It’s always a little strange waking up in a totally empty house. Trevor was at the lake with friends, the girls were at my parents, and I couldn’t sleep in past eight. I made multiple Nespressos and curled up on the couch with three different books. In that one special spot, I could receive texts now and then so I felt a little less alone.

Eventually, even I get bored of reading, and it was astounding how lost I was for what to do with so much time and space. I made some brunch and sat outside, but the weather was chilly and cloudy, the promise of rain in the air. When I was in high school and college, obviously my favorite show was “Gilmore Girls”, and every few years or so, I’ll rewatch the series. The hints of fall and lack of WiFi were enough excuse to dive in, and thank heavens my parents gifted me the DVD box sets over several Christmases in my youth.

By mid-afternoon, the girls were on their way back to Evergreen with my parents. I dressed and went over to my brother’s for a bit, chatted with my mom and sister-in-law while my dad helped my brother with some wiring in their kitchen and the cousins made friendship bracelets. We went home just in time to meet the new Comcast guy, who not only fixed the internet, he installed a newer, faster modem, which I almost felt guilty celebrating after three days of tech-free epiphany.

We warmed leftovers for dinner and had a little girls’ night of our own, watching “Family Matters”, chatting, and eating ice cream, and even though these entries are starting to read like we eat a lot of treats and watch a lot of TV, what I want to remember is how “at-home” this week has felt, like unconsciously preparing for the start of school and letting ourselves indulge, guilt-free.