So last Friday out of nowhere my husband's family offers to fly us all out to Texas for Thanksgiving. With our budget being fairly tight and me having all my holiday orders, we had said we just could not make it this year. After talking it over we decided that my husband and kids would fly out there and I would stay home.So yesterday we all woke up at 4am and by 6:15am I was back home. Just me and the dogs. I did what any reasonable mother would do that has not been alone in a good 2 years. I slept. I crawled into bed and slept. Oh sure, I set the alarm for 8am thinking I could get an early start on work, but shut that alarm off within the first second of it going off! I awoke later to a gorgeous day at 10am and got to it. I painted-uninterrupted mind you- for the next 7 hours. Bliss. Then I did my magazine layout revisions, did my newspaper ad resizes, caught up on emails, then took a break. Called my best friend for a long girl-talk session - again, uninterrupted! Finally I decided to go rent some movies so that I could watch anything I wanted to while I painted that night. I got The Hours. Wow. Heavy movie. It sure made me appreciate all that I have in my life that satisfies and stimulates me. Finally I went to bed. I woke up at a lovely 9am to the sound of rain outside my window. Lovely. I have no other plans except to get loads and loads of work done this week. No my priorities are not skewed, though it may seem it. With a husband that works from home and 2 children, you have to understand that alone time is, well, nonexistent. You take it when the opportunity arises. Sure I will miss them all this week, but I am so very grateful for this time alone to recharge my batteries and remember myself in all of this. Don't we all need to do that once in a while?