Silence.

"Silence gives us a new way of looking at something."

-Mother Teresa

There's been a lot of activity in the last few weeks. From work to the houses to keeping up with life to the neverending "to do" lists that I find all over the house.

This was the weekend I ran out of steam.

After a nap on Friday afternoon, I crashed at about 6:45, and slept until 6 the next morning. I woke up to a full day -- my little cousin's first official football game (of which I heard he had 2 recovered fumbles! Congrats, Brandon!), Jonathan's aunt's birthday, working on the house in Tacoma, and the Mariners against the Yankees that night. It was to be a road trip day.

Until I fell back asleep around 9 am.

And slept until mid-afternoon. Jonathan decided to simply let me be. I needed the silence and the quiet to help recharge. My dreams right now are so vivid -- that often times sounds (in the real world) often cross over into my dreams and it makes for interesting dreaming. On Saturday, my dream were filled with crickets, coyotes, dogs, and getting bombed by a fighter plane (which ended up being a neighbor's dirt bike).

Needless to say, we missed everything that we had planned for Saturday. But I found silence. It was good.

Angus is turning into a little gymnast, and it took me a few days last week to be able to distinguish between bad berries in my stomach and his tossing and turning. I love the early quiet mornings that he and I have...where he reminds me not to eat before getting on the road to work, and lets me know that he likes it better when I stand and sit upright instead of bending over to pick things up. With my numb hands, I feel like I'm bending over all the time to pick up things I've dropped!

The sunrise earlier this week was simply beautiful on the way into work. I love how even on weekends, I am still up before the sunrise, and get to see it as it comes up and over Mt. Rainier.

One of the blessings of facing east.

Quiet and stillness and the dogs chilling on the deck and being calm. A rare find, indeed.

And just what was needed this weekend.