For most of the day yesterday, my internet connection was out. It was one of those freak things out of my control entirely and, after I realized that, I settled in for an afternoon and evening of hanging out with my family and not obsessively checking my e-mail.

And I realized a few things of import during that time:

For one thing, I need to listen to dance music more frequently. The Peanut enjoyed a zydeco CD that I brought back from New Orleans quite a bit. And we both had some serious fun dancing to it. More of that, please.

Reading quietly with your child in a chair for an hour requires many, many pauses for questions. And more questions. You may not get all the way through a story, but you do get to know a lot about what’s on her mind. Let’s call it an exercise in cultivating momma patience.

Homemade bread smells heavenly as it bakes. But it’s even more fun when no one can wait for it to cool once it comes out.

My tomatoes are not ripening fast enough, but the zucchini plants are rampant, mutant fiends.

The Torchwood five-parter that aired this week on BBC America made me weep. More than once. And the sick part is, I just love it when a science fiction story draws me so far into the character development that I can get to that point.

So, what has surprised you this week? Learn anything new? Have something you’d like to share? Do tell…