Perfect Timing

Two weeks ago today an awesome thing happened. It was the day before we were set to head out to Park City for the annual L. family reunion. Eric was working late in an attempt to get caught up after our trip to Seattle and before he missed work again for a couple of days. I had worked that day and would be working again the next day. Then I'd head home, load up the stuff and head back out to Park City.

So Tuesday night was going to be busy. I needed to prepare a lunch that I was in charge of for our unit. (I opted to make a chicken and pasta salad in advance so I wouldn't have to remember all the ingredients or bother making it in the condo.) I needed to pack for myself and for Ike. I also needed to tidy my house, which was a total disaster, and put in a few more hours of work. Not to mention that I had a kid to take care of.

I was doing the best I could and managing to get a fair amount done, but when it all boiled down to it I knew I'd be returning to a messy house. Cleaning just wasn't going to happen.

After Ike was down I was upstairs working when there was an unexpected knock at the door. I ran down and found two young women from my ward, plus a leader, standing on my porch. They told me they were there to thank me for donating supplies to their Young Women camp that had taken place a few weeks prior. (They gather pretty much all of their cooking and food supplies by asking ward members to volunteer to supply one or two small items. I had provided 100 paper bowls. Nothing major.) Then they told me they would like to volunteer to help with any chores I might need done.

The proud part of me immediately thought, "Do NOT let them in your house! It's so embarrassing!" But the smart part of my brain knew that this was exactly what I needed. I let them come in, and they told me that I was the first person that had let them in to do some chores. (The others were either not home or declined the free labor.) They swept my kitchen floor, cleaned off my table and counters, picked up Ike's toys from all over everywhere and helped me move my frozen ginger from the ice cube trays to a plastic bag. They weren't huge chores, but the four of us were able to do them in a matter of minutes, and it was perfect timing.