Woke up on a bad day, but the world grew wonderful

Yesterday didn't start out looking so good. I woke up in a terrible mood, as I'm prone to once in a while due to recent events, and it looked like things were going to go downhill from there. I was just flat crabby and depressive, and I couldn't see a way out: work didn't hold any charm, staying home wasn't an option, and I had to start the morning by going to the Post Office.

So off I went, hoping to pick up the package that had arrived right as the Post Office opened. First indication, however, that the day wasn't going to pick up: Post Office didn't open till 8:30, not 8 as I had been told the evening before. Hooray. Waited in my car until 8:25 before standing in the Post Office lobby for the last five minutes--which turned into 10 minutes. Stood in line--only second, mind you--for 5 minutes while the Civil employee readied himself. Took another 10 minutes for him to find, retrieve, and hand over my package.

This is where my mood began to lighten ever so slightly. I had ordered a new tallit from Israel, and opening the package, I could see that this was the awaited shawl. A bright spot. The bright spot shone brighter when I was able to open the package completely at work and saw that the the tallit was, indeed, beautiful.

Still, I was unmotivated by my work, and my mood and attitude were generally bad. Soldiering on as best I could, I put on some music and got to work. At 11:30, some colleagues asked if I would join them in eating outside, so off I went.

Here's the next part in the lifting of my mood: the day was absolutely gorgeous. Low 60s with just a hint of cloud and the slightest, slightest chill in the breeze. Somewhere in that mid morning, my funk began to lift, and I came back to work feeling far better. My work had become suddenly more engaging, and I was happier to do it.

The rest of the day went pretty quickly. After getting home and helping the Wife with dinner, we sat down to eat a pleasant and enjoyable meal. The Boy and I went out to play some catch--the Girl was at a sleepover--and so I spent the next 40 minutes throwing around outside. More weight lifted from me. The Wife came out, suggested a movie, so we went out, the three of us. Returning home, the Boy was bushed, so he went straight to bed. The Wife wanted to watch a show on the computer, so I played a bit of World of Warcraft, spending an hour or two with an old friend in game. Ended up going to bed a bit later than I wanted.

So between friendship, good relationships, beautiful weather, excellently-used leisure time, and a new prayer shawl, I fell asleep in a far better mood than I would have ever anticipated.

Life, truly and deeply, is good.