Good morning. Hope you had a great weekend.
Spoiler alert: I did.
I’m coming in hot from Logan Airport this Monday morning on the heels of coming in hot from an Uber home from Logan Airport on Friday morning and in spite of the Groundhog Day feel of it all, there’s plenty of fresh stuff to talk about.
First things first, that work situation I had to fly home standby for, in an attempt to get it addressed, well, I (think I) did (phew). I worked at a breakneck pace until well after 5 (on a Friday no less), pausing only briefly around 4pm to eat (my stomach growled so loud it both startled me and reminded me that all I’d eaten all day were the Biscoff cookies on the plane, so I poured myself a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios so big that I’m sure my cholesterol dropped to zero, at least for a bit)…anyway when I did stop working I was exhausted but at least I felt a high degree of relief and satisfaction to take into the weekend.
I immediately took advantage of the warm temps and poured myself a patio beer to take out back for some necessary chill time, deep breathing, and catching the last few rays of sun. Kerri got home eventually, we picked up some of our fave takeout (from Shawarma and Shakes), caught up on our respective last few days, and crashed early, like grandma early.
Saturday went from zero to 60 quick but that was part of the plan. Caught some kid hoops games (my cousin’s daughter was playing fairly close by so I was happy to start the day watching those/visiting with them) before hitting the gym, the shower, and BJ’s for groceries to drop over at my mom’s house…where my sister from MI and her family were staying for the night (local college visits). Even though I had seen my sis and nieces in February, I hadn’t seen my bro-in-law for a while so it was great seeing them all together. Didn’t take long for my other sister to show up and in no time at all the house was abuzz. We made a dinner rez for 7pm, took a brief nap/shower break, and reconvened at a local restaurant. As familiar as family is, there’s never anything routine or mundane when we get together, no sense of obligation, and this was no exception. Afterwards we went back to my sister’s house because that nephew I just saw in DC was driving/moving home in a UHaul and due to arrive any minute…obviously we wanted to see him and the more the merrier, so…fun to catch up there, home at 11, asleep by 12, and at Donut King before 6:30am, ready to go for breakfast back at my sister’s at 9, where another nephew joined us. Her house was busting at the seams with happy (though we were missing my mom (FL) and niece (college)), and a good time was had by all.
The “kicker”? Yesterday was National Siblings Day and we were at a veritable in-house siblings convention! To recap: my sisters and I, my two nephews (minus their sis), and my two MI nieces. (And here’s a great piece on siblings from one of my fave guys, Frank Bruni, that I read every year on that day.)
After brekkie Kerri and I got in nice walk along Weymouth’s great esker at Great Esker Park (bumped into my pal Tom—bonus!), hit Trillium in Canton for beers with friends (who suggested that beer pressure is the best kind of peer pressure, and it was prove true since all they had to do was ask and we dropped everything)…then…home, pack, sleep…boom! Early up, an airport dropoff from Kerri on her way to work this morning and here I sit at Gate A8.
Sometimes you take the long way to wherever you’re going…and clearly I did just now…in any case it’s finally time for this week’s “feature,” the Monday Maiku.
Hurry up. Slow down.
The pause, it matters the most.
Live there, in the pause.
Hurry up. Slow down.
Right? Hurry up and wait. Give me a minute. So much of life and it’s pace, mindless and unintentional, controlled by other people, external circumstance. How many times are we wrapped up in something amorphous and ambiguous, propelled by some kind of momentum (or inertia) clueless as to how we got there and/or what we’re doing there.
The pause, it matters the most.
The pause, the space between, that place where we have a chance to fill our souls by breathing in the moment, breathing out our troubles, that’s the best place on earth…as long as we realize that’s the place we’re in and are all in that place.
Live there, in the pause.
Hold it, own it, be happy in it. It’s the only moment we have; might as well pause and take it all in. It’s hard to break stride sometimes, but necessary.
Have a great week. Thanks for being here.
Love you too.
(And not to brag, but I’m kind of feeling like a boss right now…Delta Comfort+ upgrade, baby.)