I usually struggle with Sundays. I wake up so happy, with a whole day off ahead of me… but somewhere in the early afternoon that feeling shifts to “oh crap, tomorrow is Monday” and the day no longer feels leisurely.
For a while, it seemed that I could either spend Sunday the way I wanted, i.e. sleeping in, lounging around, reading, getting Starbucks, watching football (gah! I miss football!) but then Mondays were horrible. The house was a mess, laundry not done, no food prep… OR, I could spend Sunday doing chores and errands, which meant the day basically sucked, but I was happy on Monday morning.
Recently I’ve hit on a nice compromise, which mixes work and pleasure. I mean, duh- that was the obvious solution all along, but I’ve come up with a kind of formula for Sunday success.
Whenever possible, I’ll sleep in till 9 am on a Sunday. Today, the cats woke me up at 8:22, but that was late enough. After yesterday’s workout fail, I was determined to get in an Iron Series workout before I did anything else, so that’s what I did.
THEN, I eat a leisurely breakfast while reading blogs. I also take this time to decide on the night’s dinner (Sunday is often the one night I actually cook) and make a shopping list. Then I head out for errands.
The key is, I make sure there’s at least one totally fun errand in there. Today, I went to Bath and Body Works. I saw they were having a sale where everything was 40% off, and I “needed” a new candle. So I went to the mall, then to the library to return books, then grocery shopping, and THEN I stopped at Starbucks and got a London Fog.
(London Fog is Earl Grey with milk and vanilla. I get mine with almond milk and one pump of the sugar-free vanilla syrup. Normally I don’t put anything in my tea- I just get this as a special treat every once in a while.)
I would have sat in the Starbucks, but it just so happened that no one was home at my house, so I went back home, lit my new candle…
… and settled down with my tea for more blog reading.
Muffin and Foxy joined me!
When I woke up (ha ha, you didn’t think I could sit on the couch with two cats and not drift off to sleep, did you???) there was still plenty of time to throw in a load of laundry and read a little before starting dinner.
One of my other secrets of Sunday success is to make a fun dinner. Tonight it was Vegan Philly Cheesesteaks from Nora Cooks.
It’s supposed to be on a hoagie roll, but I used a Hero tortilla for mine.
At night I tidy up and finish the laundry. Is the house perfectly clean? No, but at least it smells good from that candle! I’m still a little bummed that the weekend is ending (I mean, who isn’t?) but I had a nice day.
Do you enjoy your Sundays?- Notice that this Sunday involved NO child care! That makes a big difference.
Top photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
2 Responses
My daughter calls it the ‘Sunday Scaries’, where you’re half way through a lovely day and realize the entire week is ahead of you and coming fast. And for her it’s such a gentle re-entry. She works from home on Mondays, and if there are chores that need to be done, she can do them during her week day, she can get them done.
I’m curious about division of labor when I hear about days like this. I always wonder about how much work women put in vs. men, and how much work could be taken on by the teens in the house. I grew up in a house with a singe mom, where my brother and I were expected to cook, clean, and do laundry. I admit freely that I have not done great about expecting the same from my husband and daughter. My husband is great about doing his share, and did more than me when he was home more than I was. But once I started working from home, I think I took on more than my share. My daughter has grown into it, but when she was in High School…not so much. So I’m not judging if things aren’t equitably distributed in your house (and maybe they are, I don’t know) but I’m always interested in this conversation and how we can make it better.
You captured a lot of my Sunday feelings in this post. I am often frustrated by how much is left undone on Sunday night. I like your plan. I love to watch CBS Sunday Morning and drink my coffee – it means getting up a little early (it starts at 7 am), but I can’t really remember the last time I was able to sleep in unless I am (1) sick or (2) up past 1 am. So, it is not a problem for me. I also often will do a grocery order and go pick it up (it saves me money not to go shopping in the store). I did do some laundry and remade my bed today. I vacuumed the living room and couch (so much dog and cat hair – ugh). I also did over 10,000 steps again today!