List #271: April Mornings Alone

The husband is away in some New England state for a business trip this morning so I woke up alone in a Casper bed. And thanks to a really difficult time trying to fall asleep last night much later than I wanted to. I actually had to take a Tylenol PM at 1:22 am because my mind just would not stop. 

I am always at war with myself because I think I should be doing more in the house:  cleaning, crafting, writing, organizing, whatever it is that I'm not currently doing at the moment. But thankfully that guilt has subsided this morning and the budding headache is telling to me to schedule a bit of self-care. And since it's just me and the cat here, we're sitting on the couch just...being.

I'm kind of dreading getting up from this (very comfortable) couch in an hour or so to get ready for work. I'll enjoy work when I get there, but when you work a late shift just the thought of it feels like such a very, very, very long day. 

So with full efforts to try and chase the cold out of my bones, the pain out of my head, and aches out of my knees. This has been my morning:

• I woke to text messages from the husband wishing me good morning. I am pretty sure I saw them, promptly rolled over, thought it took 3 minutes to respond...but didn't really respond for a proper half hour.
• The cat meowed and cried to be fed sometime around 7 am in line with his morning effort to catch birds in the yard from the inside of our house.
• A hot shower where I let the water run down my back for just a little too long. Here's the thing, I prefer my showers scalding. I want my skin to be red and the fog on the mirror to be so thick I can't even make out an outline of my body as I step out.
• My favorite comedy podcast releases new episodes, so I listened to the intro and first few bits as I scrubbed in that hot shower.
• Fed the cat. Which isn't so much a self-care thing as a necessity. Then cursed because I'm pretty sure that his new dry food (which he loves) is giving him terrible, terrible gas. At least he will no longer cling to my feet because his food bowl is food.
• Thought about making hot tea, but deemed it too much effort. So I settled on iced instead and then mixed in some Ikea blueberry concentrate. Have you tried this? It's dreamy. I'm pretty sure I've developing an obsession.
• I'm not a fan of breakfast food. And we really are lacking in materials to make much this week. So my breakfast was Disney Frozen pasta with peas and parmesan. And it was really really good.
• Girls. I know not everyone is a fan of this show. None of the characters are truly likable so it's totally understandable. But this season has been on fire. It's about loneliness and growth, evolving friendships and exploring what you really need in a romantic partner. I save its viewing for when the husband is out of town as we have one television and he has no interest, but it's something I don't even care to share with him. I love it wholly and wish I was young enough and brave enough and talented enough to have put together something like Dunham has. 
• The West Wing. I didn't watch The West Wing when it first aired. I was too busy mostly being in college and since it wasn't really papers to write, sorority events to attend, or beers to drink it wasn't really on my radar. But I own all of the seasons onDVD and I've probably watched in its entirety at least twice. But Josh Malina has a new West Wing podcast where he and a buddy recap an episode a week. So yeah, now I must watch an episode a week so I can fully invest in this podcast.
• Quiet. 

So now it's nearly time to decide on what to wear. And battling with my closet is a daily thing in the month of April. I hate it. And then it's time to grab some lunch and head to work. Here's hoping for a few more quiet moments tonight.