I'm a spaz by nature, and it's really hard for me to relax. I’ve always credited my husband, for making me stop and smell the roses, but last night the roles were reversed. We've both been really busy, and have worked really hard this week, and from the moment I left work yesterday, I was determined to take the night off. Unfortunately, I couldn't escape all chores. I helped Cody mow grass(until I was stung by a rabid sweat bee on my elbow, hey it hurt, okay). Before, I let Cody finish the mowing,I asked him to put together the grill we got him for Father's Day. He was in full on working mode, and looked at me like I'd just asked him cartwheel naked down Main St.

Cody: Why don't you have Maddie fry them?
Me: Because she's an 11 year old girl, and I don't feel comfortable having her "fry" stuff.
Cody: Why don't you go fry them, then?
Me: Because I want to sit around the grill and drink beer.
Cody: Why didn't you just say so?

I didn't say it took much effort convincing the man to stop and smell the roses, I simply said roles were reversed.

(By the way, LOVE the new grill. It's electric, and while it took some convincing from my brother to go this route, it was great advice. No charcoal, no lighter fluid, no gas tank, you plug it in, and voila perfectly grilled hamburgers. Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I will go as far to say, while I don't let my 11 year old "fry", I'd consider letting her grill electric. And am I allowed to put all of the stuff I just wrote in parenthesis like I just did?)

After our wonderful meal of grilled hamburgers, corn on the cob, homemade macaroni and cheese, and fried potatoes (while it doesn't take much for Cody to stop and smell the roses, it doesn't take much to get me back in Angie spaz mode, either)Cody suggested we take a four-wheeler ride. It was right around dusk, and while my head was screaming:” KID’S NEED A BATH, CLEAN UP THE KITCHEN, MADDIE NEEDS TO PRACTICE PITCHING!!!" my heart said,” Why not?" Cody hooked up the four-wheeler trailer, and put a hay bale in it, so the kid's could have a mock-hayride. The humidity had gone down a bit, and it felt like such a perfect night. Scratch that, it was a perfect night, by my definition.

While it was a bit chaotic with baths to give and kitchen’s to clean, it was worthwhile bonding time. The kid’s didn’t bicker, just took in nature. Maddie even put her cell phone away, which I’d thought was a permanent fixture to her thumbs. Hopefully, one day the kids will look back on nights we shared together like this one, and say to their children, “Those were the days”.