We'll leave the light on for you!

My sister was here for a visit this weekend. She said she needed some, "down time to rest and relax." I think this is funny that anyone would consider coming to my home "down time," but hey, who am I to judge?

My sister is not married and has no children. She does have a puppy. Q-tip is his name. Cooper, Matthew, and I named him- that's a story for another day. Anyway, my sister and Q-tip came to my home, the land of boys of all ages, races, and creeds waltzing in and out without knocking, to engage in "down time."

I can tell you, we'll leave the light on for you, but we are no Red Roof Inn.

For example, on the night she arrived I had the pull-out couch ready for her. You know the one with the bar running across the small of your back. Everybody has one of those to offer your guest, right? I had it made up with a couple of sheets and a blanket. I put a pillow case on a couch pillow and figured she'd make herself at home.

She arrived late in the evening and being as I was recovering from "Kindergarten Fun Day," (another whole story!) I did not rise to greet her. Later I discovered that she arrived at our home before Matthew and cousin Clay's curfew. So, on her first night of rest and relaxation, she was roused from slumber a bit later in the night when they came in and engaged her for a time in conversation and tales of 17 year old boy frivolity.

In the morning- and I'm talking morning- 6:55am on a Saturday the dogs and Cooper woke Aunt Martha again. Everybody loves when Aunt Martha comes to visit.

I would like to say that the next night offered Aunt Martha a real opportunity for rest and relaxation. In some ways it probably did. I gave her Cooper's bed on night two. She remarked how comfy it was. I'll have to say it is a nice mattress. Even JR, our 55 pound lab mix, knows how sweet that mattress is. Yes, he crawled in the bed with Aunt Martha sometime in the night. She commented that she did not feel him jump on the bed. She only noted that after some point in the evening, she could no longer move her legs due to his body weight.

Oh the joys of staying with us! I told you we're no Red Roof Inn.

I'm not sure that Aunt Martha got much rest while visiting us, but I've been thinking that perhaps "up time" is the real "down time." Maybe it's the love that comes from teenagers who wake you in the late night or the excitement of a child who wakes you in the early morning or the feel of a dog who can't get enough of you that really rejuvenates. Maybe "down time" is really achieved if while you're "up" you're engaged in matters of the heart rather than in stuff that doesn't matter. Why else would Aunt Martha come to visit us for rest and relaxation?

Whatever her reasons, one thing is for sure: Red Roof or not, we'll continue to leave the light on for her.