Silence

This last weekend my boss went on a silent retreat. He was delivered to a small cabin in the woods with no electricity or modern day amenities...including a loo. I told him that right there would not work for me since I am 35 days away from giving birth. I have to use the loo about every hour on the hour. I digressed...any how he was able to journal, hike, and had a basket of very simple foods delivered to him everyday. Upon first hearing about this adventure I thought he was insane. My initial thought was there was no way in hell I would be able to pull that off. First off, no talking! C'mon! Secondly, no computer, phone, ipod...yeah right! Thirdly, no children commanding orders of what they want to eat on an hourly basis. My ears may quit working without all of that chatter.
Fast forward to Saturday night. My husband insists I go meet my other pregnant friend Tiffany for dinner at the lakes and spend the night. We had a great girls night out, even had an n/a beer that ALMOST tricked me. We got caught up, gorged on nachos, and enjoyed Zorbaz's rooftop deck. As the night came to a close she was headed back to her hometown Perham and I thought I would do the same. I called Erik and could hear the boys fighting in the background."If I were you I would stay and enjoy the peace," was Erik's comment. I kept repenting saying that I didn't want to be by myself, it was too quiet, what was I going to do? Erik is one that enjoys the quiet, he can kick back with the best of them and quite frankly is something I have always been jealous and sometimes irritated by. Because with me it is really hard to slow down and simply turn off the noise. So I decided that he was right and I was going to take my stab at my own "silent retreat".
I headed over to the Cormorant Store and rented Blue Valentine with Ryan Gosling and Michelle Phillips, a movie that I would not be able to pay my sweet husband to watch. A total chic flick that I thought was all around good-very realistic when it comes to relationships. I also bought my breakfast for the next morning which consisted of a bran muffin and chocolate milk plus a big water because even those the Zorbaz nachos were delicious I was regretting them, I felt and looked like a gigantic water balloon. I have since decided no more salt the remainder of this pregnancy. Anyways.....I watched my movie and afterwards dove into a book I have been trying to finish for the last month.
Even thought my silent retreat wasn't a far reach from stimulation it was still a small vacation for me to shut off all the white noise and enjoy some much needed down time. In the morning I woke up early and read a little more. Ate my muffin, watched the sun come up, and took a morning nap without interruption. I thought about how right now is the silence before the storm that is soon to be here. Now is the time to slow down, enjoy the peace while we have it near us. The drive home was serene. I could drive through lakes country every day. I stepped out of the car into the garage and was immediately greeted with shrills of excitement. My time of peace was over but my mind was at peace which makes the day better for all of us. What I learned is sometimes you just need to find your own version of silence and enjoy it. Recharging the batteries is healthy. Find your silence and bask in it. I know I did.