The Art of the Morning Ritual

[Perd Hapley]

The flip side of the midnight snack - the morning ritual. What's yours?

Mine, for the past year or so, has been a cup of very hot breakfast tea, while reading some of the Psalms, or other Biblical passages. Usually, I read around 20 verses, before the tea is consumed, or just gets cold. I spent about a month-and-a-half reading the Proverbs, but it was not quite the same. I just started reading Ecclesiastes, so we will see how that fits.

[charby]

Lets see for the last 16 years or so I have been letting a dog out, feeding them and letting them out again.

Then watch the news while eating breakfast, shower, dress and go to work.

[Ben]

Mine used to be, yogurt, banana, quick cup of coffee, 20-30 minutes in front of the computer checking work emails (and APS), then out the door to work.

Now it's get up at sunrise, hand grind some coffee beans, percolate some coffee, grab a cup, watch the business news, check stocks, and simultaneously peruse the Internet while I take my time drinking the first cup, then make a hearty breakfast with a second cup and some juice, then head out the door to exercise at the beach for a couple of hours.

[Boomhauer]

Depends on whether we are on normal schedule or overtime schedule.

Normal schedule- wake up at 5:30AM for an out the door time of 6:00AM. Overtime schedule is wake up at 4:00AM for an OTD time of 4:30AM. Commute is an hour and 15, I have 15 minutes of flex time built in.

*expletive deleted*it, shower, and shave (well used to be shave, now shaving is optional at the new job), feed the dog and cats, get dressed and get on the road.

No breakfast usually, I'm just not the biggest fan of breakfast.

Get to work, open up all the shop doors, start the air compressor, and get my first work order and get to work...

[Fitz]

Get off work after 1. Sleep by about 2am.

Wake up at 630. Bitch about being up. Wake kid up, set her to the task of getting her teeth brushed and school uniform put on. dress myself while she does that. Get her uniform checked out, look t her school status and make sure we've initialled it and her homework is in the folder. talk to her about her school day while we go down to the truck and get on the toll road heading to Grand Prairie (about 20-30 min depending.) This is my favorite part because i get to hear about her day at school the day prior.

Drop her off, sometimes grab a breakfast burrito and a coke zero. Go home ... back to sleep for a few hours. Then i wake up, get some dishes or some such done, spend some time getting mad at the news, and head for work at 4pm.

[RoadKingLarry]

0600- close up office and begin my grueling commute home.
0610- walk in front door of house, great happy to see me dog and let her out for morning relief.
0625- make breakfast, if the wife is up I'll cook, if not it's usually peanut butter on toast.
0630- news - weather - internet.
0700- either yard or garden work or outside maintenance or off to the the boat.
Some mornings I'll head straight to the lake for a sunrise sail.
Noon - ish is bed time.

[Monkeyleg]

Wake up somewhere around 7:30 to 8:00 am. Look outside to see what the weather is. Do the usual bathroom thing. Get dressed. Make the bed. Check the plants to see if any need watering.

Open blinds. Walk to office room and turn on computers. Drink a bottle of Ensure and do my work routine.

[Regolith]

Wake up, take meds, take shower, dress, eat breakfast (usually a protein shake), then do what I gotta do.

[lupinus]

Get up around 430, showee, walk dogs. Try and avoid being shot in the head until higher brain function and the first cup of coffee kicks in. Usually don't have breakfast until the first break at work.

[mtnbkr]

0600: Wake up (and now wake Thing 1 since she catches the bus at 0715)
0605: fix coffee, fix breakfast, let dog out, feed dog
0615-0700: consume breakfast and coffee, read innnernetz, check work email to get caught up on UK and Euro work stuff (those folks have been at work for hours by now)
0700: boot wife out of bed if she isn't up yet, wake Thing 2
0710: wish Thing 1 a good day as she heads out to catch the bus
0730: do the bathroom things
0800: kiss wifey goodbye as she heads out to work
0820: Drop Thing 2 off at school and head to work myself
0930ish: Arrive at office, start my day

Chris

[brimic]

0410 alarm goes off, hit snooze.
0430 get out of bed, shower, brush teeth, take meds.
0445 make coffee, lunch, kids' lunches. Empty dishwasher, if I have enough time.
0500 Out the door, on the way to work.
0545 arrive at work, eat oatmeal while going over day's plan/paperwork

[MillCreek]

Monday-Friday:

0425: alarm goes off, roll out of bed and try not to wake wife
0430-0500: put on workout gear and go to exercise/computer room to work out on the stationary bicycle or rowing machine while watching the news
0500-0545: feed the cat, make coffee, eat breakfast and catch up on personal and work emails and read several news websites
0545-0615: take shower, get dressed, decide if I am taking the motorcycle or the car and head to work. Wake up wife at 0545 if she is not yet up.
0630: arrive at the office and begin the work day.

[grampster]

Retired.  What is routine?

[Scout26]

0650: Alarm goes off, Robert gets up and hits the shower, I check to see if Dialysis is complete or will be by 0710.
If:       Dialysis complete
Then:  Disconnect, enter daily vitals into machine and shutdown and drain.
Else:   Power down machine (aka "Powerfailing"), and do temporary disconnect (aka "Cheating".)
0650-0715:  Prepare healthy, nutritious, Moobacca unapproved lunch for Robert, along with a small, quick breakfast for both of us. (Oatmeal, cereal, bagels, etc.)
0737:  Kick the kid out the door to school.
0738:  If  Temporary Disconnect was performed, reconnect and re-power the machine to complete dialysis. 
Upon completion of dialysis:  Take shower, take meds, take a *expletive deleted*it and get on with my day.  Which includes checking in here to see if there's a crapstorm going full force or the makings of one. 

[41magsnub]

0600 wake up - take a dump
0610 - put on bike clothes and take dog for a spin around the neighborhood
0700 - put dog and bike away - jump in shower
0715 - get dressed
0730 - eat breakfast
0745 - leave for work

[fifth_column]

Fistful's OP could be considered a ritual.  The rest sound more like routine.

IMO a ritual has a spiritual, or at least an intentional, component.  A routine is just doing the same thing the same way on a regular basis.

[Scout26]

Fistful's OP could be considered a ritual.  The rest sound more like routine.

IMO a ritual has a spiritual, or at least an intentional, component.  A routine is just doing the same thing the same way on a regular basis.

I open my eyes and say to myself "Yeah!!!  I made it another day."  Does that count?

[BlueStarLizzard]

6 - Alarm goes off. hit snooze.
6:05 - hit snooze again
6:10 till 6:35, hit snooze button every five minutes while dozing.
6:40 - begrudgingly get out of bed. Pull on work clothes. Bathroom. collect a soda, keys, ciggerettes and whatever else I need.
6:50 - drive to work.
7:15 - sit in car, check APS and FB on phone. smoke. drink soda. munch a granola bar.
7:30 - unlock the shop and get to work.

[KD5NRH]

Usually, I read around 20 verses, before the tea is consumed, or just gets cold. I spent about a month-and-a-half reading the Proverbs, but it was not quite the same. I just started reading Ecclesiastes, so we will see how that fits.

Just picked up a fairly hefty exploration of I and II Thessalonians at the flagship Half Price Books in Dallas last week.  It's interesting morning dump reading, but I need to pick up another dollar store KJV to keep in there with it since it doesn't always quote its references verbatim.

FWIW, if anyone's looking for an excuse to go to Dallas in October, the 3rd, 4th and 5th HPB is having a huge book clearance at Dallas Market Hall. According to the flyer, nothing over $2.  Looks like there's one this month in Ohio, too: http://www.hpb.com/769

[SADShooter]

I open my eyes and say to myself "Yeah!!!  I made it another day."  Does that count?

You bet it does.

[Perd Hapley]

Fistful's OP could be considered a ritual.  The rest sound more like routine.

IMO a ritual has a spiritual, or at least an intentional, component.  A routine is just doing the same thing the same way on a regular basis.

Thanks for pointing that out. This thread was not my way of asking exactly when everybody moves their bowels. 

Yes, Scout, I think yours counts.

[fifth_column]

I open my eyes and say to myself "Yeah!!!  I made it another day."  Does that count?

That, IMO, is the essence of spirituality.

[charby]

That, IMO, is the essence of spirituality.

Do all rituals have to have a sense of spirituality?

[Boomhauer]

Hey, sometimes when I drop the kids off at the pool it's a religious experience.

I open my eyes and say to myself "Yeah!!!  I made it another day."  Does that count?

I do cackle maniacally knowing that I'm still around to be a pain in the ass to many.

[TechMan]

KD5NRH, thank you for the link.  I will let SWMBO know about this.