Naked

I have been walking and running while pushing a jogger with at least one kid for almost three years. But today Aspen went down for a nap and Sage opted to stay home with dad and play blocks (ever the competition) so I went solo. First off, it took me only 30 seconds to get out of the house. Locate sunglasses, got it! Locate Ipod, got it! This is drastically different from the 20 minutes it usually takes me to dress the kids, fill sippy cups and pack enough snacks for a week's worth of camping. It felt really funny walking down the driveway with my hands completely free. I didn't even take the dog. I felt naked. I actually had the notion that people would look at me funny for going for a walk all by myself. Like, who walks by themself? I used to do it all the time before I had kids but there was nothing familiar about it this time. Don't get me wrong. It was an amazing run. I was only interrupted by myself to turn the Ipod volume down. No cries of, "I don't want to go on a walk!" Or, "more snacks please!" And yet, it was a bit lonely kind of boring. Won't even start to imagine what it will be like when the kids leave for college ...