Against All Odds

Sorry, I was not in a good place yesterday. Well, I was. At work. But my attitude was bad. I don’t mean to paint my family as monsters. They’re not. At least not all the time. Like today. Today, Sunday, so far has been near perfect. Now of course I expect it to all go south soon, but that’s just my nature. And historical fact. But I’m going to try and not be negative today and focus on the positive.

Here’s how the day started. I got up, made coffee, grabbed a cup and then sat down in front of my TV to watch Christiane Amanpour and her incredibly smart panel. First let me just set the mood. My family was all at home, but sleeping. And that is a beautiful, peaceful feeling. So I’m watching Christiane and George Will and Paul Krugman talk, and though my brain hurts, I love it. I never understand a word Paul Krugman says, which is how I know he’s so smart. Now granted, I don’t understand a word my son says either, but that’s only because he makes Mumbles from “Dick Tracy” sound like an elocutionist. My son’s mumbling is truly extraordinary. Except when I hear him talking to his friends. Then he utters each syllable so crisply that he sounds like Professor Henry Higgins. But I digress.

My daughter awakes and comes down, but I have no trepidation. Because even she respects this one hour of mine. She’ll make herself a waffle then sit behind me in silence (except for her loud eating noises). But it’s a considerate silence, not a surly, punishing one. And I love her for giving me this one pure hour. There are no others for the rest of the week, but that’s bordering on being negative, so…

After Christiane signs off, I relinquish the TV remote to my daughter’s outstretched, expectant hand. I take the dog for an hour-long walk. That walk and my relationship with my dog is a separate blog for another time. I then return home and make my famous pancakes and turkey bacon. I know,  know, but my daughter’s a vegetarian, so no real bacon, but turkey’s pretty good. We all have breakfast together. I stare at them until they acknowledge how good my pancakes are, but everyone’s in a good mood. Now any other day of the week instead of enjoying this rare, beautiful moment I would simply sit there all tense, just waiting for someone to explode. But right now I am simply enjoying the moment. I’m in the Now. Eckhart Tolle would be so proud (I tried reading his book “The Power of Now,” but I kept looking ahead to the moment when I would be done with the painful read. Sorry, Oprah.)

And now my daughter’s up in her room looking for her car keys. This will take hours. I’m not kidding. My son is upstairs video chatting. He does this about 13 hours a day. It annoys my wife, but I am truly impressed by his stamina. I hate talking, so I don’t get the thrill, but I’m impressed nonetheless. And my wife just left for her book group. They don’t actually read the book, but there’s good food and gossip. So she’s happy. And so am I. The NBA play-offs are about to begin and I once again have the TV to myself. All is good with the world. I’m happy to be here. In my home. And though I may not feel this way again for a long, long time (possibly never), I am not — I repeat NOT — counting the hours until I can escape to work. Of course the day is young and there are countless land mines surrounding me that can ruin the day at any given moment. But that sounds negative. So let’s go, Oklahoma Thunder. Let’s go, Chicago Bulls. Thank god it’s Sunday. You heard me!