Jan. Week 3: A Long Weekend-Sunday-Leah Preps for Class (Tenure: +15)

As she sat at the kitchen island, cradling a mug of coffee and splitting a banana over oatmeal, she fired up her school email on her laptop in a halfhearted attempt to get ahead for the coming chaos.

Within an hour she had gotten lost in a Wikipedia wormhole about FDR’s New Deal, thinking up new ways to present it in next week’s lectures, and she jotted down a few ideas in her “History Brainstorm” spiral. By the time she reached the bottom of her bowl, she actually felt a little more prepared—maybe even excited—for the lessons to come. A small, self-satisfied smile curled the corners of her lips. Even still the work she was doing would help.

The day consisted of the typical Sunday reset intermixed with prepping for the school week ahead.She spent the next hour puttering around the bedroom, Marie Kondo-ing her sock drawer, then folding Jonathan’s laundry, even though he always mixed up her sports bras when he tried to help. She found herself humming a song from the radio, off-key, letting the domesticity of it all soak in.

Sunday seemed to vanish as they got all the household chores completed, went shopping for groceries, and relaxed in the evening after an easy to make dinner Leah had promised herself she would make after she saw it on Tiktok.

They settled into bed and quickly fell asleep in a freshly made bed.