Morning Routine

I'm not blogging about what I really want to blog about. What I really want to blog about is my opinion on healthcare. But right now I'm strung out on Benadryl and I don't think that I have the brain capacity to make any good arguments.

So instead, I'll blog about my morning routine. Recently, I was talking with Squirrel Boy about morning routines. See, I try to make it to work for about 8:30. Then I work through my lunch and leave at 4:30. Squirrel Boy generally makes it to work by about 9:00, takes a half hour for lunch, and leaves at 5:30. Sometimes that last half hour can be pretty lonesome for him because everyone seems to vacate the office by 5:00.

I don't know how we got on the subject of when we wake up, but we found out that we have very different morning schedules. Like he spends a half hour in the shower. I spend anywhere from 7 to 14 minutes. He sits down for breakfast. And get this. He sits down with a book and he reads sometimes before going to work. This concept is so absolutely foreign to me. I do mornings like I do phone conversations: Business only.

Since talking with Squirrel Boy, I've paid more attention to my morning schedule. Take this morning for example. I spent an unusually long time in the shower because I shaved my legs and pummiced my feet. When I was done, I guessed that I'd probably been in there for half an hour. In reality, I was in there for fourteen minutes.

So this is how it usually goes. I generally arrive at work fully clothed with hair and makeup done between 45 and 60 minutes after I've woken up. These are the steps I take:

1) Wake up (15-60 minutes). This is the most challenging part because I am not a morning person. Ideally, I like to get up at 7:00 so that I can be at work for 8:00 (that's my favorite time to be at work). This rarely happens. More commonly, I hit snooze until about 7:45.

2) Shower (7-14 minutes). Squirrel Boy mentioned that he takes long showers because it helps him wake up. I don't know what magically happens to me between the time I step out of bed and into the shower, but once I'm in the shower, I am wide awake and no longer thinking about bed. I have a 2-in-1 shampoo because with short hair, I don't really see the need for two whole steps. I do all the other showerly things and I never---never---just stand under the water and do nothing. That's just beyond my comprehension.

[The next three steps don't always occur in the same order.]

3) Do my hair (5-7 minutes). This consists of putting volumizer in, blowing it dry, flat ironing it, and putting two more hair products in it. Also, I love my short hair.

4) Do my makeup (3-4 minutes). I don't usually use a foundation or powder. Just eye liner, eye shadow, and mascara. Once I told a guy I was dating that sometimes people told me I wore too much blush. He said, "Well, you do go a little heavy on the blush sometimes." I never, ever wear blush. My rosy cheeks are all natural baby. All natural.

5) Get dressed (1-15 minutes). If I choose an outfit the night before, getting dressed is merely a matter of putting on the clothes I've laid out. I'll even go so far sometimes as to lay the clothes and the shoes and the accessories all out the night before. These are always my best outfits because I think more clearly at night than I do in the morning.

6) Brush my teeth (1-2 minutes).

7) Grab a breakfast shake and possibly a lunch and head out the door (1-5 minutes). I used to not be a breakfast person. I can't eat in the mornings, and the idea of actually sitting down to a morning meal is ridiculous to me. But I came to realize that it's better to have something in the morning. So I just keep my fridge stocked with breakfast shakes so I can grab one on my way out. I drink this in my car on the way to work, of if I'm biking, I drink it once I'm at the office.

So counting up my minutes, I've noticed that the most time is 43 minutes and the least time is 18 minutes (my calculations may be off---I counted and then El Senor came into my room and I was talking with him and I'm too lazy to recount). I can promise that I never am ready with all my makeup and hair, etc. in 18 minutes, but now I kindof want to challenge myself. I think that Thursday will be my test day. I'll prepare my outfit Wednesday night and do everything as fast as possible and see if I could do it all in 18 minutes. If I can, this may even revolutionize my mornings. It means I can sleep in an extra 12 minutes.