Turn it up even LOUDER!

(Just for fun, slipped in between the spiritual warfare posts, and a week earlier than normal.) 

You know those songs that you always have to play as loud as possible, and even louder if you could?

I've got some of those.  [To name only five, there's Numb from U2 and Chlorine, Downstairs, Choker, and Jumpsuit from Twenty One Pilots, my newest musical addiction.]  

And the only place I can play them as loud as I want is when I'm driving alone in the car.  That's MY time.  An introvert's dream vacation.  I can play my music as loud as I want and sing along... and there's no one to interrupt or complain.

Which reminds me: You parents know what we're supposed to do when kids complain about our music, right?

Yeah, that's right:

TURN IT UP EVEN LOUDER!

The ironic part is that they used to complain about me singing "Ice, Ice, Baby" which I know every word of, but now my 3rd son knows every word and sings along too... 

... and he loves it!  

Anyway, the other day I was at home, and I suddenly realized I was totally alone.  

Everyone else in my family - my husband and 4 young-adult sons - was gone at the same time, for the first time, since I-don't-know-when.  

25 years of raising kids...

decades of homeschooling...

always having someone in the house with me or right in my face (usually asking me "What's for dinner?" or "What's for breakfast?" or "Can I have a snack?")...

and I was finally standing in the kitchen listening to something I rarely hear: silence.  

Peace and quiet.

And so what did I do with my rare "me" time?  What's the one thing I wanted to do to celebrate this precious gift of a moment?

That's right: Play my music loud while I cleaned the kitchen.

And so I carefully picked which album I wanted, turned it up, sank my hands into a sink full of warm soapy water, and began scrubbing happily as I sang along to my music.  

Blissful freedom.  

Much-needed "me time".

For one and a half songs! 

Yep, about six minutes later, one of my sons came home.

Six minutes!  

My first taste of solitary freedom in a very long time lasted a whole six minutes!  

[Actually, now that I think about it, this is my second memorable taste of solitary freedom.  The first one, I ended up skewering my arm on a decorative "dagger" of a garden trellis about one minute after my family left for the store... and then I spent the rest of the time trying not to pass out while I wondered if I should go to the hospital for stitches.  (See #48 in this list of random facts about me.)]

Ah, the best laid plans...😖

But I really did enjoy it while I had it.  

It was a good song-and-a-half.