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This post is part of my 2022 Word Project. You can read what that’s about here.

Monday, April 24, 2023
7:23pm

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

No reason, just that it was Monday for about the 19th time this month, and both Saturday and Sunday seem to have left the calendar entirely.

The problem with having fun is that you want to keep having it.

I decided to sleep in, which meant 7, at which point I got up, flung myself on the yoga mat and grumbled my way through a bunch of planks.

Things did not improve. Technology did what technology does, which is work on days that don’t end in a “y” and do what it feels like the rest of the time. Every task exploded into twelve more. You know. Monday.

I decided to write down everything I did today because by 9am when I had no idea where the past two hours had gone and I hadn’t even had time to get on the bike, I knew it was going to be one of those days.

By the end, it felt like I had gotten nothing done. But my written list proved me wrong. I had gotten a lot done, about 2,761 things to be exact, all minutia but necessary. So I felt pretty good about that, and even better about the decision to write them down.

That’s why, as the day comes to a close, I am choosing gratitude. It’s the antidote to a crap day and a better approach than yelling at Ralph that I’m not yelling and everything is fine!!!

I am grateful.

For the biscuits I made for dinner, which weren’t on the menu plan but when you’re having a Monday, sometimes the only solution is to also have a biscuit. They came out fantastic.

For a few quiet minutes to sit on the couch eating said biscuits with Ralph and watching TV with nothing else to do.

For the treadmill at my desk that is making sure I can work the biscuits off.

For brothers who listen to me text-rant when it’s Monday, and always tell me they totally get it.

For the people who work at Publix who always ask me if I need help carrying my groceries to the car, even though I think I look fairly capable and the person asking is always a tiny 90 year old woman.

For an entire refrigerator shelf full of fresh strawberries from the Farmers Market, because sometimes it’s the thing I look forward to most in a day.

For being able to call my mother and talk about bread recipes and puzzles any time of the day.

For having a husband who doesn’t want me to die and buys me respirators to prove it. And also fun things like cool journals so I can write out my frustrations and accomplishments.

For time to sit outside on the balcony after all the construction has stopped for the day, and enjoy a cup of tea with my journaling. Or maybe a bourbon. If it’s Monday.

For a basket full of Hello Kitties that cheer me up.

Are you feeling better yet? I am.

Rapid gratitude to conclude this exercise: for a wall of cocktail ingredients and the luxury of adding to them whenever I want, for the pink puffs of flowers on the trees and the dive-bombing birds that entertain me outside the window, for clouds and pistachios and bookmarks and scented candles and warm sun and basil plants. For friends and family and people who will read this all the way to the end no matter what I say. For that, and you, I am grateful.

Photo: a gratitude-inspiring collection of new tea that arrived just in time for a foray onto the balcony. With some chocolate.