morning routine

My morning routine is set like clockwork. I get up at 6:15, stare at the clock, shuffle to get coffee, pour a bowl of cereal, listen to NPR, and so on and so forth. It�s so choreographed that if one little thing is off, I�m thrown for the rest of the morning if not the rest of the day. I lay out my clothes the previous evening to reduce the amount of time I will have to put thought into my actions as well as pack my lunch and if it is non-perishable (i.e. soup) I put it in my bag so that all I really have to do is shower, get dressed, grab my bag, and walk out the door. I was thrown off this morning because I had to think. Everything was going as planned and I was buttoning down my shirt when I arrived at a hole with no corresponding button. My first thought was that I had skipped a button further up the line but I realized that there wasn�t an alignment problem. This caused me to stop looking at the shirt and look at my reflection in the mirror as if it was another person, expecting it to give me the answer. I looked at my reflection with my head tilted, waiting for a response, then looked back down at my shirt and figured a button was missing. I then looked back at my reflection like �um�so where�s the missing button you ass clown?� This entire process took several minutes thus throwing off my normal timetable set aside for getting dressed and now I had to fly out the door. I rationalized that since my tie would cover up the missing button that this shirt was going to be worn anyway. I have an undershirt on so it�s not like I�m bearing skin. Besides, all my other work clothes have been packed up in anticipation of this weekend�s move to Alexandria.

Another hitch in my morning get-a-long was that I had no cereal. No breakfast means that cupcake is a hungry bastard for the entire commute and cannot really think of anything else.

Driving to the metro in the morning is another one of my routines that is set on autopilot. Every time I�ve ever snapped out of cruise control mode on the way to the metro I suddenly get this sinking feeling like I don�t know where to go or that I�ve missed my exit. That also happened to me when an 18-wheeler slammed on his breaks in front of me. Autopilot was disengaged and I was now fully aware of my surroundings. I kept wondering out loud to myself if I had missed the exit, then it suddenly appeared and I was on my way.

Yesterday on my way home I stopped off at my companies headquarters to turn in my garage access card, which I had been using as my morning park lot before walking to the metro. This is fine with them even though I don�t work in the building, however I paid 10 dollars a month for the service. I had no issue with this, as it is 3 dollars a day to park at the metro so I was saving 50 dollars a month. I turned the card key in and this morning I came into work to discover an email I was CC-ed in on about my parking space and how I should be reimbursed for the garage key. I see a check for 50 dollars in my future.

Now I�m starving and I�m thinking I need to run downstairs to my favorite deli and get a bagel and cream cheese. The crankiness due to hunger has subsided, but I still want a bagel and cream cheese so off I go�

e.