Morning Glory

I'm trying something new this week, to help with my overall life's happiness. This might sound silly to those of you who are able to pop out of bed at 5:15am without a second thought (Jess...;), but for me who would sleep until 12noon every day if it didn't mean having to miss an entire morning (also if I didn't have to go to stupid work), it's a true effort.

I'm now trying to gradually reset my body clock to wake up earlier so that I can actually have a morning before work and get some stuff done - stuff like a short workout or cooking breakfast!! Inspired, right?

It's a brilliant plan on paper. I realized I've been bitching and moaning, on here and outloud to Kevin and in my head to myself, about how little time I have to myself when things are in full swing in my life. I get out of work at 7pm each night, a reality which regularly pains me, and I, more often than not, have somewhere to be by 7:30. So my opportunities for time to myself in the ways of cleaning my house, exercising, cooking, relaxing, blogging are often relegated to my lunch hours, occasional free evenings (some of which I'd like to spend just hanging out with my boyfriend), and weekends, weekends which generally tend to be way too busy and filled with other non-relaxing obligations anyway.

But I don't have to be at work until 10am. I leave the house for work around 9. Which means I usually wake up at 8:41. Ish. Yup. I'm one of those. I would sleep until 8:59 if I could get ready in 60 seconds.

So the best solution, it seems, is to fucking train myself to be a more willing early riser. If I could get up at 8, I'd have a good 40 minutes to do stuff before having to shower or throw on some clothes. If I could get up BEFORE 8 (whaaaaaa??) - you get the idea.

This new plan involves going to bed earlier, which is more than fine by me. I'm a sleep hog. Though I think Kevin would prefer we stayed up until 4am. He's a night owl. I've been dragging him over to my side, slowly but surely. I used to be a night owl, but in the last year or two I've gotten old. Because if I'm not asleep by 1am, forget it. I prefer to go to bed in the 11 o'clock hour. And if it's before 11, I could die from joy. Basically, the saying, "sleep when you're dead" is an hilarious joke to me. No thanks. I'll sleep NOW.

So. The last two days haven't been such big successes in terms of this new plan. I've gotten up between 8:15 and 8:30 most mornings. Seems like a ridiculously negligble difference from 8:40, but it's the best I got. And this is the training period. Hopefully tomorrow I can do 8:10! Wouldn't that be a miracle.

Nothing spectacular has happened with these extra minutes so far. I feel less rushed and have been able to sit in my underwear watching the weather report, rather than turning up the volume so I can hear it as I get dressed. But it's practice. Today I was able to make myself breakfast and put together some lunch and snacks to bring in to work. So that's nice. If I can do that most days, I will be pleased.

But ideally I'll be able to do that and also do 25 minutes of pilates or maybe (maybe!) even go for a quick jog through the park. Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. But that is the dream.

I sound like a sleep-challenged 8 year old. "I can't get up before 8:30!! Waaah!" But I can't! Sigh.

Feeling good today. FINALLY went to TJ's last night, whew, and did a big shop. Got lots of great stuff, some different stuff than my usual, a lot of it organic, all of it whole, natural, healthy, much to the boyfriend's dismay of course. (Him: What's flax seed? Me: Don't worry about it.) There were a few items I couldn't find, didn't have the patience to look for (the store was a fucking shit show last night, a mad house - insane with shoppers), or forgot I needed, so I've made a quick list of those and I'll try to pick them up tonight or tomorrow.

When I got home, he was still working, so I made us some dinner. I had no idea what to make, because it suddenly felt like there was nothing to eat ;), so I boiled some organic whole wheat pasta, sauteed some veggies and garlic, cooked a few strips of low sodium bacon, and tossed it all together with feta, olive oil, and a little bit of pesto. It was sooooooo yum. Proud of myself for venturing out of my cooking comfort zones lately. We also had a simple spinach and romaine salad on the side.

Then for dessert I had some yummy all-natural pound cake (120 calories for a huge huge chunk) with a piece of brownie that I stole from work and some organic strawberries and raspberries. Twas yum. Felt stuffed when it was over. And watched Shawn Johnson win the gold on the balance beam, which was a delight. Love those gymnastics. We went to bed shortly after.

I woke up this morning and made us both egg sandwiches while Kevin got right to work, wrapped mine up to bring into work to have at my desk with my iced coffee, and got together some fruit, some trail mix, an organic fiber bar, and some frozen tamales to bring into work for lunch, got dressed, and got going. Kev has been walking me to the subway each morning, since he's working from home. It's very sweet. It was so beautiful this morning, I almost starting crying that I have to waste the day being inside. I wish I wish I wish for a life that is not spent in an office. And I will get there. Somehow.

I plan to take another run on my lunch break today. And I think I will also hit a yoga or pilates class tonight, depending on which class is available at which gym. (I belong to a gym with lots of different locations.) I have an improv show at 9:30 tonight, which I'm looking forward to. Then I think I'll stick around to watch another improv show and then head home to, possibly, do a few chores before bed. I'd like to get those taken care of tonight and tomorrow evening so I can have my weekend free. and. clear.

This weekend, as I'm sure you're sick of hearing by now, I will read and exercise and lay in the sun and eat yummy foods and swim and soak up this beautiful weather.

And then next weekend it's off to Chicago! To see my family! I think I'll ask my mom to book Kevin and I at a great massage place in town. I will surprise him with it. He will really need it.