An adventure
The things you can do when your kids are older.
I have been a mother my entire adult life (okay, not my entire adult life, but 99% of it).
Our oldest son was born when I was a month shy of 20 years old. Over the next ten years, we went on to have three more boys. So, while many of my peers were partying and living it up in their 20s, I was cleaning up puke and changing (a ton of) diapers. Making dinner every single night. Packing lunch boxes, washing clothes, and getting bubble gum out of carpets.
Don’t get me wrong—I wouldn’t change a moment of it for the whole world.
But now that the boys are older, aging from 21-14, it’s … nice.
Case in point: I just got home from a week of traveling. My husband and I went to South Carolina and hooked up with his parents and one of his sisters and her family. We spent a few days with them on the beach. Then, instead of heading home, we thought, ‘Why not drive down to Florida and hang out there for a couple of days?’
So, we did.
We visited different beaches, checked out a few islands, and ate lots of pizza. We laughed and sang and relaxed and felt no hurry to get home. For the first time in our lives.
Now we’re home.
It’s back to cleaning up after the dogs, making dinner, doing laundry and tripping over shoes in the entryway. But there’s a sweetness to it this morning—an appreciation for the chaos after not having it for a week.
Maybe being gone was a glimpse into the future when the boys aren’t around as much and don’t need me as often. And while that was good for a week, I’m unsure if I’m ready to have that for the rest of my life.
While we were gone, I did get a lot of things done. I’ve been working on Flame, Foxx Carmichael’s book, that comes out on October 12th. Preorder here. I also published the audiobook for More Than I Could, a grumpy/sunshine single dad/nanny romance. The book came out earlier this year. The audio, performed by Maxine Mitchell and Tor Thom, is so good. I’m giddy with excitement.
If you need a listen, check it out. Or listen to The Proposal, my latest release. Readers have been dying over Renn (and, I have to admit, he’s one of my favorite Locke heroes to date!).
I’m off to work on Flame. I’ll leave you with a few pictures from my trip.
Adriana xo
❤️❤️❤️