Monday Morning Strategy

This morning in the car on the way to daycare and work drop off* we did a lightning round of gratitude. What's there to be thankful for on a Monday morning?

A snippet of our list:

• it's a three day work week
• my mother is not hosting Thanksgiving
• our colds could be worse
• bourbon will be flowing at my brother's house, where we are staying over the weekend
• it's sunny today
• today will be arguably warm
• our kid is amazing and chatty and we're still in that halcyon period, so don't burst our bubble quite yet
• only a few short weeks until Brian is done with his job! 

But, as my dreams reminded me last night**, holidays mean more work.  If I want this week to go decently, I need to look ahead. Right now I'm supposed to be working, but my brain is being slow on the uptake this morning and I've got daycare until 3, so I might as well plan. Here we go:

Monday

• Dinner: pumpkin polenta with black beans and chorizo
• Passive-ish activities while I work from home: cook pumpkin, laundry
• After daycare: library, park time before sun goes down, get cat food
• Evening: order Christmas presents online, order photos of Reed for family, fill out application for part time job, wipe down bathroom, make list of things needed at store, meal plan ahead for when we come back through the end of the month

Tuesday

• Dinner: falafel, tahini, and salad
• After I work from my boss's house: drop application off, go home and vacuum
• After daycare: park time before sun goes down
• Evening: make pumpkin pie, send husband to store for ingredients for Wednesday's cook-a-thon, pre-pack

Wednesday

• Dinner: leftovers
• Work from library in AM during daycare time
• Evening: make rolls, make vegetarian dish for Thanksgiving, last-chance laundry, wipe down kitchen, pack

All week:

• Don't trash the house
• Pilates on Tuesday and Wednesday night

* - We are a One Car Family, much to the chagrin and perplexment of our parents, my boss, and almost everybody else over the age of 40.

** - The premise was that we were going on a cross-country bus trip with friends. The bus was leaving at 10:30. I started packing at 10:29 and had to tell Brian to stop mowing the lawn, because for some reason we were at my parents' house. And then, once we were on the bus, I had to figure out the wifi because I had an assignment due. Come to think of it, this was no dream. Stress packing and I'm still in school? That's a nightmare.