Breaking with Routines

The older I get the more I realize I'm a creature of habit.  I really don't like anyone messing with my routines.  When did that happen?  We should love surprises ... spontaneous actions ... fun.  We miss out on so much in life when we plan every little minute of our day.  This morning as I was having my coffee, I realized that I was getting annoyed as Gary kept talking to me about our plans for when the kids are here.  I was sitting here thinking, "Don't you see me here having my coffee ... this is my quiet time!"  But then I remembered a little over a year ago when I wasn't sure I was going to have him with me anymore and it terrified me.  So yes, I'm grumpy in the mornings but all of a sudden I enjoyed his excitement about the kids coming and helped him plan some of the things we want to do with them.  I want to hear his voice, I want to hear the excitement and love in his voice.  I want to plan the future with him.  I can still drink coffee and listen and laugh and join in.  I actually enjoyed it.  My quiet time ... shot to hell.  My morning ... pleasurable.  Sometimes we get so set in our routines we forget to enjoy our lives and there is life outside of them. 

The first thing I do every morning is make my bed ... unless it's the day I strip my bed and wash bedding.  As soon as my feet hit the floor.  I wonder if the second floor of my house would fall in if for some reason I didn't make my bed.  The reason I'm asking this is ... my Hair Goddess pegged me as someone that does this ... how I don't know.  I told her my house is not always spotless and it isn't but to be honest when it isn't ... I'm a mess.  I can't think straight, I'm depressed, and I feel scattered.  So maybe I keep my house slightly in order to help me keep myself in order.  Maybe the two go hand in hand.  I like to be creative so my sewing room gets really messy at times and I just shut the door up there.  I have to spread out all over the room to do some of the projects I work on.  I work on the house and as I'm working on one room ... I pass another and get an idea and start that before I finish the first.  That's how my mind works.  I've been finishing some of the projects so Gary's organized mind can rest LOL.  I like to have several projects going at the same time.  So where I might seem orderly, I'm also chaotic.  My husband says, "Thank God you got into photography in the digital age, otherwise we'd be fighting over a darkroom."  And he's right.  Whatever I "get into" I jump into with both feet.  It's always sink or swim with me.  I have learned so much about renovating a house with this house and I don't think much scares me anymore with it.  I've also helped my son renovate one of his.  He's begun investing in rental property and I think I too would like to do that.  It would be a great retirement income.  The problem with me, though, is I want to do everything.  I was the same way in college.  I wanted to learn everything.  I wanted to major in everything.  Every class I took I loved.  Every subject was "the one".  I hated school when I was younger but college was like total freedom.  I never graduated, I was all over the board.  I think I just wanted to go to school forever.  I'm going to go back in the fall and take a couple of courses.  It's what I do, it's what I'll always do.  

Anyway, I started this out about changes and allowing them, welcoming them.  It's okay to let your routines be broken once in a while because something surprising and pleasant and fun could be there waiting for you.  Hearing my husband's laughter, love and the excitement in his voice today ... it gave me a boost.  Don't be so wrapped up in yourselves that you forget the people around you, they won't always be there or maybe you won't always be there for them.  Make memories, lots and lots of memories.