A "Morning" In The Life

Good Morning Sunshines!!!

I'm writing this hoping that whomever reads it will respond with their typical AM routine. wherever you live— NY, NJ,WI, IA, UK wherever.

For as long as I can remember, I've been a happy morning person—Minus a two year span that included Grad School. I think it is all my mother's fault. She has always woken me up so nicely and gently and she uses this giant smile that would fill anyone with love. So, she raised me to be a happy morning person—I swear it's not my fault.

A great example of this was my first year at UW-Stevens Point. I roomed with my best friend Dana and would wake smiling happy and say "Good morning Sunshine!" to Little D as I woke up. Dana however, is NOT a morning person. On the contrary, she would sometimes wake up, messy haired, groggy eyed and say "F#*ck!" as she greeted the day—I imagine the majority of people are like this but like I said " It's not my fault, it's my mom's." Little D and I were like the odd couple (I was the disorganized artsy one and she was cranky first thing in the morning).

(Little D with her messy hair the morning after her bachelorette party)

So this happy morning thing has followed me a little bit to NYC but to be honest it has faded. The stressful morning routine of NYC lifestyle and fighting for a seat on the train combined with grad school took me down a notch. However, I figure if I write about it maybe I'll find something that does make me happy.

My typical morning (Post Grad School) is like this:

• 6:00 Teda Meows or scratches something, I throw a pillow at her and go back to bed.
• 7:08 Open my eyes and check the time and go back to sleep.
• 7:15 The phone alarm beeps. I hit snooze repeatedly till 7:30.
• 7:30 I make Teda come to me, pet her for a bit then get out of bed to shower off her hair. I do like this part a lot. I don't really have to do anything but tap my chest and that gray fur ball is on top of me purring and cuddling. It's so great.
• 7:30-8:00 Shower, get dressed and listen to the iPod on shuffle. This part also makes me smile and if it's an exceptionally great shuffle I get to dance and sing while I pick out my dress for the day.
• 8:00-8:15 Leave home, usually take out any trash, then walk to the NW train. It's about a 10 min walk to the train so this is actually a decent part of my 35-40 min commute in the morning.
  
• 8:15-8:30 Get Green Mountain coffee and a soy yogurt at the local health food store. This is a love hate activity. I love the coffee and the yogurt but for some reason the clerk makes me feel as if I am a burden when I need ice for my iced coffee. And I usually just forget stopping if I didn't bring enough cash (they really dislike letting you use your debit card even tho you can).
  
• 8:30 Get on the train and sit (or stand) until we get to midtown. This is the part of the morning that I dislike the most. By the time I get to the train I'm either sweaty, freezing or wet and then I have to compete with everyone if I want to get through the door, let alone get a seat. I think if I did not have to get on that train I would still be the happiest annoying morning person ever.

(Happy Kate one winter morning before the train)

So that's it. It's not quite as exciting or rhythmic as the Beatles "A Day in the Life" but hey it's what I do.

My resolution to get my AM happiness back? I dunno maybe I should walk to work or get a bunch of freelance design work so I can work from home.