Restful Sunday?

I have always believed that Sunday should be a true day of rest and rejuvenation. When our children were young and I was at home full time, it was easy to use Saturday as our day to tackle chores that were done together. And then Sunday was our day to sleep in, hang out, play, read, trek down to the big park at the end of our street, BBQ and just be a family. Things shifted a bit when I was offered my current contract with our local hospice, after 20 years at home. I started out very part time. But after a few years, they asked me to come on board full time. And the bonus was, I could choose and work my hours the way I needed to, so I could still have time to juggle my family commitments and my work life. My husband came home at that time and was able to carve out his own career, while taking care of the house and life for all of us. Our weekends were a bit different, as I took on working on Saturdays, with Monday off, a schedule I still love today. At that time, anything we didn't get done on Saturday we could move to Monday and do those items together or he would add them to his list and get them done during the week. It worked well and we still had down time. Sundays were our rest days.

But then we decided it was time for an adventure. It was time to move, time to expand our space to better accommodate our extended family. And suddenly, our quiet and restful Sundays became the day we'd meet with our builder (often) and the day we'd use to shop for or scout out our choices for the build. It was a lot of  work and we got in to a habit of getting our work done either on Saturday night or I'd do it all on Mondays. By now, my dh had returned to the corporate world, after being home for over 6 years with our youngest, who turned 18 the year he went back. With a busy Sunday, every hour taken up with a tight schedule, and Mondays full of tasks, chores, lists and phone calls, I had NO down time. We vowed once we moved to the country that we'd "take back" our Sundays. For quite a while, we did just that but this Fall, with the prediction of an early Winter, we've found ourselves filling up our Sundays again. Extra yardwork, making sure the house is set for snow and cold, swapping out Summer tires for Winters, putting away Summer clothes, digging out our warm woolies, Thanksgiving, Halloween and then Christmas, plus 3 birthdays and 2 Christmas Concerts, all taking extra time. 

This Sunday was different. I had truly had enough of rushing around to get things done without any regard for my physical, emotional, spiritual and creative self. So starting on Friday, we broke down tasks, and decided that Sunday would be a "light" day. We got lots down yesterday and allowed ourselves a chance to sleep in a bit this morning. Then we went into town with our daughter and grandson, then home to do a couple of tasks in the garden, including cutting down some tree branches that were in the way for our new fence and gate. We put our back deck furniture under the porch, safe from the harshness of Winter. And swept the deck, laid out the skating rink liner, made 2 quiches for dinner and lunch tomorrow, and put away a load of laundry. We were done by 3ish and then after hot showers, I cozied up on the couch to read, write, explore ideas, watch a few shows and enjoy some quiet time. Dh and dd and gs are now watching the hockey game in the theatre room downstairs, dd is upstairs getting ready for her day tomorrow and I'm watching a show about Castles in Scotland. Lovely way to spend a cozy Sunday evening. This coming week is supposed to be very warm and sunny, after a week of intense fog and rain. We're hoping our gates and fences will go in by the end of the week while it's still nice out. Next weekend, we'll put our wicker furniture under the porch, along with the rain barrels and sweep off the veranda. Our garden will then be ready for Winter. Soon we'll start our Christmas decorating and write out our cards, finish up our shopping and plan our scrumptious dinner. But only tasks related to those that we love to do can spill over to Sundays, as long as we're in agreement. For now, I'd like to go back to having Sundays for cuddling. Cozy and restful, as they always should be.

What do your Sundays look like?

Are they a day of rest or full of activities?