The Quiet Time

It's 6:42am.
The house is quiet.
Nobody is awake except the dogs and me.
All I hear is the "sssshhhhh" sound of Mara's white noise machine coming over the baby monitor.  The dogs have been let out into the backyard. The light is soft, the harsh sun is not yet above the tree line.  

This is the quiet time of day.  It will not come again until the same time tomorrow.  Even after Mara goes to bed at night, it's not quiet because the dogs are romping around, the dishwasher is usually running, Corky is playing the TV, and I'm usually studying. 

This is my "me time".  My time to regroup, recharge and gear up for the day.  I drink my coffee in peace.  Even if I do get another cup of coffee (or five), I'm usually chugging it because there are 5 other things needing my attention right then.  But this cup, I can savor it, enjoy it, sometimes it even cools off and I have to zap it in the microwave!  When I drink coffee later, it usually scalds my tongue because I'm just trying to get it down my throat in a hurry for the caffeine kick.

Right now, the house is in a state of controlled chaos.  Mara's toys have all been tossed into a cardboard box that came from Costco, that she's been using as a race car.  Eventually, if I have the time, I'll put them all away in the bins where they belong but for now at least they're out of the way so nobody will trip on them and no dogs will chew them to pieces.  The dishes in the kitchen need tending to, there are crayons all over the table, a pile of laundry on the landing of the stairs awaiting the thrill of the spin cycle.  A group  of chicken breasts patiently waits on the top shelf of the fridge, no doubt wondering whether they'll be paired with BBQ sauce or salsa in the crockpot.

But I'm not going to do any of those things right now.

Right now I'm going to sit here, drink my coffee and catch up on my favorite blogs.  Sure, there are many other things I could (and maybe should) be doing but this moment is for my sanity, dammit, and that's more important than any other thing I could be doing right this second.