My Sunday Best: Week 1

I missed my chance at a Valentine's Day post this year and I feel there is something there that must be rectified. One year on a past blog where I wrote about weight loss, a blogger friend of mine (you can read her blog, Running with Perseverance, here) challenged me to write a valentine to myself on Valentine's day for all the things I loved about me. It was an incredibly difficult but powerful exercise. It was something that has stuck with me years later. While I no longer remember the specific words I wrote, I remember the empowered feeling it gave me for weeks afterwards. It wasn't so much about the 'love note' though; it was just the fact that I took the time to sit down and reflect on myself and my life and all the good things that were in it.

As a society, I don't think we often take the time and/or allow ourselves to be thankful for who we are, what we do, and all of the great things we have accomplished. I think it's just about time to rectify that a bit. For me, I think I will use Sunday's to reflect on my life and for myself. And in that reflection, I will challenge myself to come up with all my "bests" for the week. I'll post them all here each Sunday.

Here goes nothing...

Best Thing I Saw:  My friends. On Monday night, my two good friends came over for wine and a good chat session. They stayed for 2 and a half hours and it was amazing to catch up with them and not be rushed through a conversation due to other obligations or be trying to decipher through the multiple possible meanings for things said via text. The three of us can't ever find the time to get together between jobs and relationships and life. "Nice" doesn't even begin to cover it.

Best Thing I Did:  Take a snow day. It was supposed to snow here on Wednesday. They called the day for school before the storm even got started due to the timing of the storm — it was supposed to be starting as the kids were being bussed in. I waited most of the day for snow but all I got was rain. Regardless, in honor of the "snow storm" I took the day and stayed in. I did not leave the house for anything that day and the relaxing and mellow mental health day was absolutely glorious.

Best Thing I Ate:  Sauteed vegetable pasta with ricotta. I live alone so many weeks I will make one big pot of something for dinner and then take the leftovers as lunch the rest of the week. Last weekend I bought some low-carb pasta and decided to put it to good use. I sauteed two fresh chopped zucchini and then added green beans, carrots, peas, and corn. I added some marinara sauce and then finally a cup of low-carb pasta. When everything was done coming together, I added some heavenly ricotta and some shredded cheese. Mix. Serve. And damn, was it good. Even four days later.

Best Thing I Watched:  Pretty Little Liars. I love this show. A complete and total guilty pleasure. Except that I'm not the least bit guilty — so maybe just a pleasure. This week's episode was especially good. Spencer was undergoing a psychiatric watch and I couldn't help but be intrigued by the worker there who wore the same badge that Toby had stolen. Is he on the "A" team or just a coincidence?

Best Thing I Heard:  My mom's blood work came back clear. A few years ago, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. I think it was stage 4 — I wasn't really concerned with the number at the time though, only with her beating it. And she did beat it. She finished her chemo and her radiation and even reconstructive surgery. It's been a few years since the last surgery — two, I believe. On Friday, she went to have her regular blood work done to make sure everything still appeared as it should. And while there are some things she needs to work on (cholesterol and sugar counts), there was no sign of cancer or any other major worry. What a relief.

Best Thing I Read:  A text from The Brit. We were chatting about silly and frivolous things for the afternoon on Wednesday. After making up a silly story about all the things I would learn by the time he returns from his travels in a week or so, I told him that I may have been a bit ambitious and joked that I had no idea how I was going to pull it all off. He responded with an answer that I am sure he didn't think much of but that was probably the nicest and most chivalrous thing I have had a guy say to me since I can remember. "I believe you can pull it off. Plus, you only have an audience of 1. And you know he's cheering for you." Melting.