Sunday

Another good night of rest, and when I woke up, I chose to head to Starbucks and relax into the day. I started watching a new show called “The Big Brunch” with Dan Levy on HBO Max. You know I love Bake-Off, but the challenges have been sub-standard, and I had read that this brunch show had the heart of Bake-Off and provided the comfort that it did at its height. It’s true. There are only two challenges per show. I like Dan as the host and the judges are also good. Each chef’s story is interesting, and I love seeing what they come up with. There were three episodes which I consumed happily.

Then I moved into the office and started doing some housekeeping stuff. I checked on some insurance stuff. I looked up some hiking shoes that Mom said she’d buy me for my birthday. I changed a reservation we had made for Thanksgiving (on the wait list) to Saturday instead. It will be a birthday lunch. We also made plans and a reservation in San Juan Capistrano for lunch on Thursday, so that will be fun. And finally, I worked on some poems.

By that time, it was about 5 pm. Any thoughts of going for a walk were out the window because it’s already dark. Mom had had the leftover souvlaki from yesterday for lunch, but I hadn’t eaten anything and was craving a pizza. I had gotten a birthday coupon from them but ended up not being able to redeem it because I changed from delivery to carry out when I ordered online and it wiped out my cart (with the free item), and when I tried to re-add it, it said that the item was already in my cart. Annoying. But I didn’t really want it anyway (cinnamon sticks) but since they were free, why not? I went to pick up the pizza and it took about 40 minutes longer than it said because they only one pizza maker. Finally brought it home and ate a few slices. Mom had some, too.

This is why I don’t blog everyday usually. Who wants to hear about my trials in ordering pizza? LOL

I did want to write a bit about my nighttime rituals. Do you have any? Every night, almost without fail, I floss and brush my teeth. I answer the day’s question in my five-year Q&A book and I ‘micro-journal’ my gratitude for the day. Before vacation, I would often play on my phone after that, with the lights off but me checking FB or Twitter or playing my game. During vacation, I didn’t do that, just went to sleep, and I’m happy to say I’ve refrained from engaging with my phone after I turn out the light. I finish the journaling, turn out the light, and strap on the ol’ CPAP. During the summer I had a small fan on all night which provided cool air as well as white noise. Last night I remembered that before summer I would play soundscapes or music through the Calm app, so I turned that on before I got under the covers. Speaking of covers, last week, I pulled out the weighted blanket and have been using it ever since. Man, I love that thing. I feel so good under it and also warm. I always start my night on my right side. After I close my eyes, I do some deep breathing to try to calm my head and wind down. I also work on really relaxing my body, including my face. Do you understand how awesome it feels to focus on releasing the stress you hold in your face without even realizing it? Sometimes when I tell myself to relax my face as I’m deep breathing, and I feel my forehead drop, my jaw slacken, and my teeth slightly unclench, it really feels amazing. I can fall asleep after that, but if there’s any residual wakefulness, I use it to turn over to my left side. From there, it’s usually lights out ‘til morning. This is the ritual I’ve developed since moving home. When I lived in the apartment, it was similar but I got into bed on a different side so it was slightly changed. I had a whole way of how I got into bed. Do you do anything the same every night? How does it help you wind down or fall asleep?

The week ahead will be the countdown to my birthday. Let’s see what shenanigans (or not!) happen!