My Favorite Day of the Week

Sunday is my favorite day of the week. Most people look forward to the end – Friday, but I typically use Friday evenings to unfurl, and I stay up late binge-watching my favorite TV shows. (Hubby and I are currently obsessed with TNT’s Animal Kingdom, btw.) I actually enjoy the work that comes with preparing for a new week. It must be the type A, eager beaver personality of mine that cannot wait until Monday to arrive so I can make business phone calls, return business emails, check the mailbox, go to the post office , and make deposits at the bank (Yes, I still go to my branch to deposit my checks). Or maybe it is that Sundays invoke fond memories of dressing up for church. We always wore long dresses and covered our heads with a chapel veil. I grew up in a strict Pentecostal Church where we took dressing according to Biblical standards very seriously. I sang in the church choir and so I was used to waking very early on Sundays, pressing my choir uniform or prepping my robe then taking the city bus to choir rehearsal where we would practice for an hour we took the stage for service. After church, my mother and I would always go out for soul food with other church members and sometimes my cousin or best friends would come along. Sundays were so much fun and filled with family bonding time.

Well it seems I never could kick the habit of waking up early on Sunday mornings. As it turns out, I was cultivating a great habit that would benefit my lifestyle for years to come. If you do them right, Sundays are the perfect segue into a pleasant and productive week.

Assuming I do my household cleaning on Saturdays, my typical Sunday looks a lot like this:

Approximately 7am: Wake up, Pray & Read the Bible, drink warm lemon water, workout for 30-45 minutes in my building’s gym.
8am: Shower, turn on a Christian TV program like Dr. Charles Stanley, prepare a light breakfast like Oatmeal or granola with fruit on the side
9am: Water my plants, review my agenda for the week and update any events, meetings, appointments not already noted, check my daily cash budget to make sure we’re on track for the week.
10am: Dress for church
11am: Church service. This is a non-negotiable. Service always raises my spirits, fills me with optimism and sets a positive tone for my upcoming week.
1pm: Hubby and I go to one or two local supermarkets for fresh groceries and sample tastings (of course!). It feels less like a chore for me when we do it together because I hate grocery shopping.
3pm: Arrive back home, put groceries away, wash fresh produce off, prepare a simple meal for the evening and try to meal prep for atleast the next two days.
5pm: Dinner and relax. I usually wind down with a cup of chamomile or peppermint tea with honey.
9pm: Glance in the closet to get an idea of what I will wear to work the next day, but it is usually whatever I have worn to church the day before. I feel like I’ve hacked the fashion system when I look fab at church and then fab at work the very next day. No effort required the 2nd time.
10pm: Bedtime

Once I wake up on Monday morning, I am ready to rock and roll! There is nothing the day or week can bring that I am not able to handle head on. There are always unpredictable surprises, but I can usually manage them without angst. I am often one step ahead of those I plan to do business with, and I feel fully rested. Mondays are rarely blue for me.

I know this may sound like a whole lot of stuff to do on a restful Sunday, but for me, peace comes in the form of orderliness and preparation. Having a balanced budget and staying on task with my social calendar of various meetings gives me immense satisfaction. It is obviously my inner nerd because I have been this way since childhood and I cannot see myself not mapping out my life on a regular basis. It does not hurt that my husband is the polar opposite from me when it comes to planning/organizing so I take this quasi-obsession very seriously for our family’s sake:)