solitude

I CRAVE it. That moment when I am all alone in my house (well, not ALL alone, there is Claude, after all-who is doing great, and still getting a new cast every few days.) And it is pretty rare to be alone in my house for a whole night, where I can watch what I want on television, and eat when and what I want for dinner, and go to bed whenever I feel like it, with no responsibility to anyone (well, except Claude, who still needs his nightly meds). I can take up the entire queen size bed if I feel like it, and wake up in the middle of the night and turn on the light to read myself back to sleep. It is my idea of a little bit of heaven.

Don't get me wrong, I love being with my family and friends too. But there are those times when I just need to shut down, and regroup. So I don't necessarily let anyone KNOW that I am all by myself, as they may feel compelled to come and keep me company. And sometimes, I just want myself for company (well, except for Claude). And Sat. night was one of those nights.

Mike was away for his first enduro, he had packed up and headed out that afternoon for Huntersville. Charlie had been invited for a sleep over (thank you Eisenthals!) so after I dropped him off, I got a take-out order from Noodles and Company, poured a glass of wine, and watched a few episode of MI 5. Then I started watching "13 Going on 30" (something I would never have selected to watch, but it was nice and mindless while working on a scrapping project), until it was rudely interrupted by the sirens warning of a tornado. After the one that ripped through Hugo last week, it did make me think I should just grab my cat and head to the basement, but where we were, it wasn't even raining, or windy. So I turned on KARE 11 to decide if I really had to hang out in my yucky basement (another project for another day).

We did get rain, but nothing nasty, luckily. My new neighbor (who seems just delightful, and sweet, and has an eight year old son) was just leaving after working on her house all day. They have a lot to do before they can move in, since the house has been empty for over a year. I am so relieved that it will no longer be a duplex, and I am getting really good vibes about the whole thing. It will be an adjustment to have life next door again, but I am looking forward to it.

Back to the solitude thing-maybe some of us need it more than others. There are times when I get downright cranky when I can't be alone for a while. At least I recognize it, and know how to deal with it. And I am very lucky that I occasionally get the opportunity to relish it, and put a little Ella on the CD player, and open all the windows, and sit with a steaming cup of coffee and read the morning paper, with Claude curled up in my lap.

So here's hoping each of you get a little bit of solitude to carry you through...