My family and I are vacationing in separate places this week, this whole week, all week long.

They've been gone two hours.

Hour one: tidied up a bit--just a bit, still ignoring a colossal catastrophe of dishes in the kitchen
Hour two: worked hard in the goat yard moving heavy sopping loads of old soiled hay, pulling vines, etc.
Hour three: started laundry. plan to pop one bowl of popcorn and melt a half cup of butter on the side--for dipping each piece individually, considering a shot of B&B as well.

Perhaps I'll rewatch the second season of Downton Abby as I eat this lunch. So I can make a closer study of the clothing!

Suddenly sad to realize, if you are surfing the internet looking for an introvert's quiet solace but you're sitting in an empty place likely to remain empty, its not really solace anymore--its just kind of lame.

My children have been attachment parented by two people who never heard that term, had no clue there exists a supportive community of attachment parents in the world, and really didn't understand any more than a fierce need to not leave them alone as babies. We did this blind, by seat of our exhaustion, basically alone. And on this day, hugging them goodbye, knowing they are off to so much fun, I can't say I'm sorry for the first time alone I've had in 13 years. But I can say, I am so grateful for every moment I never left them.