The Cupcake Did It

Untitled Part 1

It’s cold outside this morning.  That dreary, gray, overcast and misty cold that is expected in New England, but is quite the anomaly in Southern California day.  The kind of cold day that makes me want to stay tucked up in bed with my covers pulled up to my chin.  The kind of day that makes me hate my alarm clock.  The kind of day that makes me hate my workaday life that requires an alarm clock.  The kind of day that makes me hate the fact that I have to work and get out of bed on any day, much less a day such as this one.

I throw back the covers and roll out of bed.  I am not one of those people who bounds out of bed in the morning with a smile on my face and a song in my heart ready to take the day by storm.  No, I’m the kind of person who, on occasion, has to actually yell at myself, “GET OUT OF BED!!”  Usually followed by an expletive. Today was this kind of morning.

I turn around and make my bed.  It’s only a small thing but it makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something so early in the morning.  I do hate coming into my room with an unmade bed - it just looks so messy. And I do love climbing into a nice neat bed at night.  Not sure why I like that so much, but there is just something about climbing into a nice crisply made bed.

Next, I dive into my closet to find something to wear to work.  Luckily my office is really casual, one of my favorite things about my job, so I’m not worried about suits and pantyhose and heels.  The days of suits, pantyhose, and heels are hopefully well behind me.  As far as I’m concerned, pantyhose and heels are proof that God is a man.  No woman would ever have created such torture for other women.  In fact, the last time I wore pantyhose I couldn’t wait to rip them off and the heels made my knees hurt for an entire week after.  Back to my closet and the task at hand.  I’m looking for a nice warm sweater that I can layer and stay warm all day and jeans or leggings so that I can stay comfortable all day.  There it is, the sweater I’m looking for.  The deep purple chunky sweater with a v-neck.  Layer it with a plain old white t-shirt and I’ll be nice and comfy and warm all day long.  Next I pull out my black jeggings and some boots.  The perfect cold weather outfit.  As I close my closet door, I think I see something out of the corner of my eye, but when I turn around to look, I don’t see anything.  Maybe it’s just a reflection in the mirrored closet door.  Maybe I need to pay closer attention to my surroundings.

Down the hall and into the bathroom for the next stage of my morning routine.  Over the years I’ve tried varying my routine; eating breakfast before I shower, eating breakfast on my way to work, having coffee first thing in the morning, picking out my clothes the night before or even after I shower.  Doesn’t matter what I try I always come back come to rolling out of bed, making the bed, picking out clothes, showering, eating breakfast, making lunch, watching the weather, brushing my teeth, putting on my make-up, blow drying my hair,getting dressed, grabbing lunch, and leaving for work.  If I don’t do things in exactly that order and in roughly the same amount of time every day, then something doesn’t get done and I’ll walk out of the house with soap behind my ears or my make-up only half done, possibly wearing two different shoes.  Kind of a shame that an adult can’t keep up with getting herself dressed for work when things are done out of order.

I live in an older apartment building.  I’ve never actually checked, but I’m pretty sure this building was built sometime around the turn of the twentieth century.  It has little to no insulation, not all of the walls come to right angles which is really interesting when putting furniture in a room, and the bathroom has no ventilation, which means I have to keep the window open to stave off a mold and mildew invasion.  Because what would be the fun of apartment living if not for staving off a mold and mildew invasion.  That means in the summer it’s always about two degrees hotter than the sun in the bathroom and in the winter it feels like am walking into an industrial freezer.  The kind of freezer they use at restaurants to make sure the meat doesn’t go bad and at Baskin Robbins to make sure the ice cream doesn’t melt.  OK, it’s probably not that cold, but it can feel that way when one lives in southern California.  And it surely felt extra cold in there this morning. Thank goodness for slippers.  I hate my bare feet on a cold floor.  I hate my bare feet on any floor for that matter, but especially I hate my bare feet on cold floors in the morning.