This weekend, Pete took the kids and set out on a little adventure. So it was just my dog Charlie and me for 2 1/2 days. I balanced my time between caring for the farm animals (and catching errant sheep/mending broken fences), working on my book, and knitting and crafting up a storm on Solstice gifts by the fire. Mostly the latter.

Honestly, I listened to more pod casts and watched more documentaries this weekend than I have in the past year or two combined. It's a rare treat and I binged a little. There are worse vices. (If you're looking for an inspiring movie I can't say enough good things about the film I Am. Just delightful.) 

I'll also confess also to eating cookies for breakfast not once, but twice. (In my defense there was also a hike in the woods on Saturday, so, balance.)

Silence is rare in my life. Between homeschooling and running a farm and a business, solo time is scarce. If I'm not with my kids or at work we're doing projects around here. Life is full and we rarely stop doing. So these two days of stillness? Of doing whatever I wanted whenever I wanted? Well, it was downright glorious.

And to those of you in the trenches with babies or young children, know that your time will come. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it will happen. I remember that constant feeling of just wanting to use the bathroom alone or sleep – just once! – right through the night without having to be the mama. And it felt like it would never come. I found a new normal, but lost myself a bit along the way.

And now suddenly – poof – here I am.

Alone for two days.

Knitting.

And eating cookies for breakfast without an ounce of guilt.