Morning Routine, Interrupted.

Mornings are my time. (I mean they're usually my time. For some reason, Sheila is up before sunrise today, a rare occurrence.) People who know my love of chaos and anti-planning may be shocked to know that I've developed a fairly strict morning routine over the years. I don't obsess over it, but if I veer too far from the process I've developed, things I'd set out to do simply won't get done.

Thanks to the punctuated nature of our housesitting assignments, my tried-and-true morning process is rather worthless, and I'm forced to refine and adapt. With every new assignment. (Living rent-free all over the world is awesome, so don't think I'm complaining!)

I take my coffee like I take my men. 

In France, the lowest of Maslow's blocks informed and dominated my routine. Where you might kick up the thermostat a notch or plug in a small space heater, I spent upwards of 30 minutes -- no, this is one of the few times I'm not exaggerating -- getting the fire in a self-sustaining state. Then feed/locate the cats. Then make coffee. (Actually the swill that carries the name "coffee". French Roast, as it turns out, is a marketing ploy. Bastards.) And finally, the daily overview of finances, news, and communication.

Here in Denmark, priority #1 is the dog. While he has a perfectly good back yard he could use for his morning routine, he won't have it. He demands -- and I mean that literally -- a walk if he hears the slightest stirrings from humans anytime after 6:00am. And forget a quick walk so he can do his business, because he won't complete his business until 20-25 minutes has transpired. (I'm pretty sure his bladder/bowels use 4th dimensional storage.) So I bundle up, coerce the dog into getting into his harness, and stumble around the dimly lit neighborhood in the hopes of not getting too lost. When I return, I go into -- at least try to go into -- my stretching routine. I'd prefer to do this before the walk, but Tego won't have it. And I say "try to" because Tego sees my floor routine as an invitation to appear on Pets Interrupting Yoga. Then coffee (I'm trying Danish espresso beans -- still not roasted enough).

As of this morning, I'm making an alteration to my morning electronic communication routine. This is the result. Where I normally restart my browser each morning and go through my set tabs in order, I'm going to write first, then reset. Maybe a blog post. Maybe some ideas on a book that's percolating through my head. Maybe a poem. OK, probably not a poem, but you get the idea.

Cheers from Denmark!