Final Friday of December

 Today is a day to finish the year strong.  

Do good deeds, let bygones by bygones, look forward,  expect better.

Plant rows of perspicacity, harvest bouquets of plenitude, plow through scarcity

Todays food: charcuterie 

Today’s TV binge: 1883

Final Tuesday of December

Today is a day to exhale.  Seek release, give relief, rest.  

Plant rows of safety, harvest bouquets of intimacy, plow through inertia.

Todays food: I have to have another birthday lunch and nope nope nope it will not involve my favorite food tostones because its sushi again. Please remind me in 2022 to never say lets do sushi soon because bitches take me seriously. 

Today’s exercise: yoga ball handstands

4th Sunday of December

 Today is a day of beginnings and endings. 

Accept blessings, let go of things that no longer serve you, make room for a bigger better life.

Plant rows of patience, harvest bouquets of remote controls, plow through moods.

Todays food: I’m still hoping that my kids bring home the charcuterie board I ordered that they picked up on Xmas eve but oops they “left at Kylie and Kaden’s house” three times over the last two days. Meanwhile I have 12 new kinds of coffee because people give me coffee for Xmas. And my birthday. So much coffee I could start a  coffee stand.

Today’s exercise: mopping

4th Saturday of December

 Today is a day to have fun. 

Make up games, blow leaves, do whatever whenever however you want because freedom is the greatest gift in the world and it can’t be wrapped.

Plant rows of “oh that’s nice” - harvest bouquets of “thank you you shouldn’t have” - plow through problematic presents.

Todays food: I found tostones in the freezer, but I think I will let them languish there.

Today’s exercise: smushing wrapping paper into garbage bags

4th Thursday of December

 

Today is a day for creativity, resourcefulness and fun. 

Build better spaces, toss things that no longer give blessings, hug freedom.

Plant rows of glee, harvest bouquets of lets-try-this, plow through crispy brown leaves. 

Todays food: Tostones dammit. Hot and crispy.  It’s been too long.

Today’s exercise: I have no patio furniture, so let’s go shopping for outdoor furniture. That counts as exercise, even if I do it online. From my sofa. With the heater on my feet. 

First Day of Winter

Today is day to seek warmth and spread joy.

Visit babies, surprise neighbors, put off setting up Christmas tree because it’s not due yet. 

Plant rows of motivation, harvest bouquets of let-it-go, plow through isolation.

Today’s food: I’m bringing a former student/ family panera dinner and the exact carrot cake they ordered for their wedding they never even got to taste.

Today’s exercise: Gesticulating wildly

Carrot Cake

Twenty one years ago I spent the evening and the night staring into my newborn daughter’s eyes.  She wasn’t tired, so I wasn’t tired either and we stayed up hour after hour the entire night just the two of us in a cold hospital room lit only by the blue light that comes from putting the hospital tv on the tv listings channel.

Although she was due on 12/20, she arrived 12/17, skidding into the world right before my birthday. 

 The universe’s timing is perfect and all but seriously she took over my birthday cake game like the USSR took over Eastern Europe during the Cold War.  

For decades it seemed silly to order a cake for myself when there was always cake left over from her birthday.

No big deal. 

I resigned with the veil of saint motherhood to a life of  stale cake mixed with ice cream, a treat any day, but never what I wanted since the only cake I ever want/wanted/will ever want for my birthday is carrot cake. 

Over the past few years it has become a tradition for Zack to pick out something funny to surprise Zoe with on her cake. Last night Zack tried to make something she’d like  but Publix rejected “Happy Birthday Now You Can Buy Us Alcohol” and I had to improv.  

After creating her vanilla/lemon cake I ordered her a posh charcuterie board and almost completed my order but then a voice inside me said “order yourself a carrot cake.”  

It’s the same voice that sings along loudly to Ariana Grande’s “Seven Rings” - I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it.

It’s the voice inside me that begged to try the “Reacting to the Past” historical role playing games which have lead to the most fun and also highest success rates I’ve ever had in the classroom. 

So I listened.

I ordered myself a carrot cake with hummingbird filling and cream cheese icing and my name written across the top.  

I only want a piece, I don’t even know who else will share it with me, but having it in my fridge makes me the richest woman in the world (after Ariana Grande)

No one knows what the future holds, but I am damn sure mine will not include stale cake flavored with the hope someone else will bring me what I want despite the fact I can just get for myself. 

Third Wednesday of December

 Today is a day to put things together.  

Assemble shelves, wrap rugs, get cash to tip the service that is coming to haul boxes and the sofa and the backyard swing, sweep and vacuum and flatten boxes.

Plant rows of organization, harvest bouquets of determination, plow through resistance

Todays food: Predawn chocolate protein shake. With a straw. Unenthusiastically.

Today’s exercise: Reading

Today’s TV binge: Dexter/New Blood

Second Sunday of December

 Today is a day for pleasure. 

Linger in the shower, smell fresh roses, sigh during lengthy spa pedicure.

Plant rows of stained glass, harvest bouquets of dulce de leche, plow through procrastination.

Todays food: the pizza Zoe brought home from babysitting last night

Todays exercise: avoiding grading and reading begging emails from students who took November and December off and now want to redeem themselves somehow.

Today’s TV binge: The Sex Life of College Girls

Second Saturday of December

Today we celebrate relief.  

Exhale effortlessly, sleep deeply, practice perpetual pacification.

Clean the kitchen (its already clean lol), mop the floors (nope already did that), water plants  (oooh that’s fun). 

Plant rows of leaf blowers, harvest bouquets of extension cords, plow with determination

Today’s food: fried eggs on crispy toast

Todays exercise: Saying “Yes”

First Monday of December

 Today is a day of big meetings about tying up loose ends and making path forward.   

Take care big and small details, find balance, embrace freedom. 

Plant rows of Bob Doles, harvest bouquets of pens, plow through invisible obstacles 

Today’s food: self confidence, served warm with a side of juicy story 

Today’s exercise: Self restraint

First Sunday of December

 Today is a day of freedom; freedom from some things and freedom to do other things.  

Walk reverently, act intentionally, sink into joy.

Plant rows of balance, harvest bouquets of relief, plow through inertia

Today’s food: grocery day, ask me later. Maybe triscuits. We will see. 

Today’s exercise: Radical acceptance

First Friday of December

Today is a day to celebrate ending of beginnings. 

Bring treats, shine warmth, laugh and let go. 

Plant rows of games, harvest bouquets of fun, plow through rocky terrain

Today’s food: chips and salsa with a side of gossip between mandatory end of semester meetings 

Today’s exercise: Supporting friends

Happy First Day of December

 I have three days of work left, if talking about the Cold War and playing “Reacting to the Past” games counts as work.

Time to reflect on what worked (playing games in class!) and what didn’t (allowing students to earn points so quickly that some of my strongest students finished the class weeks before Halloween).