Recovering from the death of a loved one

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The death of a loved one is one is a hugely impactful and stressful event, and if you are like me you don't even like to think about losing someone so important to you that it will rock your whole world. While it sucks to think about it or talk about it, it is a fact of life that it's bound to happen. I truly don't think you can prepare for some losses, and I also don't think you ever stop missing someone. I believe you go on living because of course you do, but there is no magic cure for someone's absence on this earth. Some things make the grieving process a little easier though.

Don’t bottle up your grief

Bottling up grief is the most harmful thing you can do. Your body needs that release in order to move on and by bottling it up you’ll feel weaker and angrier longer. Allow yourself time to cry and don’t feel ashamed of doing it in front of family and friends or the world at large (hopefully you can make it to the bathroom if you feel a spell coming on at work because if you're like me you'd rather do about 489 dumpster dives in the heat of summer than cry in your office). Grief is completely normal, everyone grieves differently, and you need to give yourself some grace and let it out.

Seek support from family and friends

Having time to yourself is important, but you shouldn’t let yourself become a recluse because it's easier to be alone and not feel the need to attempt to explain how you feel to anyone. The loss of someone close leaves a huge hole, and that huge hole is made worse by cutting out the supports and connections you have around you. Spend time with friends and family and accept any support that they offer, whether it’s helping you to deal with funeral plans or simply cooking you a meal or doing your dishes and laundry. Accept that people want to do things for you in your time of need and let them, however you can. Some people are better at doing than talking. 

Use healthy self-medication

When we mention self-medicating, we often think of the not great/unhealthy methods like heavy drinking or drug abuse and while it's tempting to lose yourself in a haze of whatever, don't. Try instead to embrace healthy forms of self-medication such as exercise, laughter, or simple pleasures such as a hot bath. All these activities will provide an endorphin rush that will help you to feel better temporarily. Coping is done in a series of minutes strung together to make a day. Get through those minutes in small segments. 

Consider talking to a counselor

If you need to talk through your feelings, grief counseling could be worth trying. A counselor can act as a neutral party – there may be feelings that you don’t feel you can open up about to anyone else and a counselor will listen and not judge. Loss can create all kinds of complex feelings from anger to guilt. It's rarely ever a case of straight-forward sadness and it's hard to work through any issues you have related to someone who has passed when that person is no longer there. 

Consider joining a support group

Support groups could allow you to talk to other people who have dealt with similar losses as you. Having other people who can relate to you could help to combat the loneliness of grief. Look out for support groups local to you and support groups online. 

I hope you don't need it soon, but if you do, I hope it helps.

Looking After Kids? Never Fear, An Activity Guide is Here

Not everyone in the world is comprised of a skeleton of maternal bones. For some of us, our nieces and nephews and framily of kids of our friends are more than enough. Popping in as a favorite adult that's not a parent is one of the best feelings aside from the genuine affection and big hearted love you have for these little darlings. However, when they are in your official care because your sibling or friend has an appointment or it’s date night, you are now in charge of them, and need to entertain or at least direct entertainment as well as keep them out of danger.

If you find yourself in charge of the happiness and well being of a couple of little people in your home or theirs, depending on their age you are probably looking for some activities to do together. Very little human beings are easy to care for because they eat, sleep, pee/poop, and play and require very little activity planning...but where's the fun in that? Never fear, as they grow older, you'll be branching out more in your activities. There are lots of great activities you can get into that will be fun for the kids and as a bonus fun for you. 

Seek Adventure

There are a whole host of adventure parks across the country. These range from water parks to theme parks. If the children that you are looking after adore being active and can swim, a water park is ideal. They can spend an hour or two going down slides, enjoying the rapids, and having a swim in the wave machine. Taking kids I love is literally the only way I'd set foot in a water park. If it's not outdoor weather, you can partake in one of the hugely popular bouncey places. Enjoy the fun of the trampoline park and watch the little people bounce away to their heart’s content. Being active, having fun, and bouncing off of the walls (literally) is tiring in a good way and makes for happy evenings.

If the kids are old enough and you're all feeling daring, you could opt for a theme park. Most theme parks have ride areas specifically aimed at kids. Harry Potter World and Disney have amazing rides and can be the ultimate day out. Here in PA you've got Dorney and Hershey Parks and in NJ there are all the shore town amusements as well as Six Flags. Busch Gardens in Virginia...what's near you? Get your wallet out and go. 

Stay Local

There's no need to travel for fun if you don't feel like it or don't have the cash for it - there are lots of free activities all around. You could head to the local park or playground or take a walk or bike ride through the neighborhood together. Your local town might have a free museum or it will at least have some attractions where the kids go free. Consider what the children are interested in and try to mold activities around their likes and passions. If they adore all things science, head to the local space center or observatory. Philly friends, check out the Franklin Institute or Please Touch Museum. If they'll sit for it, take them to see the kids movie that's out in theaters. If they like books, check out what's going on in the kid's section of the local library. 

Local activities are great because you don’t have to worry about planning a long journey. You never have to worry about the incessant Are we there yet and you can visit some local places that you might not go to much, broadening your own horizons. 

Stay Home

Some kids prefer a more sedate and chilled pace of life. If they're little homebodies or you're looking after them at night, the chances are that you’ll be staying indoors. Turn up armed with some pipe cleaners, paints, crayons, paper, boxes and felt, and allow them to craft away. Maybe you can collaborate on building a robot or painting a portrait or copying a design from a book. Kids adore novelty, so any craft activity new to them just by virtue of doing it with you should be a lot of fun. If you're not crafty and they're not either, you could bake a cake together, build a fortress with blankets and pillows, read books, play school, pretend you have a restaurant or are going to the store....all those awesome imagination required things that let kids stretch their brains. 

What are some activities you like to do when you're babysitting the awesome little people in your life? Are you on duty this weekend? 

Thursday Thoughts - He’s the king of them all, y’all

1. Happy 14th birthday to the king of them all. I never thought this dog was making it to today but he does what he wants as he has since the day we got him in October 2005.

2. I always see the best skies in Target parking lots.

3. Nothing else was the best though. I felt like I was wandering around aimlessly last night because they're remodeling and I couldn't find anything. Cute new book section though.

4. Let this be known as the week I ran out of everything. $$$ I had to replace my eye cream (using Banana Bright by Ole Henriksen), dry shampoo (Living Proof is the GOAT), and deodorant (trying Native). I also bought Gus a new bed for the shore and took Lola Jean a book last night when I stopped by to see her and Baby Stephen and have pizza with them.

 5. I had no lunch for today or dinner for tonight so yesterday I whipped up one of Missy's favorite go to meals - I saw her comment on Lindsay's blog post on a healthy and easy weeknight meal and it sounded good so it was off to the races. I didn't have everything, so I browned ground beef with some Penzey's shallots, drained it, topped it with a bag of frozen riced cauliflower and a jar of salsa, added salt and Forward by Penzey's, chopped up half a jar of banana peppers and threw them in, and let it ride for a while. Then I topped with pepperjack cheese and broiled it.

6. I worked from home yesterday and I'm working from home tomorrow. Bruce is pleased. He likes to look over my shoulder or sit at my feet while I work.

7. I love when the Comcast building looks like part of the sky.

8. I've got no commentary on the state of the world in this post. I'm on vacation next week, leaving for the shore tonight with nothing packed, we have a lot of things going on personally and at work, and I barely got this together. I left my house this morning with no face moisturizer, eye cream,  or mascara...that’s three out of five things in my morning leave the house routine. Toner and under eye concealer made the cut. Not like I didn’t have time either, I did. My brain needs a break. Fuckitville, population: me.

9. Reminder:

10. Ecards.

What appears after the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts is a song lyric to whatever I'm listening to when I start to write the post. This week is Sweet Soul Music by Arthur Conley

Three Things - August

Songs that make me think of high school
-Hey Jealousy by Gin Blossoms
-Stay by Lisa Loeb
-No Rain by Blind Melon

Things I like to give
-Compliments. I don't make them up to have something to say, but if I admire something I don't hold it in even if I don't know someone
-Encouragement, the world has enough critics
-hell to people who deserve it

Things I like to receive
-All the information I need if I'm doing something for you
-iced coffee
-recommendations on reusable/sustainable items

Things I hate that many people like
-Podcasts and audiobooks. And no, recommending one you really like will not change my mind. I've tried. I listened to the first season of Serial and while I liked the content, I had to force it. I've tried podcasts by people I know and like The Broad Review and Influenced: The Podcast. I even did a podcast with Jana that I never listened back to. I just don't like listening to talking when I'm not in conversation. I listened to Michelle Obama's book and while I loved the content and her reading it the whole time I was wishing I read it instead.
-Cheeseburgers. I love cheese, but not on burgers or on sandwiches in general.
-Baths

Clothes I find uncomfortable aside from jeans and heels which I have mentioned 4092348 times

-crew neck tees (all vee all the time)

-khaki/twill pants or shorts
-sandals that have straps (t-straps okay, ankle coming up from the back or across the foot no)

Things I love seeing other people post
-Dorm room move in & first day of school pictures
-Links to things they love (not necessarily things that have to be bought, more like recipes, ways of doing things, books)
-Anything socially conscious - a problem in the world and what they're doing to combat it in some small way

  You might also like Three Things July 2019, Three Things May 2019, Three Things December 2017, Three Things the original, Three Things November, Three Things August, Three Things September

Recommendations - August 2019

If you wouldn't do it or say it in person, don't do it or say it online. Some of you who were raised without the internet have forgotten how to be real people with conflict resolution skills and it shows. You need to remember that and teach younger people who don't know a world without the internet. Address problems with people directly and don't put on some persona that is not you. It's weird.

Always have frozen spaghetti sauce in the freezer. I probably should have shared my recipe before now, but I will next time I make it. If you want it in the meantime, let me know. It's veggie meat sauce and I triple it and share with family too.

Share quick and easy meals or good lunch ideas with people. If you make something and it's easy/healthy-ish/cheap-ish, you need share that shit on any platform you have - share a link on facebook, post it on Instagram, include it in your blog, tell your friends and fam in person or via text, hire a plane and write it in the sky. People are out there struggling for lunch and meal ideas. It's the right thing to do.

Wear whatever you want. If you like it and it's comfortable and it makes you happy, wear it. You are under no obligation to be a fashionista or to dress only in neutrals or to avoid patterns or styles based on some bullshit society tells you about what your body type is or what people your age should wear. Your body type wears whatever it wants and aging does not require you to fade quietly into the ether. Fuck all that.

Breathe through it. Whatever it is. Deep breaths, acknowledge that you’re feeling some kind of way, and that it will pass. And as you concentrate on breathing deeply, it does. 

Anything you're recommending this month?

TWTW - the last one in August

Friday I walked Bruce and Bender, drove them to Dog Beach to frolic for a half hour, got coffee at Drip N Scoop, unpacked, ran an errand, showered, and was working before 8 am. Boom shaka laka. I visited my mother in law in North Wildwood and hit the store at lunch. After work I lounged around reading inside and on the porch as it rained. Freaking Rite Aid had a bunch of stuff 50-70% off so I made out there. MFD arrived with Gus and Mae close to 9 and then headed off to see his Mom. 

Saturday The dogs were up before 6, then lounging on me or my bags. Our leaving guests that I love left us awesome gifts and will be returning. We did turnover for the last  weekly rental of the season - replacing door knobs and air filters and the regular jazz and opened the windows for the first time since June. We have some weekend rentals coming up but this week is the last weekly and we’ve already started booking for 2020. MFD went fishing and to a fundraiser while I hit our beach then came home and painted my nails (OPI Cajun Shrimp). At night we went people watching on the boardwalk. 

Sunday MFD was up early to do the dog walking. I lingered in bed until 8, then we packed up and drove over to Dog Beach where we spent almost two hours getting sand blasted.  It’s the first time we brought chairs and attempted to stay there. The dogs were tired AF, Mae was furious, we saw a dog rescue in the ocean, Gus refused to sit down at all, and everyone is like omg you have four dogs?

The sand storm and hanger drove us back home. Everyone relaxed and ate, I did a bit of blogging and banking, then MFD went fishing and I got a pedicure (OPI I Don’t Give a Rotterdam!). I went to the library, then we picked up dinner and visited with my mother in law in North Wildwood. We got ice cream at Kessel’s Korner on the way home and I was asleep by 11:30.

Weekly food prep: Breakfast is vanilla greek yogurt with mango granola. Lunch is peanut butter and banana on whole wheat tortilla wraps. Snacks are peaches and plums. Dinners are pasta with lemon, oil, and broccoli that I never made the last two weeks and soft tacos. 

How was yours? Happy birthday to my friend Jill who celebrated Saturday!

Don't fall into the pushy parent trap

Happy Friday! My friend Sarah who last wrote about never being too busy to spend time with your aging parents is back with this parenting piece. If you are polishing your writing chops or have something to say or are trying to get into freelance writing and want some exposure and want to submit a post, email me! If you want to reach Sarah directly, email her. Have a great weekend!

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Every parent wants the best for their kids. You want your offspring to be responsible human beings who grow up tolerant, kind, and thoughtful. You want them to find their place in the world, make an impact, and most importantly, be happy. So, why is it so many parents fall into the pushy trap? While most parents are well meaning, their quest for being the perfect mom or dad can result in an overbearing nature that does nothing but push their kids away. You might want the best for your child but you cannot force your wants on them or live through them. 

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Listen

Most important of all is your ability to be a good listener. If you ask about your child’s school day, don’t then switch off and uh-huh their response. This shows a lack of care. Instead, ask your child how they are getting on every day and inquire about any hobbies that they may have. Just because you adored the debating society when you were at school doesn’t mean that your kid will. Rather than forcefully enrolling them and causing an undercurrent of resentment, let them choose their own path. If they want to join a wrestling team, let them. If they fancy trying out for the fencing society, support them. And if they want to learn a musical instrument, get them a free session. Listen and be supportive at all times.

Give Them Space

Being too pushy can result in your child feeling smothered. You might be interested in what they are doing, but that doesn’t mean texting them every five minutes when they are out of your sight. Instead, give them their space. The transition to teenager can be a tricky time, so tread carefully. They may not be old enough to stay home alone, but you don’t want to coddle them. Get online and search for the best babysitters when you head for a night out. You can specifically find those sitters who have experience with this age range rather than toddlers. Your kids will have a more pleasant time when you're out if they're treated appropriately for their age. 

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Let Them Make Mistakes

While you may be older and wiser and able to spot their upcoming mistake from a mile off, you need to allow your child to find their own way. Storming in and telling them that they are making an error and should change their ways, whether this is with a relationship, a course, or a friend, will only result in them digging their heels in and rebelling. You need to bide your time and allow them to learn from their mistakes. They will emerge stronger and wiser. You will be there to listen and help them make better decisions in the future. By being supportive rather than authoritative you will avoid the pushy parent trap.

Being a parent is one of the toughest jobs you will ever have. However, it is also be the most rewarding when you see your child grow up to be one of the most wonderful citizens of the world.

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Thank you Sarah! Happy weekend everybody! Happy birthday to my friend Jill tomorrow!

Thursday Thoughts - One Night and One More Time, Thanks for the Memories

1. Every day I emerge from the train station surprised that it's a day earlier than I think it is, and having to remind myself that it's an entire week earlier than I think it is too.

2. Does anyone else buy shoes and to get a true idea of how they look, photograph them from all angles? Ben was not interested in getting out of these photos. If you're interested, I love the shoes. They're Toms and they're comfortable and substantial.

3. Huge love for libraries and librarians. All the yesterdays, today, and all the tomorrows.

4. While we're on the book topic, I've started and stopped a record number of books over the past two months. Another one this week.

5. I finally settled in on a book (forget the title, LOL), but MFD put a movie on. Sunshine. SPOILER ALERT IN IMAGE FROM A 2007 MOVIE THAT SUCKED. 12 years later, not sorry. As far as I'm concerned if you didn't see it and I spoiled it for you, I have saved you time you will never, ever get back.

6. Bruce is always sacked out on Mondays due to jackassing all around the shore. It's awesome.

7. Things that have made me happy this week: fresh sheets, sleep, new lids to Pyrex to replace cracked lids. 

8. In this week's hell, the Amazon rainforest continues to burn, your buffoon president thought he could just buy Greenland and offended an ally in the process, trump's DOJ has asked the Supreme Court to permit employment discrimination against transgender workers (which will open up interpretations of Title VII that will leave all of us vulnerable to discrimination - EXCUSE ME, all of us aside from cis white men), remaining a healthcare option for poor women forced Planned Parenthood to withdrawal from Title X funding and if you think those funds went to abortion and are feeling smug I have a garbage island in a swamp to sell you (supporters open your wallets),  migrant families would face indefinite detention under a new trump law, and Stephen Miller's plan for people to die in cages is coming to fruition as children detained in cages are denied the flu vaccine (even though three of them have died of it). The cruelty and dehumanization of marginalized groups is the point of this administration. It is vile and disgusting and anyone who supports this administration in any way owns these actions. I'm about 12 months past done building a fucking bridge with people who watch as cruelty and unnecessary and inhumane brutality is committed in the name of making America great again. FOR FUCKING WHO. Get the fuck out. This is being done to feed a sense of superiority that should not exist. 

9. Reminder: Nothing else and no one else first. Your ability to love and care for everyone in your life feeds from your love and care of yourself. To be the best for others, you have to give the best to you.

10. Ecards:

That's what I've got today. You? Anything to contribute?

What appears after the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts is a song lyric to whatever I'm listening to when I start to write the post. This week is Thnks fr the Mmrs by Fall Out Boy, a song I don't even like. That's two weeks in a row

People are committed to being miserable AF

MAN ALIVE people are committed to being absolutely fucking miserable and spreading that misery around like manure, hoping to grow more misery. I don't accept that energy.

Do you remember a time when your only way to complain was to bitch to a few friends about something then move on with your life because you'd gotten it out or your friends told you to get over yourself? Sidenote: you don't have real friends who will check you when you're being outrageous, I suggest getting some immediately.

With social media, people who are committed to their misery now have a platform to bitch to untold amounts of people at any time and lord people are taking advantage of that and creating a minefield of Chicken Little The World is Ending posts because someone cut them off in traffic or cursed within earshot of them in public and it is on my absolute last nerve (yes, I see the irony of me writing a post complaining about people complaining). 

Serious complaints are absolutely valid and necessary - nothing changes without complaints and plans of action. Complaining here and there fine, even funny, depending on the presentation but when people are constant complainers it's like fucking STOP. I’m not talking about the random WTF, life, complaints - it’s human nature, we all do it, but we’re generally spending most time not complaining. 

Miserable people are only happy when they’re complaining, Miserable people will find something to complain about a picnic in heaven, that’s how committed they are to being perpetually unhappy and dissatisfied. They create a negative vortex where every small annoyance means the world is hell, everyone is a rude law breaker, no child is being raised right, there is no respect, no one has any regard for the property of others, and it's better just to stay inside our houses behind little glowing screens. And when we hear or read misery all the time it wriggles its way into our brain and attempts to drop an anchor in there.

Last year once summer hit I snoozed all Ocean City Facebook pages except two and did the same this year. Every post on those pages was about how awful it was in town and how people are rude. I am there every weekend and people are fine. What I was reading was not what I was experiencing. The pages ABOUT Ocean City where people were endlessly complaining and being miserable AF were the only things making my actual time IN Ocean City a bad experience. That's wild and a testament to how miserable people impact their surroundings - even/especially the virtual surroundings.

The phrase misery loves company actually means misery NEEDS company - miserable people must justify their misery so they're going to keep going until they've converted you to being a miserable asshole too. Avoid that at all costs by avoiding them. 

Well adjusted people are always looking inward to evaluate and improve themselves before they turn their gaze outward. Miserable people are always looking outward to evaluate and judge others so they can avoid the hard internal work required to exist in this world as a fallible human.

Miserable people are soul suckers. Don’t be a soul sucker and don’t entertain soul suckers. 

About that RV Life: Your kind of vacation or no?

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We talk about family trips all the time. For one of our next big ones we're trying to plan a Griswold family RV trip. I love vacations that involve sitting on a beach, but I also truly love vacations that involve getting out and about and being on the road, coming across unusual and unexpected things. The last time we did this, it was just me & MFD, and we jumped around hotel rooms and that's a privileged pain in and of itself. This time we're considering an RV as a group.   

The chance to travel from your home

One of the biggest benefits of using an RV  for your holiday is to enjoy the luxury of packing up from home and then just heading out on the road to your chosen destination. Many countries can offer links and passage from one to the other, so it can mean that you get to see a lot more. You can also feel assured because you can take care of any maintenance and repairs with a mobile rv repair specialist that could come out to where you are. Simple and convenient. I don't think we'll do this though. We're thinking more of flying out west, picking one up, and charting our course from there. You can bet your bottom dollar I'll still be having a mobile repair service in my phone regardless of where we leave from.

I don't think I'd do an RV in another country unless they drove on the same side of the road as us and the steering wheel was also on the same side. Driving in a foreign country is nerve wracking enough for me without having a huge vehicle. We did it in Ireland in a 10 person van and that was even a little hairy. 

See places that are off the beaten track

I call myself a touron because I will absolutely visit the touristy spot - it is one for a reason. I also like stuff off the beaten path through, and you definitely get a lot of flavor and feel for where you are being on a road trip. An rv road trip will certainly give us the chance to see more places off the beaten track. There's nothing like pulling a map up and pinpointing small stops on there for the most inconsequential reasons. When planning a road trip I always try to think outside the box, and thanks to the world wide web, information and highlights on many unspoiled spots that could be truly wonderful to experience is right at your fingertips. I pore over that stuff, working it over in my mind and in and out of my itinerary for a long time before we actually take a trip. Give me the recognizable touron spot and also give me a chance to get away from the crowds and take some awesome pictures elsewhere, experiencing something uniquely. Another huge benefit when you are traveling as a family. 

A more low key style 

Road trips are a lot come as you are, and I dig that so much. There is no dressing for dinner, unless you want to. In case you're new here, 99.5% of the time I don't want to. You're on your own schedule and routine, which can make for a low key vacation if you are not traveling with me. I want to see what I want to see, and I often want to see one to two more things than you should try to jam in on a lot of our road trip days. If you are more spontaneous and less itinerary based than me, the only timings you may need to be strict with is check in times to camp sights or spots where you'll be pulling up for the night. This can be an easier way to enjoy a more relaxed vibe. If you're like me, you're a little panicked just thinking about that LOL. 

No worries of travel chaos 

If you RV from and back to home, you can cut out some of the travel chaos like delayed flights, lost luggage, overweight luggage, long lines at security, super pricey and sort of gross airport food, etc etc.  Of course, road trips can present their fair share of chaos in other ways, such as traffic, animals in the road, break downs, getting lost, detours, people getting hangry, pent up in the car together too long feelings, etc etc... but let's be real, this can also add to the excitement. 

Have you ever considered a RV holiday?

TWTW - the one deep in the rhythm of shore life

Friday I spent my lunch hour driving to the shore, finished out the work day, rode my bike to the library to pick up holds, visited with favorite guests upstairs and got a saved parking spot and ice cream cake from them, then went up to the beach and had a piece of pizza on the boardwalk. I was up reading until 12:30.

Saturday Freaking dogs got up at 4:45. MFD arrived early and weed whacked the neighbor's abandoned house. Turnover was easy breezy with sham change outs and moving bedding around being my favorite part as usual. I got awesome gifts from leaving guests, greeted new returning guests that we also love, and spent the afternoon whiling away the time on the North End beaches: reading, looking up at the sky, sitting in tide pools, and knowing I didn't have to do a damn thing at night. We ate at home, I painted my nails (OPI If You Moust, You Moust), and fell out around 11. 

Sunday We took the dogs to Dog Beach before 7 am and they loved it. Bruce went fully into the ocean for the first time and Gus was charging in like he was a puppy instead of nearly 14 years old. They loved Maximus the eight month old rottweiler. They did not love getting baths when they got back. Gus was furious and headed towards West Avenue at a steady clip. I started a new book while MFD was doing that. MFD fixed a toilet problem up in the house, then we headed to North Wildwood to see his mom. We got salads and smoothies for lunch on the way back and walked the dogs. Around 2 I realized I wasn't going to get home that night so I relaxed for a bit and went up to the boardwalk around 6:45. We tried the lobster rolls I’ve been wanting to try all summer and people watched on a bench. We watched Fight Club and went to sleep around 11:30. 

Weekly food prep: Breakfast is vanilla greek yogurt with mango granola and blueberries. Lunch is hard boiled eggs, bell peppers, olives, and some salami (bento boxes forever). Snacks are kiwi and cucumbers. Dinners are pasta with lemon, oil, and broccoli that I never made last week and zucchini taco boats. I'm not sure what else. 

I ate too much candy and slept shitty for it and 5 am came early this morning. I got home in time to put the trash and recycles out, pull homemade veggie meat sauce out of the freezer, and throw a load of laundry in before getting dressed and heading to the train. I did not remember to brush my hair or bring my reusable coffee cup, so...

How was yours?