Sunday night, but not really

So it is Sunday night, but tomorrow is a holiday, so there's none of the usual Sunday night lamenting going on at my house. And while I know I'm supposed to appreciate the reason we have tomorrow off, and celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. by doing service in my community, I have to say that at the moment, I'm just grateful I don't have to go to work tomorrow. (Tiny voice: I know, I'm a bad person.)

Correction: I actually DO have to go to work tomorrow, and I'll probably be there all day. But as sick as this is going to sound, I'm actually looking forward to a day at work with no interruptions and no one there. Correction #2: There will actually be a few other people there, but they are generally agreeable and hardworking types who will facilitate several fun interactions but will, for the most part, have their noses to the grindstones, too. One of them has already cheerily taken my bagel order... and by the time I arrive will have my favorite Panera French Toast bagel sitting on my desk. Now really, what's not to like about this day already!? God bless you, J-Rad.

So back to the main point... I should be working right now, but I've been lulled into that "but I still have all day tomorrow" mantra that will at some point fade into the reality that all I have is tomorrow to do a massive amount of work. But in the meantime... I've got tonight to ponder how great three-day weekends would be if they occurred every weekend. And how long it would take before Monday night became as depressing as Sunday nights currently can be for so many people. I honestly believe there'd be about a three-month honeymoon of "OMG, I forgot we get Monday off now... how great!" And then it would be... "Why can't we get Tuesdays off, too?" Human nature, I suppose.

But for right now, three day weekends are special. And I'm enjoying my Sunday-night-that-doesn't-seem-like-one. Here's how:

1. I stopped at Starbucks for a cinnamon dolce latte this evening after seeing Slumdog Millionaire for the second time and briefly browsing the Barnes & Noble craft section for valentine ideas.
2. I watched highlights from last year's Australian Open, which led directly into the first hours of coverage of this year's tournament, which commenced today. Tennis is back!
3. I marveled over the fact that last night I had a dream I was hanging out with Rafael Nadal and today I checked my mail (which I hadn't done yesterday) and my first issue of Tennis magazine arrived with... Nadal on the cover! Clearly, we are meant to hang out in 2009. I will patiently await my invitation to sit in his box at Wimbledon.
   
4. I took a bubble bath.
5. I read Hallmark magazine, pretty much cover to cover.
6. I reminisced about my nephew's 4th birthday party yesterday and how, completely randomly during present opening, he said out loud, but to no one in particular, "I am lucky to get so many nice presents." Come ON. I heart little Pete.
   
7. I read a few more chapters in Bill Bryson's The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. At one point I was nearly crying I was laughing so hard. And that's good, because so far I had been a bit disappointed by the lack of "laugh out loud" moments I'd enjoyed, despite what Tom Brokaw promised on the book's cover...

I will share one of those funny passages now. This is Bryson explaining some of the reasons his elementary school teachers really didn't like him.

"They were never going to like me anyway. There was something about me--my dreaminess and hopeless forgetfulness, my lack of button-cuteness, my permanent default expression of pained dubiousness--that rubbed them the wrong way. They disliked all children, of course, particularly little boys, but of the children they didn't like, I believe they especially favored me. I always did everything wrong. I forgot to bring official forms back on time. I forgot to bring cookies for class parties, and Christmas cards and valentines on the appropriate festive days. I always turned up empty-handed for show-and-tell. I remember once in kindergarten, in a kind of desperation, I just showed my fingers."

There's your dose of humor for today.

If you have to work tomorrow, have a lovely time. Consider making someone's day by bringing them a bagel. If you don't have to work tomorrow, sleep in a little bit and allow yourself the chance to dream. If you don't dream about our nation one day rising up, perhaps you'll dream of hunky tennis players. I doubt the latter will earn you a national holiday in your honor, but there are definitely worse things you could dream of.*

* I would know, because I recently dreamed I killed someone. It was self-defense, but... still. A tad disturbing. And on that note... sweet dreams.