I’ve written before about the accordion of my life. With six kids, two of whom are in the army and three of whom dorm during the week, there is always someone coming or going. The house tends to fill, fill, fill on Friday and then empty, empty, empty for a bit on Sunday. The steadies are me, Josh and Yakir.

Well, until Josh flies for work and Yakir goes on a three day overnight with school.

And suddenly, the accordion is very, very small and includes….just me!

I mentioned at work that I would have 1-2 nights completely to myself in the house. I could hear the sighs from the other working moms, particularly those with many little feet in their houses. And I understood. I’ve been there.

So when it was time to think about what I wanted to do with this time, it became almost too much. How do you decide, after 23 years of constant motion and noise, what to do with yourself in an empty house?

And I decided that my goal with these precious hours would be to pamper myself. Yes, there was still grocery shopping to do for the anticipated masses coming home this weekend, and bills to pay and gas to fill (or cars to charge) but it could all wait. And it was fun to think of ways to pamper myself. I hope this idea allows some of you to dream about ways to nurture your soul, your spirit and your body. So here, in a nutshell, is what I did with my two afternoons (after work) and one night.

Of course I got my nails done. It’s a bit of a coincidence that I happened to have a nail appointment (booked three weeks ago) during this period, but we will take it for the nurturing win.

I went to the new secondhand store in the next town over and bought myself four dresses for a total of 20 shekel ($5.5)! I love when new services open in our area and it was fun to have the time and opportunity to check it out. And to wear a cute new dress to work!

Next, I got a haircut…and gave myself a facial. I happen to really enjoy putting those ready-made face masks on and relaxing for 20 minutes with a book. But I don’t get around to doing them often – so this was fun.

Of course I gave myself oodles of time to read and I enjoyed relaxing on the couch and in bed with my latest book.

While out and about both days, I stopped to buy a few soldiers some treats and I brought a few cakes over to the Pina Chama; because one of my favorite ways to nurture myself is to nurture those who protect me each day.

And finally, I splurged on a sushi dinner for myself as I finished Masechet Sotah and joined with hundreds of other learners around the world for the siyum with Hadran (celebration for finishing a section of the Gemara). I couldn’t think of a more fun way to finish off my self-pampering time!

Well, except for the sushi that I got to buy for one of my soldiers who came home around midnight. I left a fun treat in the refrigerator for him!

And with that, my one-woman party ended. A great time was had by all (well, by me!) Until next time….