Day 277 of The 365 Day Experiment. Epiphany in a Home Depot Parking Lot.

We have moments occur in our lives that are game changers.  

Like when I went out on my own and closed my first deal.  

Or when I found out I was pregnant after five years of trying. 

Or when I the lightbulb finally went off to the fact that I was on my own with two kids and I had to figure out a new way of balancing and making my life work.

And sometimes, like when you are pulling into the parking lot of a Home Depot, they hit too.

Tonight I parked my car in the Home Depot lot, and looked up at the store I had walked into so many times during the early years of my marriage during our "yeah, we were stupid enough to actually buy a three hundred year old farmhouse as our first place money pit" phase.  I dread going into this store now, not that I ever enjoyed it.  For me, this is a place of functional need.  If require paint to repaint Gianna's room - AGAIN - I head here.  And tonight, I have to select a new parts for shower so my plumber is ready to go when he arrives in the morning.  I go in and get out as quickly as possible.  As I witness the men browsing the aisles of power tools, or salivating over the ride-on lawn mowers that are symbolizing spring,  I feel as if I have just invaded their private time.  They look spooked to see a woman; not unlike if I caught them watching porn.  This is their private time away from their wives and families.  It's like them walking into my personal time shopping for shoes.  Some gender boundaries you just have to respect.  

But not tonight.  Tonight, in the parking lot of the Somerville Home Depot on my way home from work, I had a "OMG…I've got it." moment.  I think all the stuff that has been floating around in my head this week gelled together, and left me with my next big idea. More than an idea maybe.  

And no, I'm not sharing it.  It has only been just imagined.  And I will need to whiteboard it out this weekend and start testing it out with a few trusted advisors.  And if it's something, you'll know.  

And if it's nothing, that's ok too.  It's ok because for the first time in a very long time, I had a spontaneous, creative moment of sheer wow.  I both surprised and inspired myself.  And before I walked into the store, I spend ten minutes in my car with a notebook in my lap, still strapped into the front seat, sketching out what just fired off in my head.  

I didn't just walk into Home Depot.  I'm sure I was probably strutting like a peacock, riding the high of my thought.  I just figured out exactly how I am filling the empty spots of my weekend.