Fridays

Today is Friday. Fridays are overrated. I am frying in my living room like a smelly lobster in a pot, except lobsters don't have ears. Lucky lobsters.

My double ear infection has kept me in the house all week. Never jump into dirty rat-pee waterfalls after an ear irrigation, then try to learn boogie-boarding in an angry ocean right after. Nature and my own stupidity have forced me to wear cotton balls in both ears for days. Like a stuffed lobster.

The thing about Fridays is this: anything worth doing should be done as soon as you feel like it. That's how I feel. That's why I don't wait for Fridays. The problem: by the time Friday rolls around everything worth doing is already done. Yet every week I look forward to Friday. And every week I'm disappointed. Last Friday I deep-cleaned my house -- buttery microwave, moldy bathtub, offensive fridge. I also did laundry, which I hate even worse than discovering three-month old leftovers. Friday makes me a masochist.

Not that it's Friday's fault I get excited. Friday didn't ask to be a novelty, to be put on a pedestal like that. It just happened to be at the tail end of school and work weeks, which for some reason made it special, which for some reason makes us anticipate it for six days a week then wonder why we did that when it comes around again.

I liked Tuesday, when I got a free meatball sandwich for being at work at the right time, or Wednesday, when I made friends with a Korean girl in my class and afterwards we talked about our goals over mango smoothies. Monday was a backyard bonfire and Reese's cup s'mores, then staying up with sympathetic friends as I cried over ear pain. Sunday was watching God work through another person, giving her strength and words to say what we all needed to hear. Thursday was a looong, delicious nap after curling up with my new favorite book. (Baby No-Eyes, Patricia Grace. Brilliant.) Saturday was the fateful hike that ended in an ear infection, but that was worth it because I met fantastic new friends. Also I was in the jungle: my favorite! Now here I am at Friday again, sweaty and full of cotton.

Here's to anticipating the other days.
And to not being a stuffed lobster next week.