The Misfortunes of a Monday

6:18 a.m. I breathe a sigh of relief. "Oh good...I still have a little time left..." Here I am trying to hold on to the remnants of sleep, knowing I have get up in an hour.
The next time I look at the flickering green numbers on my clock it says 8:16 a.m.: Oh My God!!!! I immediately spring into action: I run into the bathroom to brush my teeth, use the lieu and wash the sleep off my face with just enough time to look at the wet and sad reflection staring back at me and lament "It's Monday."

I run back into my room and turn on the idiot box. Is it just me or does the act of getting ready in the morning feel less lonely when you have Al Roker telling you how the weather is in your neck of the woods or when Diane Sawyer gives you that decades old pageant queen smile and says: "Good Morning America"? For those of you who aren't familiar with the morning line-up here in New York, Al Roker is the jolly jester of the "Today" show on WNBC (including Matt Lauer and Ann Curry) while Diane Sawyer (along with Ms. "Come On Back" herself, Robin Roberts) is the beauty queen turned anchor on WABC. With time quickly slipping away, there’s really no time to decide on what will make me feel absolutely fabulous today. Instead I wonder, is this clean? Can I get away with wearing flip-flops to the office, as I can’t find the one pair of sandals that will go with this outfit!! Aaaaarrrrggghhh!!! The iron is hot…and so am I. The weather has cooled down a bit, but my frustration is building. "It's Monday."

I take to looking in the mirror again (I’ve come to discover that this is the one thing I can depend on to tell me the absolute truth about myself – or at the least my outer workings and right now, it was screaming at me: COMB YOUR HAIR! COMB YOUR HAIR!). There’s nothing difficult about deciding what to do with my hair. I’ve come to regard the ponytail as my trademark (along with my glasses). Ok, it’s now 8:30 a.m. Wow…all of that came together in 15 minutes? I’m on a roll! And it's at this time that I take a seat on my bed...and breathe. It's what I do to mentally prepare for the day ahead of me. Breathing in…and out. Breathe In…and out. In…and out. I take one last deep breath. My little breathing regimen has taken me 10 minutes. It’s one of the few things that I do in the morning for myself that keeps me present. (Thanks for that, Wills!) Ok, what’s next?

I am now dressed, coiffed and centered. Wills would be proud. I close my eyes and smile to myself. “Damn, where is my watch?” I thought I put it on my dresser last night! And I don’t wanna forget to put on my face: nothing over the top like mascara or foundation or blush. Just a lip pencil (Coco Loco) and a little bit of gloss (Tahitian Tea). It looks ok…I look ok. “Where are my keys?!?!” (Well, so much for being centered!) Ok…ok…I’m freaking out again. I feel like there’s only one thing that can explain it:
I didn’t get enough sleep last night.
I’m starving for a turkey bacon and cheddar omlette that I know I will not be able to have because there are reports and records and letters piling up in my inbox that I have to get to. And oh…yea…
It’s Monday.