The guilt is strong with this one

Thank you, friends, for all the encouraging words.

I honestly don't know how those pioneer women -- the women I admire so much -- perservered through so many trials and personal hardships with none of the comforts we take for granted.

Maybe that's why the Sabbath concept was so important to them: plan ahead, bake enough bread and get all the laundry done, because on the day of rest you won't be working. At all.

I wish you all the kind of Sabbath retreat I just returned from. My biggest decisions were hot breakfast or cold, Austen or Lessing, doze in the thin sunshine or by the fire.

Of course returning home was wonderful. I was ready by Friday morning to come home, I thought. But Saturday afternoon when I really did open my own front door I found that my husband had been organizing my office/craft room/school room for no other reason than to give me a retreat that requires no driving. My children were raking the mountains and mountains of leaves in the back yard. (And jumping in them a little.) The ponies trekked up from the barn to watch.

My next-door neighbor walked over to mention that the Little Einstein infant and toddler video series is recalled by Disney. I have no direct knowledge of the recall nor of the videos, but it was a thoughtful gesture that I'll pass on to y'all, in case you have those and want to look into it further.

What do you do to recharge your batteries?