Luxury (noun) :a pleasure out of the ordinary allowed to oneself
-- Webster's Dictionary

So that's how Webster's defines luxury. My own definition of luxury has changed through the years. Currently, I can use this morning as a good way of defining luxury. Today I went to my annual exam. I am willing to guess that I amongst a very small minority of women in the U.S. who rank their pap smear as a morning of luxury, but it is when you're getting your first pap smear in 6 years without kids coming along for the ride.

Last year, I had Christopher and Cate both with me, and I distinctly remember having Christopher look out the window at the airplanes at Merrill Field as a way of keeping his eyes averted. Comparatively, getting a pap smear today alone, with the sole, private company of my Ob/Gyn ranks up there as a pretty luxurious and wonderful thing. I even ended up with a few minutes between the appointment and when I needed to pick up Cate at school -- enough time to pay a quick visit to my favorite clothing store (Value Village), pick out a few pairs of pants that actually fit me, and try them on by myself, without kids trying to crawl out underneath the dressing room stall door. I have an almost new wardrobe (for $31). Luxury!