Weekly feature created by Jessi at Novel Heartbeats to discuss one non-bookish topic per week. For more information about this feature click here
This week’s topic: Routines
I don’t have many routines. I keep trying to start to get myself into a new one, especially when I get home from work, but I can never get myself motivated. When I get home from work, I just wanna collapse into my recliner and read or work on my blog or just cruise the internets. I do have a morning routine and a lunch routine and I’ll lay them out for you here.
Morning:
This one just recently got better. My husband now has to go into work an hour earlier which means I don’t have to drag him out of bed because he must get up before I do. It’s a glorious feeling to lounge in bed under the warm covers while someone else has to drag themselves up and start their morning! Anyway, I get up sometime between 7:10 and 7:20, depending on how I feel. I let the dogs out, if my husband hasn’t already done that. I wash my face (or at least I do at the moment because I love the way my face feels after I use the special face wash I have, but it I’m running late, that’s the first thing I skip). I turn on whatever audiobook I’m currently listening to because I can really use all the reading time I can squeeze in. I kiss the husband good-bye because he has to leave no later than 7:30 to get to work by 8. Then I make myself a bowl of cereal (breakfast of champions!). At some point, I let the dogs back in. Annabelle will push her nose against the door, making it bang, if she wants in before I get around to letting them in myself. Once I finish my cereal, I’ll make sure the big dogs have food and water and I’ll move Chance’s food from the bedroom to the bathroom. I’ll open the blinds in both the bedroom and the bathroom so the bird and Chance (respectively) will have light throughout the morning. I put a potting training pad down in the bathroom because Chance is old and incontinent and I tired quickly of having to wipe up his piss every time I came home from anywhere. I have to tap the damn thing down because it won’t stay in place otherwise. It’s a hassle, but it’s better than carrying 20 additional towels to the laundromat every time I go. I brush my hair and teeth, put on deodorant and body spray (‘cuz I hate the smell of almost all perfumes….the give me headaches). I don’t really do anything with my hair except remove the tangles and I never put on makeup. It’s not that I’m oh so confident about how I look, it’s more that I’m more self-conscience with the makeup on. I never really learned to apply it properly and no matter how much I practice with it on the weekends, I always feel like I’m doing it wrong and don’t want to show up at work looking like that. After that, I put the rat Chance in the bathroom and shut the door. He has to be separated from the other dogs because Bach tries to eat him when I leave them together. I put on my scarf and coat, grab my keys, and hit the road! I literally live half a mile from work, so if it’s pretty outside, I’ll walk, but if the temperature is below 40, it’s into my Jeep for me!
Lunch:
I won’t bore you with work nonsense. At noon, I head home to have lunch. I go in and get the rat Chance out of the bathroom and put him out. I turn on my audiobook and then set up the Keurig to make me a cup of tea. I don’t actually buy the K-Cups for tea, I just use it to heat the right amount of water for a single tea bag. I keep trying different teas, but thus far, my favorite is the Irish Breakfast tea. I learned pretty quickly that teas with fruit flavoring don’t work for me. I don’t like Earl Gray or Lady Gray. English Breakfast is tolerable, but not my favorite. While that is steeping, I prepare whatever it is I’m going to eat. That could be anything from a microwave pizza to leftovers from dinner or a grilled cheese sandwich. I’m not much of a cook and I don’t have much time, so whatever it is, I have to be able to prepare it quickly. I let Chance in and the big dogs out, then sit down to eat. I might surf the web while I do this, but not always. I usually try to check in on social media during lunch and see if there is anything I need to respond to quickly. After I eat, my task may vary. Lately I’ve been trying to organize the house a little at a time, so I usually straighten the living room or take out the trash or put away laundry. If I’m planning on doing the dishes that night, I’ll gather them all up and then set up the sink so they can soak while I’m at work. One day I will have a dishwasher, but until that day, Russell (my husband) and I take turns washing them. It’s one choir I despise, but it must be done. I let the dogs in and make sure they have food and water. I brush my teeth and put Chance back in the bathroom. Keys, coat, shoes, and I’m back to work.
After work:
I don’t really have a routine here. I come home. Now my husband and I get home almost exactly the same time. Whoever comes in first lets Chance out and throws away his pee pad. He used to cook every night because I’m a…well, I won’t say a bad cook because they few things I can make, I make well, I’m just a lazy cook. I don’t like to put a lot of effort in and I don’t like to wait. It was really starting to stress him out, though, so now we take turns. So if it’s my night I’ll start making something and if not, I’ll get in my chair and on the computer. Check social media, emails, and stalk NetGalley and Edelweiss to see if they have added anything I can’t live without. I’ll write post and format stuff on here, trying to make sure I have a post each day. I like to be far ahead, but it’s not usually possible to get a whole week planned out in advance since you can’t do some posts earlier. Waiting on info from tour companies or just seeing what items you procure that you want to showcase. We eat and watch something together then I’ll read or work more on the blog or whatever. At some point, I’ll get up and take a shower or bath and go to bed, but there really is no set rule for that. Just whenever I feel like it.
I’d really like to get into a habit of going to the gym and now that Russell gets home with me, that might be a possibility, but I always come up with excuses. The current one is that I need to get the house in order. The room of doom really needs to be cleaned and organized, as does the big shelves in my living room. The bathroom needs a deep cleaning, as does the kitchen. And I need to put my library back in order and finish unpacking those handful of boxes in my bedroom. Oh, and organize the linen closet! I’m sure once I accomplish all of that, I’ll find a different excuse though.
Those routines, naturally, only apply to weekdays. On weekends or holidays, it all goes out the window. I’m usually up early. If I sleep past 9, it’s a miracle. My dad is a morning person and he used to drag me out of bed at 6 on Saturday’s claiming I was burning daylight if I slept any later. Now, I’m usually awake by 7:30 whether I want to be or not and I get up and waste time until and “acceptable” hour to drag my husband out of bed and we do…whatever. It might be spending the day out exploring Charlotte or a day hiding away from the world bingeing on TV and takeout. Or it might be trying to clean the house. There are no rules on the weekends. It’s anything goes.
What are some of your routines? Let me know in the comments!
Bows & Bullets Reviews 