Spontaneous Moments

If you've spent any time at all following this blog,

you know that we are big into

"family dinners".

Generally these are held on a Sunday evening.

They offer the perfect opportunity to connect as a family and take a deep breath before diving head first into a new week.

With the pace of life - I look forward to my lazy Sunday family dinners.

But life is shifting a bit.

A year ago - our home was bulging with 7 life forms.

All of my children, my husband, myself and the grandbaby were cohabitating.

Well - a year can make for a big change -

now there are three of us in the house.

Three of my children have moved out and moved on.

My youngest is not so young anymore and full of her own adventures.

And Mr. Man and I find ourselves sitting in an empty house on the weekends more often than not.

Now do not mistake this as a complaint.

I actually enjoy the quiet and the ability to do what I want, listen to what I want, have full control of the tv remote (like I actually watch tv) and to revel in this new found experience.

But I am finding it more and more difficult to gather the entire group of us around the table for a shared meal.

And the more difficult it is - the more I cherish it when it actually happens!

And I am particularly grateful for evenings like last night.

I needed to give something to my son. We talked and decided I would get it to him last night.

Then the conversation changed - if we were going to see each other, maybe we could actually have dinner.

OK - sure.

It was a Monday night - but why not?

Later I talked to daughter #3 and found she had no plans. Sure she would love dinner.

That invitation was then forwarded to her boyfriend.

Then my oldest daughter needed to drop something off and she came over with Little Man grandson.

All of a sudden the boring Monday evening turned into a spontaneous meal .

8 of us crowded around the table.

The menu was nothing special - just a simple meal.

But it was a good reminder to be open to the spontaneous moments.

To sit and talk and relax and share.

The conversation and laughter makes the chore of washing the dishes seem easy.

A little bit of perfection on a Monday night.

What are your favorite spontaneous moments? How do you embrace them?