I looked over at my dog, Charlie, and he glanced back at me with a look that said, "What now?" I do not know, Charlie, I thought. Charlie was the five-year-old black lab my parents found at a shelter for me to keep me company in Maine while I was adjusting to my new job. Making friends was harder than I imagined, and it suddenly felt like freshmen year again.

"Well, I guess I should make some dinner, huh?" I asked Charlie as if he understood anything I was saying. He barked at me, and trotted over to his own food bowl.

"Are you hungry boy? I’m starving," I said. I gave him his dinner and as I headed towards my fridge, the bright yellow pamphlet with green cursive writing on it caught my eye. Ah! That’s what I will do tonight: order Chinese for dinner. Who is motivated to cook on a rainy night after a long day at work anyways? But then again, who would want to deliver me my dinner on a rainy night? No one can ever win when it rains.

…

"Beep beep beep beeeeeeeeeeeeep," my alarm sounded. Is it that time already? I didn’t have to get to work relatively early, but I knew that there was no way it was already 7am.

"Shhhhhh," said the rain tapping on my roof. Instantly, my positive "ready for another workday" mindset quickly switched into a negative "I do not want to go to work today" mood. It felt like such a long week, yet it was only Tuesday, and Charlie was lying on the floor next to my bed. He did not even make one sign of movement. Man, what a life being a dog must be. How come he never has any trouble getting up when he hears the rain outside?

It is not that I don’t like the rain; it is just that everything seems to go wrong when it rains. I checked my watch. Oh no, I was running late, and I still had to get gas. I knew I should have done that last night. Note to self: my mom is not here to remind me if I’m staying organized. As I rummaged around looking for some khaki pants and my favorite tie, I decided that maybe now was not the time to dwell on the fact that I’m an independent person, alone in a strange city, without my mom to remind me to take care of myself.

"Go, go, go," I chant to myself, racing around the kitchen and grabbing the essentials.

"Phone, wallet, keys, lunch, okay I’m ready to go," I said. I wasn’t even fifteen minutes down the road before I was stuck in traffic, and my gas light came on. Awesome, I thought to myself sarcastically.

"40% chance of rain today, Paul," Dave said on the radio.

"Ha-Ha-Ha," Paul’s big laugh echoed through the speakers in my car.

"Yeah, well I don’t think we are getting much sunshine until tomorrow afternoon," he said.

…

"Yes mom, I’m doing fine. It is just different living alone and working all the time. It is definitely an adjustment. No, you don’t have to worry about me."

"You sound very exhausted. What’s wrong?" my mom asked me.

"I think it’s just the weather. The radio said it was supposed to stop raining on Tuesday, but here it is Thursday night, and it is still going," I said…"Okay Mom, I understand. Yes, I will call you more often."

After I hung up the phone, I turned around and BAM. The dishes stared right back at me. Again, there they were.

"I’ll do them tomorrow. Stop giving me that look, Charlie!"

As I climbed into bed, I noticed a brown box on my desk that was packed with some books and a few other things in it. I was almost positive that my mom placed these books in here specifically for me. It was probably her incentive to keep my education up by pushing me to read more now that I was out of college.

"Alright, Mom, let’s see what you have for me to laugh about now," I said to myself.

I started to go through one of them thinking that maybe I will humor my mom and read for fun. I just won’t tell her. I went through a few with titles like, "How to Create Balanced Relationships" and "I’m Not Sure Why, But I Think I Have Hit Puberty." I think my mom meant to pack this for my fourteen-year-old sister. I finally reached the last book and the cover read, "WEATHER: Are you feeling under the weather? Well, why don’t you use it to your advantage!" My mom had to be kidding me, and how ironic this was since the last thing I wanted to talk about was the weather outside.

I sat in bed and opened to the first chapter. It read, "Weather: most of the time it isn’t predicted accurately, but most of the time, it doesn’t really matter. It shouldn’t be the weather that determines our good days and bad days, but rather our attitude. I’ve learned though, that we can use the weather to our advantage. If you want to sleep better at night or turn a rainy day into a bright one, keep reading."

I looked up and stared outside, noticing that it was only lightly drizzling now. I could not decide if this book was going to be absolutely ridiculous or shockingly helpful. I continued to read and started to doze off. I was already on page 95 out of 150. I glanced at my clock, and it was already 12:30am. Time flies when you are having fun, my mom always said. Was I really having fun though? I guess so. As I turned to the 96th page, I found a note inside of it.

"Hey there- if you are this far, that must mean you were having a bad day and wanted to find out how to make it better. Or, you fell for a book that your mom wanted you to read one day! I’m glad you found it at the bottom of the box. Check out tip 56 at the bottom of this page. Love you- Mom."

My eyes ran over the many words on the page until I hit tip number 56. "#56 How to defeat the rain: rain boots or a nap?" Before I continued to read, I thought to myself, "Mom, I’m a recent graduate working over 40 hours a week at a law firm. I do not have time for a nap." I thought that maybe I should stop reading right there and go to sleep, but I continued in hopes that maybe if I read it, tomorrow would be a sunny day.

"Sometimes in life we need to take a break from the daily pulls and stresses that come with our working lives. Think about the rain, and you will fall right asleep. On the weekends, take a nap, and if it is raining then that’s even better! Curl up with your cat or dog, and rest your eyes. But, most importantly, don’t feel like you have to overcome the rain. Relax with the rain. Rain sometimes isn’t convenient, but it is needed. Naps are not really convenient either, but they are also necessary. Take some time to relax when it rains and choose to make it a good day."

Have you ever had a time in life when something you thought you didn’t need was actually what you needed the most? Well, that was me in that exact moment. I put the book down, shut my light off, and felt my eyes slowly drift off to sleep.

…

"Beeeep," the alarm went off again. My eyes opened and I felt the brightness shine on my face. The sunshine peeked through the white blinds and I couldn’t help but think that last night was a dream. How relevant was that book that I read? I sat up in bed looking for the book, but I couldn’t find it. There is no way that was a dream. I went to stand up, and as my cold foot went to touch the carpet flooring, a book came in between us. Aha! I knew it wasn’t a dream. I reached down to pick it up, and out fell a piece of paper. It must be the same note I read last night. I reached down for it quickly before Charlie came over to sniff it out. It was the same note, but on the back it read, "Good advice? Mama knows best!"

I knelt down to Charlie as he came over to greet me, and I looked into his big brown eyes. "Mom knows best, doesn’t she? Rain or shine, today’s going to be a good day. What’s a world without rain anyways? I never thought I’d say this, but even as a college graduate, my mom is always going to know best."