Time for Tea

We're back from a great looong weekend in Philly.  The boys loved seeing their Grandmom and Grandpop, and meeting lots of people at Thanksgiving on Saturday.  (note:  Hubby's family has always celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday....it's something that his grandmother started many years ago so you didn't have to choose who you'd spend Thursday with.  Now we'll continue it to honor her memory.   It's a very large family, with 53 people at dinner this year!  Since that's more people than anyone's house can hold, we rent a church hall and everything's paper and plastic, 'cause nobody wants to do THOSE holiday dishes!)  Will enjoyed playing with cousins and Sean loved that he could crawl in wide open spaces.

 On Sunday, we drove to Lansdowne (about thirty minutes away) to visit with some old friends, Scott and Jen.  (Oh my, another Scott and Jen!)  This time it's Scott that's Brian's friend from HS and his wife Jen, and they have two girls, M and K.  (not their real names, obviously.  But what a timesaver...)    We had a lovely lunch on Sunday with grilled bacon, cheese and veggie sandwiches and squash and apple soup.  (I asked for the soup recipe, it is definitely Blue Plate material!)  After lunch we went into their "adult" living room to talk some more.  Adult, as in, there are no toys, no television with Dora the Explorer blaring, just furniture, books and a fireplace. Wow!  I didn't know you could do that!  :)  After some more catching up, Jen asked if we would like some pumpkin cake and tea.  Mmmm....pumpkin cake.

I had mentioned earlier in the conversation about Brian and I trying out tea at night, so at least there's something after dinner instead of ice cream.  Tea is a funny thing for me, I usually only like it when I'm sick.  After all, nothing feels better like tea and honey when you have a sore throat.  But I've been trying out different kinds and looking for something that I really like.  Then Jen said something interesting, "what I really like is the ritual of tea."  And right there in their living room, I finally got it.  Sitting in my chair, at a table with friends, children playing happily in the other "kid" living room, drinking Chai tea, inhaling the spices, I started to relax.  My shoulders dropped from around my ears and loosened up.  I finally understand, tea drinkers!  Yes, some of you drink it as your morning beverage, but I understand it as a ritual.  It's very calming.  One of my favorite blogs, The Yarn Harlot, wrote this post  about her tea drinking and what it does for her sanity.

So today, around 3pm, I'm going to briefly ignore the fact that I have financial reports to tend to, waiting list letters to mail and recertification packets to put together.  I'm going to put off the complaining tenants bickering about each other making noise.  I'm going to sidestep the conversation with the woman who thinks it's OK to caulk her windows shut.  (don't ask!)  I'm going to go into the kitchen, make a cup of tea and sit at my desk for even two minutes and enjoy my tea.  And I hope I'll feel like a better person for it.  I know that's a lot to expect from a cup of tea, but if done regularly I think it's up to the challenge.