Sunday has once again become my favorite day of the week and if I have my way it will remain so for a good while. My daughter and I have taken to a new routine of making Sunday our “sloth” day; a weekly tradition of moving as slowly as possible and allowing moss to grow on us. Ok, no, not exactly that but close. It has become our day to hang out together and watch movies while making and eating tasty food, or if I’m having a particularly off- day physically, then it’s buying and eating tasty pre-made/take-out food – but you get the idea.

We have expanded our new tradition to include friends 1 or 2 Sundays a month and today is the first one where we will have guests, in this case my daughter’s “BFF” and her mom and possibly my “BFF” and her daughter.  Today’s menu includes Rosemary Beef Stew (I’ll get the recipe up for you in the next few days – I haven’t made it for years, so I need to run through it first before I can share it with you) and some homemade garlic bread – the dough is already rising. I’ll figure out a dessert or sweet treats of some kind while I’m at the market today.

It has been years since I’ve entertained at home with any regularity; I was too worried about making plans that I might have to cancel to stop and realize that normal, healthy people sometimes have to cancel things too. I’m blessed with an amazing group of supportive friends and an equally supportive family members who after all these years understand that I will never flake on purpose and get that if I’m out with them, or visiting at their place and I suddenly have to bail, it’s not them, it’s me. Amazingly, the world has never ended just because I had to cut and run to get home before a migraine got worse or muscle spasms make it so I can’t drive.

The best part about our new slothy tradition being on a Sunday is that it coincides nicely with our long-held Sunday tradition of “Sunday Rules”. Sunday Rules at our place state that with the exception of big events (weddings, funerals, special parties, etc) time doesn’t matter much. Scheduling is a loose thing, as in “we’ll head out for the store in the next few hours” or “guests will be coming and going as they like between 1 and 8”. I make foods that can be easily self -served whenever one is ready to graze, nibble or snack and being in a hurry to do anything is strictly forbidden.  Chores are light, treats are plentiful and spirits are usually high, so even when my pain is bad, my mood is great – hard to feel too sorry for yourself when you’re with folks you love, have tastiness on hand and are all snuggled in with not much to do.

The casualness of the day and the lack of worry over making sure “whatever” gets done is quite peaceful and seems to give me an opportunity to suspend the stressful things in my life and just enjoy each moment as it comes worry free. It assuages my mind if you will and eases my tension, which in turn allows for more creative pursuits like writing this blog, making beef stew or working on my art.  I strongly recommend that everyone set aside a day each week or so to get in touch with their inner sloth and to worry about nothing more than relaxing and munching on shoots and leaves.