it's a battle cry, charlie brown

Today is Monday. Monday. What a word. So much emotion is held in that two-syllable day of the week. Horror, exhaustion, anxiety, lethargy, woooork, etc. Generally, it's got a negative vibe. Well not today, Zurg! i just had an awesome weekend of eating clean, playing with friends, and being spiritually lifted by my kids in Primary. As the icing on the sweet sweet (but healthy, very healthy) cake, I went to the gym on Saturday and worked out. Oh yes, yes I did do that. Saturdays in the past have been my day to laze about and hopefully get a load or two of laundry done, but this past weekend, I had too much energy for such nonsense. Too much?! Yes, precious, too much! I went to bed right after I got home from school on Friday night (I normally don't have school on Friday nights, but we didn't have school on Monday, so my silly college makes up for it by making us come on Fridays. It's a tiny bit evil) which was around 11. I may or may not have taken some sleepy time pills, just so I could really take advantage of the weekend. I told Preston to not wake me up the next morning, and ended up not waking up until the blessed hour of 10:30. It was stupendous. Needless to say, with all the extra sleep, lazing about was not an option. I packed my bag, and headed for the gym.

Wow. When I say "gym," I really mean the Provo Rec Center, which is one of the biggest blessings in my life right now. It's super nice, and really affordable, as far as a gym goes. It's brand new, and everything is state of the art. I love it. Plus, it's super close to home, and is on my route to work. Anyway, I say wow because it was PACKED. I had forgotten that some people are only able to get to the gym on the weekend, so when I went to the pool to get in a good half hour, there were no lanes open. Granted, one of the lanes had 4 little girls in it, who weren't exactly interested in exhausting themselves by swimming back and forth, but other than that, there were some people there to work. I stood there awkwardly in my swimming suit, waiting for a lane to open up, desperately praying that someone would ask me to just join them in their lane (honestly, there were a bunch that had 2 people to a lane), dripping wet from my initial rinse-off shower. Miraculously, the heavens opened, and a couple guys that really had no need of being at the gym (think Jim Gaffigan, "You're DONE! WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?!?!" Six packs. That's all I'm going to say about that) called out to me that they were about finished. Sweet. I will get to actually work out today. 

They hopped out, I hopped in, put my goggles in place, and off I went. I finished my half hour (scoff if you want, but you try swimming hard for 30 minutes straight. Yeah, not as easy as you thought, was it?), and climbed out of the pool. I love that pool. I went to my locker, grabbed my bag, and proceeded to the nearest shower. Got myself all clean and hair washed, only to look in my bag, and notice something very important missing...my towel. HA! I had pulled my towel out the day before because I meant to wash it. Well, I didn't have the time or patience to just stand there and drip dry, so I did what anyone would do: used my yoga pants. They weren't super effective, but I got dry enough that I could put on some clean clothes and scoot. Plus, that couldn't have stopped the high that I get every time I work out anyway. And, since I don't have work on Saturdays, it wasn't like I cared whether I left looking like a wet rat. The rest of my Saturday was awesome, ended with our closest friends over watching a scary movie (when I say "watch" I mean, I generally have my hands on my face, looking through my fingers. It's the only safe way to watch a scary movie), chips and salsa (carrots and salsa for me. Try it! It's delicious and satisfying), and going to bed way too late. 

Cue this morning: I get my swimming done (40 minutes this time, yes hold your applause, it felt as awesome as it sounds), and go to get dressed. How is it possible to forget something two days in a row? Nope, not my towel this time.  My hairbrush. I'm now at work with my hair piled on top of my head. Most likely it's a rat's nest, but you can't really tell, because I did a good job of finger-combing it anyway. To make a short story long, I'm feeling amazing. Like I can do anything. And I'm feeling like I can actually make this work this time. I mean, I made it through the weekend! I can count on one hand the times that's happened! And now, Monday means something different to me. It means excitement. I have this amazing body that makes it possible for me to go swimming. Again! Later tonight, it will let me give an amazing massage to one of my classmates, and I'll get to show it some love by receiving a (hopefully) great massage, and so I'm winning. 

I'm winning the war against my old self, and it feels great. I know I won't always feel this good, but for now, my battles are in hand, and I have sufficient for my needs, and I can do this! I have a crazy good support system, and I know I could call any one of you to help me out, and you would all answer that call. Thank you, and just know that all the good vibes you've been sending my way have been felt. In the words of one of my new favorite movies: "EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!"