Barefoot, Naked, and in the Kitchen.
It was one of those days…
No… It had been one of those seasons!
Chalk full of multiple projects that had all reached the deadline and needed to be completed and it was down to the wire time. Our ministry was off to a great beginning which required conferences, webpage building and social media interactions not to mention phone calls to make, emails to send and newsletters to write.
In the midst of all the chaos, there was school – David finishing up his Masters of Divinity and I was completing my Psychology requirements. In the midst of my assignments there was the massive project for my husband’s MDiv. that required my research and formatting skills, and of course the extra couple of chapters for the polishing touches for my ministry’s training manual, teaching curriculum and student workbook –
And there were the in-between phone calls from my daughter that required no less than 60 minutes of “try to stay calm” mommy time that involved lengthy discussions on parenting, marriage, career coaching, finance 101 and “Mom, with these ingredients… what can I fix for dinner?”
Dinner?
I looked down at myself and realized I was still wearing my pink furry robe, purple fuzzy slippers and my hair had been tossed on to the top of my head, secured with a paper clip. The dog… who had slipped in unnoticed some time ago was now lying next to me in my home-office and she was covered… in something…
“What is that?” as I glanced at the trail of muck that lead from the dog down the hallway…
“Really!” I said to my snoring dog, “I just vacuumed!”
Or was that yesterday? I wondered…
“Oh, I don’t have time for this!” feeling the overwhelming urge to scream… but I knew the time was getting close for David to leave work and head home and I hadn’t even thought about dinner – let alone pulling out the vacuum, that I just knew had to be cleaned out before it could be used…
Ugh!
I made my way to the kitchen and looked at the clock. Holy cow! I only had 35 minutes before he was to arrive home which meant 5 minutes before I got his “I’m coming home” phone call and I had no idea what I was cooking for dinner – Yet another task that would require a more time than I had… especially since it would require cleaning the kitchen first…
“I wonder if the dishes in the dishwasher are clean or dirty?” I silently whispered to myself…
“Ugh,” I sighed, making my way to the hamburger laying in the sink that I had taken out freezer an hour earlier… Okay, maybe thr—four hours… earlier.
“How long can it stay there and still be good?” I thought, gazing at the reddish-brown lump of meat…
Ugh.
Sable, our 150 pound black Great Dane had made her way out of the office into the family room and was reclining on our white leather sofa. Tucked up nice and comfy with all the throw pillows under her dusty paws and dirt covered legs…
“Really?” I thought.
Vacuuming could take precious minutes that I simply did not have and to take something out of the freezer would take too long! So as I began prioritizing, I realized that I could not greet my husband like this… again…
I had to change clothes and do something with my hair before he walked through the door – So a quick shower had to be at the top of the list.
I continued through the family room into the bedroom, glancing over at the unmade bed and felt the overwhelming sense of frustration begin to well up inside me…
“Something’s gotta give,” I muttered.
No dinner, unmade bed, piles of laundry, dirty house, messy floors, disaster of a kitchen and an un-kept, unnerved, wiped out wife-
“Wow!” I thought, what a sight to come home to.
Glancing over at the unmade bed once more, I realized how exhausted I was and a fleeting thought of “Just one minute,” raced through my mind…. But I quickly realized that being horizontal at that moment would lead to hours and that simply would not solve my issues, and I was running out of time!
Knowing that my tired, hungry husband was due to call at the precise time I would be in mid-lather, I sent him a text:
“Don’t know what’s for dinner…. so, I’ll be barefoot, naked and in the kitchen, instead.”
…
Problem solved. 🙂
This excerpt is from Holly T. Ashley’s upcoming book: Barefoot, Naked, and in the Kitchen and all rights are reserved.
Sign up on her blog: “Oh Did I Type That Outloud?” for more excerpts, updates and information on release dates and book signings. Located at HollyTAshley.com
Follow Holly on Twitter: @MrsDavidAshley or her ministry feed: @DVRedemption and you can find her on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/hollytashleyblog
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Holly T. Ashley 
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Thank you Ms. Gloria! Love you bunches!