We’ve been traveling for a day and a half – 36 hours on planes and in airports and on trains in airports. Fitting my swollen feet back into my shoes after the 14 hour flight, one of three to travel nearly 6,000 miles, is a herculean effort. When the cab finally delivers us to our doorstep, I feel a mix of relief and anxiety. It’s 10pm local time. We’ve been gone for three weeks, our fridge is empty, and I have to get up and go to work in the morning. Tomorrow is going to be the worst.
We trudge through the door to discover an envelope on our table, propped up next to a box of Life cereal, a loaf of bread, and some apples. Further investigation reveals milk, eggs, cheese, and other forms of merciful sustenance in the fridge.
But where? How? Only one couple has keys to our house. I assume they’re the food fairy and thank my lucky stars for having such excellent taste in house-sitters. I strip off my airplane-infested clothes, climb into the shower, wash off days’ worth of travel, and fall into bed. The envelope remains unopened on the table.
I’m completely delirious when the alarm rouses me from a dead sleep. I’m simultaneously starving and too tired to eat. In a morning fog I wander into the kitchen and pour a bowl of cereal. We don’t normally eat cereal in the Tursciari household, and as I dip my spoon into the Life and take my first bite, I honestly get a little weepy. Cereal tastes SO good! How could I have forgotten how good this is? Why don’t we buy cereal more often? And why oh why do I have to go to work today?
I reach for the envelope and open the card. Reading, the spoonful of cereal hovering in front of my mouth clangs loudly back into the bowl, splashing Life everywhere. Wait, what? This signature can’t be right. How is that even possible? Full on ugly crying now, I gulp down the rest of my breakfast (I may have had two bowls…) and head into the office.
The food fairy is my dear friend and colleague Amber. Despite the fact that she’s never even been to my house, she spent the three weeks we were gone scheming to coordinate ‘Operation Break In’. By a method I still don’t understand, she managed to get a key to our house and went shopping for the staples right before we got home. Never in my wildest dreams would I even think to do something like this, and I am blown away by her thoughtfulness and consideration. She knew we’d be hungry, exhausted, and foodless, and she solved all of those problems and filled our hearts with joy with a single act.
Last year I made three resolutions: to invest in my blog, spend more money, and to give up ‘busy’. Having mindfulness around these areas of growth, I’m happy to share that I was able to make progress on all three. As you can see, just under the wire, I have a new blog. I’ve also gotten more comfortable spending money – let’s just say we really enjoyed our 3+ week honeymoon in Italy/Bosnia/Montenegro/Croatia. And, I’ve dropped the word ‘busy’ from my vocabulary, which I think has made me feel more intentional about my actions.
This year I have one resolution: to be more considerate, or, for short, to ask myself What Would Amber Do (WWAD)? I feel privileged every day to get to work with and learn from Amber. It seems like she’s always doing little things that remind me of how to be a better human being. So this year I vow to be mindful of my ability to make the lives of others better, in big and small ways. I have no idea how to do it, but I sure am excited to try.
How will you grow in 2019?
p.s. It’s not a resolution, but I do want to share that I’m going dry (no alcohol) this January and am giving up processed sugar: think candy, cookies, cake, etc. Eating it doesn’t make me feel better and it’s certainly not making me look better, so it’s going away this month.
p.p.s. While also not a resolution, I have the intention of writing every day in January as part of the #Januwordy movement (thank you Semi-Rad for sharing), and in doing so I want to be more honest and real on my social media accounts. We tend to share just the shiny pieces of our lives there, choosing to shadow over the hard stuff that makes life so complex and extraordinary. I posted my first of such posts yesterday on my @activelifekc instagram. I’d love to hear what you think.
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