Why Today was the Best Day Ever

Joel and I watch this guy every night.

So I think today has been one of the best days in a long time. I'm going to explain why but first let me get you the back story. At my job, we only come together for staff meetings once a month. We are in 13 different locations (as satellite counselors) and only really get to see each other at our monthly staff meetings. These meetings are 3 hours away, on Eastern Time, and start at 8:30 in the morning. I have gotten to a point in my life (well, I got there about 7 years ago) where I don't sleep well in foreign places. You see, it's about comfortability. If there's something that makes me comfortable--my own bed, Joel, a belly full of wine--I will sleep like a baby. Without one or more of those things, I stay up all night looking around, shifting, and generally being crazy all night long. So, instead of going up the night before and getting a hotel room like a normal person, I have taken to getting up at the butt crack of dawn and driving to Frankfort before each staff meeting.

So last night, I knew I had to get up early today. Joel made an awesome dinner, I took a short walk, then we laid down to our nightly TV--CBS evening news and The Daily Show. A few minutes into the news, I hear the faint sound of Joel's sleep breath. (This is something he and CD both do. They take long inhales and then blow the air out so quickly and forcefully that their cheeks puff out and their bottom lips quiver. I'm not kidding, they both do it, right before they fall into a deep sleep.) I realize a few minutes later that he has fallen asleep completely. I look at the clock. 7:35. This is not uncommon.

I know I have to get up really early so I will myself to start thinking about going to sleep and decide I probably can after a few minutes of reading. I open blogger and start in on my blogs. Two hours later, still reading, I feel Joel stirring, and he's back up again. Ready to watch a movie. I oblige. Finally, at 11:30-something, I fall asleep.

The alarm goes off at 4am. This is when my great day started. Here are all the amazing things that happened.

--I wake up and actually feel motivated to get a shower. I know that's not a big deal, but I get up so early for my meetings, that I never feel like showering. I'm convinced my coworkers call me Pig Pen behind my back. It's also a really good thing I decided to shower, because I am dangerously close to grease-ball status (thank you, chemical-free shampoo).

Me going to my staff meetings

--Joel woke up and said good-bye to me. Again, doesn't seem like much of a big deal, but you see, we've made an agreement not to wake each other up before we leave. If one of us is sleeping soundly and the other is headed out the door at an ungodly hour, we've agreed it's not super important to wake up for kisses and such. (It does happen that I sometimes wake in a panic thinking Joel has just gone to the bathroom and accidentally stayed in there for three hours and might be lying in there with a concussion, while I snooze away. That is never really what has happened, but that's where my brain goes since he is sweet enough to let me sleep.) However, this morning, as I was grabbing my water and snacks for the day (don't laugh), CD looked up at me and, "Mom, were you really gonna leave without kisses?" So I lean down to kiss him, and at that point, Joel turned over and mumbled, "Have a good day, baby." (I think.) Me: You too, baby. I didn't want to wake you. Joel: (grunts) Me: (kisses him on the cheek and tiptoes out...)

--I had to turn the heat on in my car. It is June. It was freezing this morning. I loved having the heat on and will miss that chilly air when the temps hit 106 this week.

--As I was driving toward Frankfort, there were moments when the huge, rising sun would blind me, and I'd have to guess where the road and the other cars were. At times, it looked as if I were driving directly into the middle of the burning sun. For a minute, I thought maybe I'd died and was being pulled to the light. Then I'd blink and realize I hadn't. And that was a very good thing.

--I got to see my coworkers. I know I'm a huge goober when it comes to my job and coworkers, but I love them all so much. I am motivated and energized by them, and sometimes I feel drunk off joy around them. Sometimes I feel drunk off beer or wine around them. That's usually because we've hit up happy hour.

--My boss brought her adorable new baby, Josie, to the meeting. She is so precious and has more hair on her head than I do. I didn't hold her, though, because I'm trying to cut back.

Jo did hold her. And taunted me with it. 

--My coworker, Bob, brought diet cherry 7up to the potluck. This made my life.

Bob thought Josie was even better than Diet Cherry 7Up

--I won at cornhole--with Shelley. At first we were just playing for fun, but then I got a hole-in-one (right?) and sh*t got real. Then we won, and I felt a strong urge to brag about it (so instead I'm blogging about it).

--I got to hang out for a little extra time with two of my best friends, Jo and Destiny. Jo said in case we were tired, we could rest a little at her house. By rest she, of course, meant drink a few glasses of wine and laugh really hard. I also--after hearing Destiny had a five year professional plan that is incredibly amazing and intimidating--realized my five year plan is not have a nervous breakdown or end up in any kind of facility. We found this to be terribly humorous and laughed for a really long time. Jo's husband, in turn, thinks we are all nuts.

--I almost broke Jo's chair with my big butt. I was literally spreading the plastic rungs apart and slowly inching my way to the ground, rendering the chair useless. She then told me it was just because I hadn't put the cushion on. Then I had another glass of wine.

Please note the indentions my tuckus made. 

--My cousin and bff, Jamie, started a blog! Check her out.

--I discovered my favorite wine--Apothic Red--has a white best friend! Apothic White is my new favorite white wine...and I haven't even tried it.

MMMMMM.

--I heard Baby Got Back, No Diggity, and Funky Cold Medina on the way home. Then I turned on my Pandora 80's station and commenced a Concert de Casi. (Side note: when in the car alone, I believe myself to be a very, very talented singer. That is until my station cuts out, and I suddenly think I've run over a pack of rabid dogs giving birth. Upon realizing it's simply my own singing voice without a mask of sound over top it of, I turn the music up louder and get back to my adoring fans on the highway.)

--I made it from Lawrenceburg to Owensboro in under two hours. I have no idea how that was possible, but it was awesome.

--We had Arby's for dinner. Self-explanatory.

--I'm back on my progesterone! This is a long story, but it has to do with messed up hormones. So two weeks of every month, I use a progesterone cream to make myself not crazy. When I'm not taking this, I sometimes accidentally yell at waitresses for suggesting I eat bread with my dinner or cry when I see a google commercial. When I'm on it, a nuclear bomb could go off in my face and not only would I love it, but I'd say, "Please, sir, may I have another?"

And finally, I am going to be in bed asleep before 9:30. Nothing makes me happier than that. Especially since I had less than five hours of sleep last night, and when using my p-cream, it puts me into a coma anywhere from 8-14 hours a night. But, friends, it's the little things in life that make me happy. And a little hole-in-one, friend/wine time, and a kiss on a cheek sometimes make all the difference.