con·tent

/kənˈtɛnt/
–adjective
1. satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.
2. British . agreeing; assenting.
3. Archaic . willing.

–verb (used with object)
4. to make content: These things content me.

–noun
5. the state or feeling of being contented; contentment: His content was threatened.
6. (in the British house of Lords) an affirmative vote or voter.

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Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French < Latin contentus:  satisfied, special use of past participle of continēre; (source)

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I know, another definition!? So soon!? Sorry. I just like them!

I am sitting here tonight, on the couch, next to Blake, in silence and this is all I can think. How content I feel.

Blake is editing a document for work and I was reading until I decided to waste time on the computer blog. I love nights like this. They are few and far between for several reasons. First, Blake almost never, ever brings work home. I can count maybe three times, including tonight, that it's happened. He also worked late, which is just as uncommon.

In case you are wondering now, what does this elusive husband do (I realized the other day that I don't talk about him much)? He is a chemical engineer and works for a company called WRPS (Washington River Protection Solutions) which is a company that contracts for the Hanford nuclear facility and the Department of Energy. He is part of an engineering group that is working toward nuclear waste clean up at the Hanford site. Hanford (in case you aren't from this area) is where they built the nuclear bombs for WWII and most of the 60,000 nuclear weapons for the Cold War. He isn't exposed to radiation because he works in town at a desk doing math and making the most amazing spreadsheets/graphs/models you've ever seen. Well, if you could see them that is. I've never actually seen them because it's 'CLASSIFIED'. I've never even seen his desk or been in his building because I don't have security clearance. They freely allow my baked goods to enter though, some double standard that is! Anyway. It's pretty interesting to hear about his projects and to hear about what they plan on doing to dispose of all those tons of seeping nuclear waste.

I digress. I got home before him and tidied up the house before I sat down to read. It's a treasured solitary moment when I can read in the evening. Usually, our evenings are filled with the noise of the TV. I could live without the TV, easily. Blake doesn't even want to consider the possibility. He thinks and reads too much at work, he says. Which is probably true. We canceled cable, our goal being that we'd watch less worthless TV, maybe less all together, and save money. Now we just stream Netflix and watch commercial free, back-to-back episodes of whatever series we choose. I think that now we watch more TV. Goal FAIL.

Tonight though, tonight was different. I read in the quiet living room until he came home and announced that a friend's apricot tree might be ripe (they are out of town for months, and we are kindly obliging to pick their fruit when it's ripe.. like we did with the cherries). The apricots weren't ripe but we were out of the house and feeling a little snacky, so we went on a mini-date to happy hour at Bob's Burger's & Brew (if you went to Western, you'll recognize this name. Yes, they've expanded east and are now in Kennewick). We hardly ever go out to eat, we almost never have a night of no TV, we rarely sit in silence (which I love) and I am so rarely ever content! What a randomly special night!

We returned home to the situation I described above. Pure contented bliss. Sitting here with my thoughts, no TV, no background noise, no outside world trying to paw it's way into my head. Just me and my thoughts and my love.

What a rarity but what a joy.