. Until I stopped to take my 10 minute lunch break just before noon. Then, suddenly, I remembered Clyde’s Fine Diner has oysters and half off bottles of wine on Wednesday nights. Eric has been craving oysters for awhile – and hey, I love oysters too. I started getting really excited for the evening!

As best laid plans do, not even an hour later I heard from our provider (I am not mad or disappointed or anything about this, by the way) that she is sick today. Really unwell. She needs to rest and take care of herself and mend, of course. Plus, we don’t want that garbage in our house (Kiran and I are both exposed to it on the daily at our schools; we don’t need extra).

Still, there is disappointment. So we find ourselves in a typical evening routine. As I’m showering Kiran, trying to not feel the drudgery of the task, I remember the acoustics in his bathroom are perfect for a one-woman concert. And no one appreciates my singing like Kiran. He even joins in sometimes.

So, we make it fun. We make it special. Eric especially stepped up, as he is currently in the kitchen making me some fancy swordfish dish and opening a bottle of red for us to sip on with it.

It’s really not so disappointing, having an extra night at home with my family. Yes, I am doing laundry. Yes, we had to handle the daily caregiving tasks (my mom washed the syringes before she left and Eric blended/filled them for tomorrow, thank goodness!). Oh well. It’s cozy, the couch is comfy, the boy is already happily in bed and likely sleeping.

It is well with my soul.