The First Day of My Month of Me 2023

Hi, Everyone!  It is me, Blueper B!

It is my favorite time of the year, My Month of Me!  I look forward to the month of May all year long.  I get to go lots of places and do lots of things with Mr. Guy and The Lady and we get to write stories about the the lots of things that we do and then share the, with you!

I do stuff during other times of the year, but I’m not very good about writing about them during those other months.  I always think that I will be better about that and then those other months come and go and I’m not any better about writing.  That makes me a little sad.  In the eleven months since last May and this May, things have been busy at my house.  I got a new room and more space to store my t-shirts.  That is exciting!

And being back for this year’s My Month of Me is also exciting…but today is not  quite as exciting as I had hoped.  In fact, it is more disappointing than I had hoped.  

At my house, we always start the day talking about what The Lady’s picture taking prompt is.  That gives me lots of time to think about our photo while she is at school teaching.  This morning, she told me that our prompt for the day is Opt To Mall.  I got all excited with this!

Opt To Mall…that means we get to choose to go to the mall!  I haven’t been to the mall in a long, long time.  In fact, I haven’t done any shopping anywhere in a long, long time.  I can’t even remember the last time I got a new shirt.   Next to doing stuff with The Lady and Mr. Guy, and our friends, getting a new shirt makes me the happiest!  So, I thought all day about going to the mall when The Lady got home and I got happy and happier.

When The Lady walked in the door, I said, “Are we going now?  I’m ready!  I have been thinking all day about what color shirt I want to shop for!”  

The Lady looked at me with a very confused expression and asked, “Where are we going?”  

“To the mall!!!  Remember?!  I’ve been thinking about our word, our choice to opt to mall, all day!”

The Lady got an even stranger look on her face.  She picked me up and held me on her lap and gently broke the news to me that we were not opting for the mall, that I had condused her words this morning.  (Not really a surprise.)  She explained the word O-P-T-I-M-A-L to me.  In case you are wondering, it means “most desirable or satisfactory.”  Well, in this furry little blue and orange monster’s heart and mind, not going to the mall to shop for a new shirt was neither desirable nor satisfactory!  The Lady could tell that I was very sad.  She offered me a cookie that Mr. Guy had made earlier in the day.  I didn’t know he made cookies today.  Actually, I didn’t even know that he knew how to make cookies.  He must have made them while I was daydreaming about the Opt To Mall Adventure that now was not going to happen.  I guess that makes it less than O-P-T-I-M-A-L.   Did I use that word correctly?

After my cookie, I told The Lady that I would go find an OLD shirt in a pretty color so that she could take her O-P-T-I-M-A-L photo of me.  She told me that the color didn’t matter.  What?  When you are a furry little blue and orange monster, color always matters!  Some colors clash terribly with my fur.  Why did she even say this to me?

I calmly asked her why she said such a terrible thing.  She told me that the color of my shirt didn’t matter because our photo today would be in black and white.  Ugh!  I remember this black and white photo stuff from other years.  I don’t like it!  Black and white photos of this furry little blue and orange monster are waaaay less than O-P-T-I-M-A-L!!!  I tried not to show how disappointed I was.  I told The Lady that I would try to find a black and white shirt for today and I’d save my pretty color shirt for tomorrow.  I thought she would be happy that I was trying to be an understanding monster, but she still didn’t seem happy.

She then said, “I hate to tell you this, but this whole week is going to be black and white photos.”

I might have cried a little when I heard those words.  I don’t know that I have learned anything about O-P-T-I-M-A-L today, but I sure have learned a lot about less than O-P-T-I-M-A-L!  The Lady understood why I was sad and she was very kind to me.  She promised me that we would go shopping for a new shirt this week and on Sunday, when we don’t have to have black and white photos anymore, we can take an OPTIMAL photo in a brand new shirt.  Yay! Something to look forward to.  But, this is going to be a very long week for this colorful little monster.

For today I decided on a shirt that even photographed in black and white still has a bright and cheerful message.  I hope I have enough shirts like this to get through the whole week.

Happy May, everyone!  Share some kindness.  Kindness will make all your days optimal!