"I hope you slip on the ice and break your neck!"

For some folks here in the lovely South, last week's "weather incident" left them with a serious case of cabin fever. Tempers were a little bit shorter than usual because homes seemed to shrink in size over a matter of four or five days. Maybe that was why on Saturday when I headed downtown to meet some pals for lunch, a gentleman proceeded to scream the subject line of today's post at me for a good two minutes when I refused to stop for a moment in order answer the question that he needed to ask me. Blame it on all the cop dramas that I had the opportunity to watch last week, but something makes me think that a man who comments on the fact that I had parked "out of the way of everyone else" and then proceeds to compliment me on my choice of handbag isn't interested in my opinion on health care reform or how much wood a woodchuck can chuck. Something also makes me think that it could have been July and his wish for me would have still been that I slip on the ice and break my neck. Anywho...

I loved my break last week. Sure, a week of isolation reaffirmed my belief that I never want to become a hardened criminal locked up in solitary confinement for years on end, but for the most part this temporary break from the hurried world we live in was good for my soul. Each day was essentially a carbon copy of the one before. Woke up, walked dog, fed dog, made coffee, drank coffee (all morning long), read books, walked dog, fed dog, watched TV, exercised, drank hot chocolate, read more books, and watched more TV. Personally I'm just glad that someone was finally at home to hold down the couch all day. Otherwise, I'm sure it would have escaped. The best part about all of this nothing that I managed to accomplish during the snowcation? It was guilt-free! I couldn't get work done because I wasn't able to drive to my office. I had plenty of time to clean my apartment during the 6 days I was there so it wasn't like I even had housework that I needed to get done hanging over my head the whole time.

I think so often we get so hung up in the "should be" and "could be" that we don't take the time to enjoy what actually is. Late last spring my mama gave me some of the best advice that I've ever been given. She told me to stop doing and just be. It's simple really, but do you know how hard it is for a busy bee to just be? Who is going to make the honey if I stop doing everything around here?!? Tomorrow though, I will go back to work. As much as I will miss my 9:30 date with my book and coffee mug and my 2:00 date with Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson, it's time that I do something productive with all of this good energy that I've been building. I think I'll start by picking out an outfit that doesn't include elastic waistbands, pre-shrunk cotton shirts, and Uggs.