Two blissful days and nights

I have had the last two days all to myself here at home, and have had an absolutely lovely time. James is working in London, and my parents graciously took both boys for two days so that I could catch up on some sleep, socialization and solitude.

First and most importantly, I got my first two nights of eight hours of sleep in more than a year and a half. I stretched across the bed and snuggled into my pillows to fall asleep, and then lied in bed lazily when I woke to the sun's rays streaming into the room. Yesterday I took a luxuriously long shower - this morning the water on our street was turned off, so no such luck. But one uninterrupted shower is more than I've had in a long time!

Yesterday morning I hosted a brunch for some of my friends. I created a delightful spread that included a ham and broccoli strata, fresh fruit and dip, homemade croissants with either chocolate or cinnamon sugar inside, both orange pineapple and strawberry banana smoothies. My friends also added a few treats of their own and altogether we had a feast! I had been hoping to eat out on our deck, which looks over the backyard and opens into the playroom (easy kid supervision), however yesterday was the only day this entire week that it rained! And not only did it rain, it was the biggest storm of the season! The rain came down in buckets just half an hour before my guests arrived, sending thunderous claps in utter defiance to my pleadings to hold out until after the brunch. It did clear up - as the girls were putting their coats on! Ah well. We lounged around in the living room and still had a marvelous time.

After making a pit stop to nurse Caleb, I spent the afternoon window shopping for ideas to decorate our bedroom. For our fifth wedding anniversary, we decided that we would spend some time and money on making our bedroom more of a romantic retreat. Right now it's really just a mishmash of old and broken furniture, a tired old comforter, and altogether too much blue! The ideas are still bubbling in my head, but I hope to be finished sometime in August.

Last night my sister and I went to see the film "Mamma Mia!", which was funny, touching, and the perfect movie to see while James was away. We had a great time out together.

This morning I went antiquing. I have never nosed in Antique shops before, but let me tell you, I am never buying furniture from a massive box store again! Be gone laminate and veneer and particle board! Actually, one of the shops I was in also sells hand crafted antique replicas, which, to be honest, is more in our price range. In fact, most of the hand crafted furniture pieces were less expensive than their big box store counterparts.

After that I went over to Home Depot, which is bast becoming my favourite store. I have discovered I have a huge love for wood working. I'm still working on the fence, but I did build a stair for the deck on Monday, and next I'm going to build a headboard for our bed. So I wandered up and down the aisles, fingering the wood and filling my head with possibilities.

This afternoon was devoted to my beloved fence. It's really coming along well. With Colin giving up naps I rarely find time to work much on it. So this afternoon my dad came up with some of his tools and we worked at some of the more difficult angles that needed sawing. We were really motoring until...we have one post we can't get into the ground. There is about 4 or 5 feet of thick roots from an old tree right where we need a post to go! We spent an hour trying different things, with no luck. I'm still not sure what the answer is...but we did get a lot finished. Even though I have powered along for over a month all on my own, there were some aspects that needed a second set of hands, and I'm grateful my dad could lend his. We were in our element.

And then...I picked up my tired worn-out boys, who had way too much fun with my parents and my sister. Most surprisingly, Caleb slept 11pm to 7am last night, and Colin took long naps both days! I'm not sure what my mom's secret is, but I'm hoping they continue this pattern for me!

And so ends my two blissful days and nights. I love my family, I love being a mom. But as both an artist and an introvert, I sure do need some time to myself, to unwind and recharge.

So here we go again...