Summer Laze-a-thon weekend
This weekend we took off for downtime an recuperation. The summer has flown by with every weekend and every weekday filled with work, projects, festivals, trips, and chores. We needed a period of enforced relaxation, particularly after L was attacked by a stray cat the prior week. Fortunately her dozens of lacerations are healing amazingly quickly.
A and D were our guests for the whole weekend. I think it's the first time in years that they've had enough energy to spend that many days in a row with us, and it was a wonderful reconnection time.
Most of the days were spent doing crafts, drinking tea in the outdoor tea pavilion, talking and talking and talking. A had some of her mischievous spark back and was the flirtatious and inquisitive A of past years. D finally looked relaxed and smiled more than I ever remember seeing; she even allowed a few portrait photos to be taken for Facebook (they turned out great -- she's more photogenic than she knows!). D kindly worked on my lower back and managed to relieve the strong ache I've had there for days; I wish I could be as effective in taking away her pains.
A good sign of how effective and worthwhile this weekend was: this past week I've slept poorly due to high stress, mostly from work. Friday night I had no restless sleep, having a stream of bad dreams about my stressors at work. Saturday night though I slept soundly (and extremely long -- 11 hours!) and dreamed about working new jobs and with new teams, and introducing my new co-workers/friends to my passion for tea.
Even last night I dreamed that A and D were still camping over, but in the morning they were sleeping in my son's room. When I asked why there were there they said an animal had gotten into their tent. I went out to check and saw rooting about their bedding for snacks was a low, stocky dog-like animal with reddish-black matted fur -- a tanuki! It then began following me about at my heels, hoping for snacks. Although I'm not really into the idea of totem animals, if I were to have a totem it would likely be the hedonistic but family-centric and loyal tanuki.
It was a weekend of spiritual renewal.
A and D were our guests for the whole weekend. I think it's the first time in years that they've had enough energy to spend that many days in a row with us, and it was a wonderful reconnection time.
Most of the days were spent doing crafts, drinking tea in the outdoor tea pavilion, talking and talking and talking. A had some of her mischievous spark back and was the flirtatious and inquisitive A of past years. D finally looked relaxed and smiled more than I ever remember seeing; she even allowed a few portrait photos to be taken for Facebook (they turned out great -- she's more photogenic than she knows!). D kindly worked on my lower back and managed to relieve the strong ache I've had there for days; I wish I could be as effective in taking away her pains.
A good sign of how effective and worthwhile this weekend was: this past week I've slept poorly due to high stress, mostly from work. Friday night I had no restless sleep, having a stream of bad dreams about my stressors at work. Saturday night though I slept soundly (and extremely long -- 11 hours!) and dreamed about working new jobs and with new teams, and introducing my new co-workers/friends to my passion for tea.
Even last night I dreamed that A and D were still camping over, but in the morning they were sleeping in my son's room. When I asked why there were there they said an animal had gotten into their tent. I went out to check and saw rooting about their bedding for snacks was a low, stocky dog-like animal with reddish-black matted fur -- a tanuki! It then began following me about at my heels, hoping for snacks. Although I'm not really into the idea of totem animals, if I were to have a totem it would likely be the hedonistic but family-centric and loyal tanuki.
It was a weekend of spiritual renewal.