I set my mind to making shabbat really feel like shabbat this week. Which meant that we had candles lit by sunset (though not by official candle lighting time.) Dinner was fully prepared by that time, and the rest of the meals were either accounted for (lunch at shul), already made, or in the crockpot (which I did turn off on shabbat. But hey, it’s progress.) The computer was shut down and stayed shut down. There was a really nice family service, followed by a great kiddush, followed by a bunch of kids playing on the playground at the synagogue for a couple of hours. We had guests for seudah shilshit and made havdallah together.
Yes, I turned the lights off and on. I spoke on the phone once. I reheated soup. I listened to NPR. And my husband was gone half the day. But it felt more like shabbat than any other shabbat has felt for a long time. It was good. In fact, it was very good.