Priorities and efficiencies

Early Saturday morning when hubby announced his plans to go over to a friend's house, dig up a 10-foot-tall willow tree, and transplant it into our yard, I knew I had been given the perfect opportunity to go shoe shopping with Caleb. Digging up trees and I do not get along. Digging is one of those tasks that sounds awfully exciting, catching a glimpse of what lies beneath, but it's actually not fun at all. Our Durham soil is hard and dry and uninviting. Plus, shovels leave ugly blisters on hands.

So, hubby was 100% okay with not having mine or Caleb's assistance in the matter - and we went on our merry way to DSW shoes (i.e. - paradise).  It felt as if only mere minutes had elapsed when I received a phone call.  Hubby. 

"Are you guys almost done? The tree is in the ground and I'm now on to my next task," he said nonchalantly.  Really?! Done???

"So let me get this straight," I questioned in disbelief. "You drove over to Chris's house, dug up the large willow tree, drove it back to our house, dug a 7-foot hole in our back yard, and finished planting the tree?"

"Yes," hubby said.

I hadn't even narrowed down my selection to two favorite shoes yet.  I had the one pair.  Yes, these little grey and white beauties were coming home with me.  

But it would take a great deal more time to select my second pair.  I had 5 shoe boxes sprawled on the floor in front of me, and I hadn't yet visited the pumps section.  DSW is a big place, and the shoe rack in my closet had some vacant spaces. 

To speed up the shoe hunt, I did what any good mother would do. I retrieved my cell phone from my purse, searched for Elmo video clips on YouTube, and handed the device to my son so that I could pay full attention to picking out the perfect second shoe.

And as Caleb's face washed over with satisfaction with Elmo close by, my eyes were drawn to a pair of shiny, sapphire jewel-tone, flexible ballet flats one shelf over.  That was that. We were ready to go.

Some of us are blessed with the gift of efficiency - like hubby and his ability to transform a yard in under an hour.  And some of us are not.  At least when it comes to shoes.