My Silly Sunday

When I've got nothing to do and nowhere to go, I want to do more. Maybe it's knowing I have to go into work on weekdays that keeps me in bed longer and hitting the snooze button. But on Sundays, the days I can sleep in and not rush myself out the door, I actually want to do things.
Saturdays are a little different. Usually I wake up at a reasonable time, make breakfast and coffee and watch Will & Grace reruns on DVR, then change into my workout clothes and Sean and I hit the gym or the park. Then we usually have some sort of plans. On Saturday nights that we don't have plans we pop in our next Netflix movie, I make (OK, Sean makes) some Campbell's tomato rice soup, I light some candles and we have a relaxing evening. Me with my pink fleece blanket and neck pillow, and Sean ... well, usually he falls asleep on the couch. I love our relaxing nights in. Although I love to put on some blush and high heels and hit the bar for a dirty martini, nights in are just as fun.
But there's something about Sundays. You've got a whole day ahead of you. It's that one last "stretch" before the work week begins again. So what do I do on a Sunday, especially a Sunday where Sean has left for a business trip? I like to wake up early. I've found in my "old age" I enjoy being up when the sun rises so I can water our deck and porch flowers before it gets too hot. Then I brew some Columbian dark roast coffee, or Starbucks Natural Fusions, and watch whatever I have on DVR: "Happily Divorced" or "Hot in Cleveland," or "Selling New York" or "Home by Novogratz." Maybe I'll wear my brand new ($6 I might add) bathrobe with pink roses on it. (Sipping coffee while wearing a silk bathrobe is oh-so-glamorous, isn't it now?)
This Sunday in particular I want to make time to read. It's been so long since I've actually read a novel for fun, and I was recently given two. Reading relaxes me and takes me to another place. Here's what I have arranged for myself today (and I actually wrote this in my planner): bring my books out on the deck, and set up a towel or camping chair, and read. Just read. In the sun. With some coffee. Just escape. Reading on my deck on a Sunday is about as close as I can get to a day at the beach.
What happens if it rains? It is August in Pennsylvania after all. Then I'll read inside with some coffee. Honeslty, reading a book while it rains outside also seems pretty blissful to me. The silky robe would be included in the rain scenario; if outside, obviously I wouldn't need it and would don some shorts and a tank instead.
When I was younger I used to hate Sundays. Sundays meant I had homework to do, or housework that I didn't get done earlier. Sundays were the day before Mondays. Sundays seemed so pointless: why have a weekend if a week will follow? Why have Sunday is Monday comes next? But then I discovered the joys of Sundays. Yes, I still work on Mondays, and yes, sometimes Sunday nights I am frantically doing laundry or preparing my lunch for the next day, or even stressing out about the next day's work assignments. So why this sudden peace of mind about Sundays? I think it's because I'm so satisfied in my life that even the day before a Monday couldn't get me down - that I am finding quiet little joys I never knew existed before.
Ever since I moved in with Sean I am more at peace with my schedule. I enjoy the little things more because I have someone to share them with. Our house is my home, and Sean is my family. Our schedules have become my life and I love it. Hour-long trips to Giant to buy our food for the week, and sorting out coupons before we do, my Skinny Cow ice cream and Sean's large plate of grapes and strawberries after a meal. My tomato rice soup (aforementioned). Our Saturday morning rituals. My new Sunday morning ritual. Our new Lenox Opal Innocence China sitting in the hutch, waiting to be used when we get married. Our mailboxes in the kitchen. The Weight Watchers weekly digests. The crisper in the fridge, always full of apples. Like 50 of them. I just realized, as I'm typing this, that it isn't Sundays I love so much; it's Sean.