Thomas convinces me to pick up a summer mystery thriller, so I hope that this story will at least deserve a better rating than that summer beach romance.

We depart around 5 o'clock, and I head straight home, where I make myself some yummy dinner of ramen and dumplings. Nothing can make your day better than ramen and dumplings. Of course, if this was at an actual ramen shop, then that would be better, but this is a very close second.

After dinner, I decide to read a bit of the next story, which actually is quite good for only being about 100 pages in. I take a quick shower as I scrub myself nice and clean before I get into bed. Once I get out of the shower, brush my teeth, floss, rinse with mouthwash, wash my face twice, and the nine other steps before bed, I'm ready. I also made sure to use lotion all over as I slip on a nightgown. Not a nightgown like a grandma wears, but a nightgown that a grandma would wear when she was young.

I slip under the covers as I reach for my crossword puzzle book on my nightstand. I like doing them before I go to bed because they tire me out, and even though I'm not very good at them, I like to be able to tell people I do crossword puzzles. Plus, I tell everyone I know that it keeps me young and keeps my mind sharp. Soon enough after attempting my one crossword for over an hour, I realize it's time to give up and go to sleep, which is just what I do.

* * *

I am in the state of sleep, where you know if you open your eyes, you'll be awake, so you keep your eyes shut in hopes that you go back to sleep. However, my body is refusing to let me go back to bed as if it is saying, "Get up! Get up! How will you get anything done today if you don't wake up right now?" 

I listen to my body and open my eyes as I'm blinded by the light, sneaking through the only gap in my blinds.

I crawl across my bed and shut my curtains, so no light is coming through at all when I collapse back into my bed. I lie in bed for a while until I have the urge to get up since I am certainly not going back to sleep, and I can't stay in bed all day. I waddle out of my bedroom as I officially begin my morning.

One's morning routine isn't complete without a call from one's mother as she basically interrogates you about what you are doing today, what about work, and what do I have going on the rest of the week. I tell her that I still have time off until the grand opening, which is happening Friday. Mom complains that that isn't the right time to do a grand opening, but I just let her rant as I continue to tell her about the other plans I have this week. 

I conveniently leave out the information with Thomas since I'm not sure I want to get into that conversation with her, especially since she doesn't even know about the joy list in the first place.

She tells me that I should do my grocery shopping today, and I need to make sure I have my laundry cleaned up before Friday because I need to look my best for the opening. She also asks what I will wear and when I tell her I don't know, she goes bananas as she begins to tell me the look that I should be going for, and I am 'representing' "Dough Re Mi," so I need to look my best.

Of course, mom's nagging is a bit much for a Monday morning, but in every sentence, I know she is saying I love you. I tell her I love her, and she immediately tells me she loves me too and to take care. 

I decide to follow my mom's advice since I have nothing going on in theory until later since I'll need to text Thomas about if he wants to meet tonight or if he would rather go on a different day to write our stories at Cafe Royale.

But all of that is behind me as I walk to my car, ready for today's journey.

Today's journey must have been a lot of fun at the expense of me considering that as soon as I pulled into the parking lot, someone cut me off from my space and when I tried to park in a different spot, the jerk truck driver decided that he needed two spots instead of just one. I remain calm as I pull into the back of the parking lot as I tell myself it's good to walk.

I head inside as I remember I left my usable bags in the back of the car, and I have that moment where you think, "Do I go back and get them, or do I just leave them for next time?"

I decide that I want to be a good samaritan because I absolutely go back for the bags and come back in with them. So far the experience inside isn't so bad, but I am once again set into fight or flight mode as I am at the self-checkout when it keeps thinking I'm not scanning things, and I didn't place something in the bagging area, so the worker there has to keep coming back to help me as I lose my mind. 

Once I finally finish in the store and check that I scanned everything correctly, I head back to my car as I ever so slowly fill my trunk with four bags of groceries. I put the cart away, and I'm off.

The drive from the store to my apartment is short, which does not give me the time to recover from the fact that I need to bring up four filled to the brim bags across the parking lot, up a flight of stairs until I need to unlock my door to my apartment. I can usually handle this just fine, but I must have been hungry as I was shopping because I normally never get this much.

I turn the car off as I pop open the trunk while grabbing my purse. One more bag - sure, why not!

I grab all the bags, two bags on each arm with my purse on my left arm since the bags are slightly lighter than the ones on my right. I take all of the groceries up, not stopping a single time because I'm not some wimp, and as I get to my door, I fidget with the key, and when the door finally unlocks, I rush in dropping the bags right next to the fridge.

I take a nice deep breath as I also chug some water before I begin unpacking and putting everything where it belongs. It doesn't take too long, and I pat myself on the back for getting one errand done so far.

Next is laundry. I don't mind the laundry since I have my own unit in the apartment, and it's not too difficult. I throw in my first load as I decide what other chores or other things need my attention. Nothing needs immediate attention considering I try to keep a tidy place, but I am suddenly struck by the thought that Thomas may be coming over throughout the week, and my place cannot look messy.

In the spirit of cleaning like a mom does when guests are coming over, I sweep the floors, vacuum the rugs and couch, dust everything in the vicinity, clean off the coffee table, wash the windows, clean off the kitchen counter-tops, wipe off the stove, clean inside and outside the microwave, wipe down all the handles in the kitchen, clean any left over dishes, and put the clean dishes away. 

The hallway is much more manageable considering I just need to clean the door handles, wipe down the shoe rack and mud mat by the entrance, and sweep and dust the hallway. 

Of course, Thomas may have to use the bathroom, so I obviously need to clean everything in the bathroom too. By this point in my cleaning extravaganza, I have already put another load of laundry in the washing machine while the first load is almost done in the dryer.

It is also during this time that I receive a text from Thomas.