Sunday, December 19, 2010

Hot Tea on a Cold Rainy Day




It's been so long since I've awaken to a quiet house; it's a little startling.

My sons spent the night at a friend's house...apparently movies, video games and hot cider sounded better across the street than upstairs in their own house, I guess. Hubby and I tried desperately to stay up and watch a movie past 9 o'clock, but that was futile. He was slightly disgruntled to hear himself call the two of us "old fogies" at the age of 42 years old. As the one who gets up for work daily at 4am, I could barely hear his voice through my own snoring.

We woke up early this morning, feeling rested and seeking the adventure of the "good old days." The plan? A a little morning "mommy/daddy time," shower then off to the coffee house to read the paper over a hot cup of coffee and a danish. As I looked out the window at the gray skies and pouring rain, my response was to pull the heated blanket over me and go back to sleep. He mused, "wouldn't it be heavenly to stay in bed all day, making love, feeding each other and watching football?" Uh, yea babe, sounds divine! He did in fact skip off to grab coffee, banana bread and then headed to the gym to run a couple of miles before returning to his favorite spot on the couch to yes, watch football all day.

Our boys came home briefly, to make a quick lunch and change into yet another set of dry clothes. Seems they spent the entire day splashing, sliding and tromping through the muddy wash and its rising creek that forms when it rains.

In a moment of sheer giddiness, I dug out my clip-on reading light and snuggled into my comfy chair with a hot cup of Yogi Organic Tea and this month's Good Housekeeping magazine. My favorite article talked about the benefits of mindfulness on stress-relief, keeping of resolutions and peace of mind. Ah, yes, mindfulness is great stuff.

But today, mindLESSness is high on my list too! I made a big pot of homemade chicken stew with carrots and celery, a pot of jasmine rice, we have a dozen fire logs and the online movies are queued up for family time. For 350 days of the year, life in Southern California is sunny, sparkly and full of constant birdsong. For the two weeks that we get rain, it's a quiet wonderland...beckoning me to savor it by gazing out my french doors, good book in hand, with a delicious cup of hot tea.

MiChelle Jeneen
Energy Skills Educator
www.spiritrefreshed.blogspot.com

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