I don’t usually dread the start of a new work week, but when 5:10 rolled around this morning, I cursed. Silently, of course. I didn’t want to wake Tara!
Mondays are never great, per se, but they’re a lot less great when they follow on the heels of back-to-back long weekends. Crawling out of bed that first morning feels like a Herculean task and you wonder how you’ll possibly slog through a five-day work week after growing used to so much time off. Even if you love your job, because I’m pretty sure you also love having extra days off.
I feel bad, because Mondays already have a bad rap. No other day of the week is so universally scorned. Friday gets all the glory (TGIF!). Wednesday has a cool nickname. What does Monday get? Picked on, that’s what. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “I have a bad case of the Mondays.” You’ve probably uttered those words yourself. I know I have! Monday’s an easy target; it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.
So, I was surprised to learn that today is National Thank God It’s Monday Day. No, I’m not making this shit up. It’s all about “rewiring our minds to have a positive attitude about the most hated day of the week.” The pro-Monday pundits who created this celebration-of-sorts urge us to live our full potential, seize the day with all our positive energy, and remind us, “It’s not just the first day of the week, it’s the first day of the rest of our lives.” While I admire the enthusiasm, I think choosing the first Monday in January to celebrate is a mistake because that is always going to be the day most of us go back to work after the holidays. You’re not making that uphill climb any easier, fellas.
Did you know there’s a National Day for something every day of the year? Back in 2013, Tara and I celebrated food holidays by cooking or consuming at least one of each day’s foods for an entire year and blogging about our exploits. It would have been fun (and a lot easier) to celebrate some of these random days instead. Take today, for instance: in addition to National Thank God It’s Monday Day, January 4 is also National Missouri Day, National Spaghetti Day, and National Trivia Day. Tomorrow we honor birds, Keto, screenwriters, and whipped cream.
Maybe someday I’ll tackle this project: celebrating a year’s worth of random holidays. Or maybe I’ll do one or two a week starting now. I have been thinking about coming up with regular blog themes for consistency. Hmm…food (or something else) for thought, I suppose!
In any case, this morning I did manage to drag myself out of bed and onto the treadmill dark and early. Halfway through my trek across Portugal, I glanced up to find Sydney had decided to go fishing.
This was weird, because we’ve had the aquarium set up for over a year now, and she hasn’t once given it so much as a cursory glance. We’ve even held her next to the tank while pointing out the fish (which must piss them off!), but even that didn’t garner a response. That’s the thing about cats: everything has to be on their terms!
By the way, I should add a disclaimer: no fish were harmed in the taking of this photo. Sydney might have swatted at the plexiglass a few times, but it would take a lot of effort to actually get a paw in there, and…then what? She’s so chill I doubt she’d even bat an eye at a mouse, and besides, she sleeps 22 hours a day. I’m not too worried about those tiger barbs.
Once I got to the office and back into the swing of things, I was fine. It’s amazing how quickly we adapt to routines.
The long weekend was both fun and productive. Fun: staying up until midnight playing cards, eating redneck egg rolls, and drinking on New Year’s Eve; re-watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy (extended director’s cuts, of course); starting up season 3 of Cobra Kai. Productive: taking down our Christmas decorations; cleaning and reorganizing the garage.
I even dealt with a little blog drama. I won’t go into all the gory details because the guy isn’t worth my time, but in a nutshell, he tried to pick a fight by re-blogging one of my posts without permission to fit his agenda and proceeded to call me derogatory names. When I took the high road by reacting with civility, he doubled down on his attack. Claimed permission isn’t required to share posts because the re-blogging button is easily disabled and said, “Neither can a blogger block someone else from linking to their public blog and critiquing their opinions.”
That’s where you’re wrong, buddy.
I have never understood why somebody would get so worked up about an internet stranger’s opinions they’d go to such extremes rather than simply ignore it. That’s what I do whenever I read drivel I don’t agree with. Peace, love, and harmony. What concepts, huh?
I’ll just wrap this up by wishing y’all a happy Monday!
Mark My Words 
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