This past weekend, I had an unusual amount of solitude. My husband was in Texas, celebrating his niece’s second birthday. He left Thursday morning and came back Sunday night. I had to work Thursday and Friday, but I toyed with various possibilities for the weekend. Should I spend Saturday wandering around Boston, dropping in and out of museums and cafes? Drive out to western MA and explore a few cute little towns? Hop a train to NYC for 36 hours?
As you might have guessed from the post title, I didn’t do any of those things.
I hibernated.
I slept – 11 hours on Friday night alone. I read, finishing three books and starting another one.
I did laundry, washed dishes, baked two batches of muffins on Saturday afternoon.
I watered my balcony garden and picked some fresh basil to sprinkle on top of my fried eggs. I knitted and wound yarn and binge-watched half of Veronica Mars, season 1. (I am officially hooked.) I began watching (and giggling at) the Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube after flying through the book version.
July has been an unusually social month: we had two sets of houseguests in a row, first a pair of friends and then my parents. Work has been alternately deep-summer-slow and totally crazy: my team is relocating soon, temporarily, to a building across the street while construction work happens in our office. I love having guests to stay, but it requires a lot of planning and energy and disruption of the usual routine. And after two weeks of that, I was exhausted.
For an overtaxed introvert, a hibernation weekend was the perfect cure.
I felt a wee bit guilty about “not taking advantage” of a free weekend and sunny summer weather, until I realized that even thinking about making plans was making me tired. I barely talked to anyone (except the ladies at the library and the checkout girl at the grocery store), and it was glorious. (Though I was ready for some social time by Sunday, and so happy to see the hubs when he flew back in at 11:30 Sunday night.)
Lesson learned (again): a weekend at home may not sound glamorous, but sometimes it’s exactly what I need.
Any fellow introverts/hibernators out there? When was the last time you indulged in some serious solitude?
cakes, tea and dreams 
The perfect weekend when adventure is not on the menu. I love times like that to recharge my batteries: quiet puttering, attending to gardens and simple chores, baking, knitting, and reading. Perfection!
Self-care is the perfect way to take advantage of a free weekend! It sounds like you did exactly what you needed to. Also, so glad you started Veronica Mars!!!
I totally understand that. We did some of that in Leipzig — which made me feel guilty for not exploring more — but after coming off a crazy month prior to leaving, I think we all needed it.