There was the perfect blend of late summer sun and early autumn nip in the air today. I checked things off of the to-do list and drank a Bloody Mary in the middle of the afternoon and took time to do small and slow tasks like brushing the dog. We finished the evening with a much-needed date night and I fell in love with my husband all over again, which was also much-needed (for both parties). Some days, I think everything is broken and nobody cares. Other days, I think I cannot believe I get to live this life.
Tonight, we made plans to attend a play at the local museum’s outdoor theater. I scooped Ames up from soccer and arrived home just in time to pile into the Suburban with our rain and cold weather gear, just in case.
En route, we called to order our usual Friday bag of burgers but Miss Laura, is there any way we can eat there instead of grabbing it to-go? Miss Laura said she’d see what she could do, but they were pretty busy tonight.
It took awhile for our eyes to adjust to the dark and crowded bar. There was certainly no table available, but a group had just left one. I started to bus it, but when I brought the receipt and tip to Miss Laura, she smiled and pointed to the back of the restaurant. Got you all set up, she exclaimed in her booming, affectionate, all-consuming voice.
And there it was. A table reserved. Platters of burgers, fries, and onion rings, hot and ready and waiting for us.
After dinner, we drove a block down the street and enjoyed The Adventures of Robin Hood under a canopy of trees at the end of a twinkle-lit path. Faces familiar and not, on stage and off, cozy all around.
It is hard to describe how magical tonight was.
It’s been a long time since I had a middle schooler. I’m not crazy about the long hours and unknown and angst it brings us, but I just remembered I how much I love the sports. I’m a soccer mom again, waiting to pick up my kid from practice with seat heaters on and a book in my hand. I love it.
Got to write my first board bio…
Born and raised in the Carolinas, Rachael Kincaid visited Homer during college. While she fell in love with the town and hoped to return someday, her boyfriend told her there was no way he’d ever move. Her boyfriend became her husband, though, and fifteen years plus a handful of kids later, they moved to Homer. A nurse practitioner by trade, Rachael Kincaid is the Chief Nursing Officer at South Peninsula Hospital. She holds a doctorate in nursing from the Medical University of South Carolina. Her background ranges from psychiatric nursing to medical-surgical, but the bulk of her career has been in hospice and geriatrics. Rachael’s husband, Christopher, is the worship pastor at Church on the Rock. They share six kids, two of whom are grown and four of whom are growing up in Homer. In addition to evidence-based and holistic healthcare, Rachael loves talking about marriage and motherhood, skincare, the practice of tenacious gratitude, slow fashion, books, politics, pro basketball, and houseplants. She’s 5’2″. She drinks iced coffee every morning. She’s honored to serve on the board at Hospice of Homer.
I am equal parts color corrector under the eyes from a TikTok video and pants with a rise so high they could serve as a bra. I am thirty-six; hear me roar.
What’s wild is being the gal who isn’t afraid to say true things in front a crowd and also the gal terrified to have a hard convo in a one-on-one meeting. This is leadership?
Tonight, I got the Sunday scaries real bad. I have back-to-school whiplash and a sense of overwhelm with schedules and house projects and for someone who talks about how much she loves winter, the autumn nip in the air nearly sent me into a panic this evening. So I waited for Chris to come up from putting the kids to bed, dog harness in hand, and asked him to take us both on a walk. The walks always work. Chris may have tried a little too hard to make me talk it out, which he still has not learned is not the way, but we’ll get there. The walks always work.