I’m just back from Toronto for the second time in two weeks.  Well, I actually drove home on Sunday afternoon but I haven’t mentally restored myself to reality until just now!  My week filled with photo shoots has been delayed again because of {you guessed it…} the rain, which has given me a bit of an extended break with my boy – albeit an indoor break!! I’ve also decided that my SUV and I need to take a little break from each other…it’s not her, it’s me!  We’ve been on the road a lot lately and I’m beginning to feel “in motion” even when I’m not…which is never a good sign!

I was originally in Toronto this past weekend to meet up with Yanying and Adam {more on them tomorrow!}, whose wedding I’ll be photographing here in Ottawa later this summer.  Since that was my only shoot scheduled for this trip, I decided that maybe it was time for my first night away from my men!  Believe it or not, in fourteen months, I’ve never spent a night away from Hudson.  I’ve either been just down the hall from him, or curled up in a chair with him in my arms…and frankly, this mommy needed a little breather!

It’s been a rough month and my soul has felt tired.  Between various things going on in our life, the fact that we haven’t seen the sun in – oh, I don’t know…four months – and the recent news that we’d been dealing with…the cloudy weather seems to have left the parameters of the outside world and made a significant attempt to reside in the forefront of my mind.  I almost even considered changing my Toronto plans for another time but my husband {aka. my voice of reason!} felt that, all considering, it might be good for me to take some space – both mentally and physically – from everything that had been going on in our world.  So I packed a bag, called a few family and friends, grabbed my camera, and headed…away.

It turns out that forty-eight hours of hitting the “mommy pause button” was exactly what I needed.  And I suppose after fourteen months, it may even have been a bit overdue.  I enjoyed a much needed visit with some family…had an amazing engagement shoot in the rain…a {wait for it…} three hour dinner with one of my most favourite friends in the entire world {who makes me laugh until my stomach hurts!}…and then, just when I thought it couldn’t get any better…I went up to my hotel room, took a long bath, ordered room service and ate the most delicious chocolate ice cream in a king size bed all to myself.  I’m not going to lie…I was a pretty happy girl!

After a long and much needed sleep, I packed my things back up, sat in a Starbucks with my morning coffee and my journal…then slowly made my way back home to Ottawa.  It poured rain the entire drive back {surprise, surprise!}, but I just listened to some jazz and enjoyed the uncrowded highways.

Coming home was nice!  I had only been away a little over thirty-six hours but that small break – my little reprieve from being a mom – was just enough to help revive my spirits!  If I had known that’s what I had needed, I probably would have done it a long time ago!  I certainly think that this will become an annual affair…me and my king size bed!

So now I’m home.  A little more rested and plenty more ready for tackling my newly walking son and all of the hilarity that inevitably follows!  And hopefully, one day, the rain will decide to stop falling and I can begin shooting again.  In the meantime though, I’m keeping my ark building tools close within reach…it appears that some of the neighborhood kids have spotted animals walking two by two down the street!

So what did I learn from my weekend away?  Take.A.Break.  Few things soothe a tired soul like good conversation with friends or a meal that’s not spent picking up Cheerios off the floor.  A night without a baby monitor and a soak without bath toys may be just the answer.  Or at least in my case it is!  Ultimately, it turns out that the very best thing that I could do as a mother…is to spend some time not being one for a little while!!!