Another Sunday

This is not a ‘New Year, New You’ post. This is not a ‘My Resolutions’ post. It’s not even a ‘Why do I bother with resolutions if I’m just going to break them’ post. This post has nothing to do with the new year- okay it did before this, but from here on out, nothing.

This morning I had freshly baked beignets that were liberally dusted with confectioner’s sugar and served with a raspberry lemon dipping sauce. After breakfast we took the dogs to the dog park to make new friends, visit with old, and in Ralph’s case, bark at all of them non-stop for half an hour. It was a perfect start to a Sunday. The sun was shining and the air was cold and crisp.

All of the happy, amazing Sunday stuff fell apart as soon as I went in search of balloons for my *pseudo-nephew’s birthday. The Dollar Tree is the least expensive place to pick up some helium balloons with short notice. They charge (you guessed it) a dollar each. That’s with the helium and the ribbon. It’s a bargain. The problem with going somewhere like this is that it is never a quick trip. Not that I got caught up buying things I don’t need (this trip was an exception), but they are typically understaffed and the wait to have someone put some air into four balloons is ridiculous.

Once the employee was able to step away and do the balloons for me, he had a hard time finding the balloons I wanted, and then he had difficulty manipulating the helium because he was wearing a very large, very poorly wrapped piece of gauze around his right hand. Then, in the middle of the job, a voice came over the loudspeaker. “Dave, when you get done assisting in balloons, will you please come to the office?” The man helping me—I’m assuming his name was Dave—grumbled and said under his breath, “If I have to.” This slowed down his momentum. I get the feeling he doesn’t like his job much.

After I paid my $4 and tax, I left the stifling interior of The Dollar Tree and stepped outside and discovered the sun had disappeared and was replaced by gray skies with the hint of snow in the air. My mood, already wavering, was now in danger of plummeting.

What really helped though, was spending time with our friends. While my first thought when I am feeling blergh is that I want to be alone with my misery, it really does help to be around people who know you and love you and make you laugh.

If you’re feeling a little under the weather, or the weather has made you feel blue, find someone to make you laugh and feed off that positive energy. It helps.

*There should be a name for children you consider family, who are not actually family. Or does there need to be? Should I just say nephew? It’s too much to explain that Connor is the son of our very best friends Amy and Allan and that we have known him since before his birth and love him with a fierceness usually reserved for your own children.