A perfect Sunday

What a great day today has been so far...and it's not even over yet!  Steve, Jason and I are returning home from visiting some good friends in their new house, and my plan as soon as I walk in the door are to immediately change into my comfy lounge clothes, and curl up on the couch in front of a cozy fire!  We've already had a terrific homecooked meal at our friends' home--sort of a 3:00 late lunch/early dinner type of thing--so I don't even have to worry about making supper.  I'll wrap up the day with an episode of Desperate Housewives and go to bed happy!
Sundays are my favorite day of the week...it's the only day of the week I don't need to set the alarm clock!  Since I need to wake up before 6:30 six days/week, I savor this one morning when I can sleep until Jason comes in to kiss me--which he has been highly trained to do AFTER 7 a.m.!  Then he climbs in and wedges himself in between me and Steve, and I get to snuggle and doze a little longer until the unthinkable hour of 8:00, at which point Jason bolts upright and says, "Okay Mommy!  It's 8:00!  Time to go downstairs!"
Jason and I usually let Steve sleep until 9 while we relax downstairs, watching the Today Show (I love Lester and Jenna on Sundays!) or something of Jason's choosing.  I make coffee as usual, but on Sundays I like to make it a bit more decadent by heating my cup first and warming the milk.  Sounds silly, but it's a small, easy ritual to set Sunday apart from every other morning.  I like the Sunday paper, particularly Miss Conduct in the Boston Globe magazine.  By then it's time to wake up Steve and somehow enroll him in making breakfast for us!  Today we managed to persuade him into whipping up chocolate chip pancakes and bacon.  Did I mention that Sundays are also the only morning of the week that I don't have to make breakfast?  That's a vacation in itself!
But most of all, Sundays are when I feel the most grateful.  When Jason wakes me with a kiss, I look at my gorgeous 7 and 1/2 year old boy and think how lucky I am to still be here to receive this tender wake up call.  There was a time when I was afraid I might not see this age.  I'm thankful for his health and vitality.  I know how fortunate I am to still be lying here next to my amazing husband, who looks adorable, deeply asleep, an endearing Breathe-Right strip glued to his nose, no match for his persistent snoring.  As Jason climbs under the covers, I no longer feel the anxious urge to check the size of my legs, ankles and feet, which used to be so swollen and tight just bending my knees and pointing my toes was uncomfortable.  No.....on Sundays I have the time to savor the feeling of gratitude, to fully appreciate being alive, healthy, comfortable in my body, and present with my family.
Sundays were not always like this.  In fact, back in 2007, waking up in the morning was something I dreaded.  As my feet hit the floor, I was greeted daily with the unsightly reminder that something was terribly wrong with me.  I was dragging around an extra 10-15 lbs of fluid.  I not only felt awful, but was incredibly depressed about how I looked.  I was used to being fit, healthy and active; not swollen from my belly to my toes.  My main concern was how to get through the day and get back in bed as fast as possible so I could go back to sleep and temporarily escape this harsh reality.
But today was a great day, and while Jason was at Hebrew school, I did something different and took a Zumba class with a girlfriend.  It didn't matter that I was new to the moves, or that my Jewish hips just wouldn't cooperate with those Latin steps; I just enjoyed an hour of great music and quality time with my friend.  Although I felt a bit out of shape, that didn't take away from how happy I was to have come full circle over the past four years.  At that time, I was insecure and preoccupied with my weight, trying to find ways to hide my larger figure at the gym, and anxiously wondering how much worse it might become.  But now, I'm back to a healthy weight and size, and feel good about how I look in my workout clothes.  During the class, I was so grateful for my health and my ability, however limited, to mambo and cha-cha!
After Hebrew school we all headed over to see our friends and their new house.  As usual, Jason disappeared to play with their three children while we got a chance to talk and finish cooking.  We've shared many wonderful experiences over the past 14 years, and I'm grateful for our long friendship.  I also couldn't help but remember that it was in this girlfriend's kitchen back in November 2006, at a Sunday family dinner much like tonight, that my long journey began.