I'm putting myself in Time Out.

I realized last Friday afternoon (which is the time I typically start pulling my hair out and screaming like a banshee) that I haven't been completely and utterly away from my children in over a month. With having my beasties with me for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the last month (including 2 weeks of said month when I was husband-less), needless to say, I've been feeling a bit more stressed than normal. Sounds like I'm due for a time out.

I don't know about y'all, but for me, a month without alone time is a really. long. time. Whether for church meetings, dessert with a girlfriend, or a craft fair with my mom and sisters, I usually leave the little ones with my husband at least once a week. I'm one those girls who really, truly value their Me Time. I'll be honest, some days, I live for it.

As I normally don't neglect this facet of my life, I was pretty shocked to realize how long it'd been since I'd gotten away, but when I got down to it, I realized it was, in large part, due to my recent move. As I'm naturally a social creature, 99% of previous Me Time was spent with someone else. Move me away from all of my "someone else"s, and I suddenly forget to have some oh-so-necessary alone time. Soon after I realized my lack of childless activities I informed Spencer that sometime in the upcoming week, I was having a kid-free evening. So...now that I have a time-out on the schedule, what's a girl to do? It's been so long since my alone time was actually spent, well, alone, that I seem to have forgotten how. What do you do when you have an evening (or afternoon or morning) all to yourself? Eat chocolates while sitting in the car with a romance novel? Go shopping? Hit on younger men? (I'm joking, really. REALLY!)

Spill it, ladies.

"If you give your husband a PS3"

If you give your husband a Playstation 3, he will want Rock Band and all the equipment that comes with it. After he sets everything up, he will invite his friends over to play. You will make a plate of cookise for them. They will play for a few hours. After exhausting every song on the playlist, your husband will realize he is tired. He will want to settle down on the couch and watch a movie. This will mean he needs a Blue-ray DVD. Once the Blue-ray DVD is playing, he will exclaim at the poor quality image that your regular old TV puts out, which means he will want an HDTV. So, you will buy a 51 inch HD Flat-screen TV and surround sound. Once everything has been installed he will turn on the TV and start flipping through the channels, which will make him realize you need HD channels. You will call the cable company and subscribe for the HD package. Your husband will settle down in his Lazy-boy recliner with a universal remote and happily watch the ESPN-HD channel. While watching ESPN-HD a commercial will come on for Rock Band, which will remind him that he wants to play it. He will invite his friends over, and chances are if he invites his friends over, he will want you to make some cookies...