Just Another California Morning

I wake up once again to the sound of Diogee barking in the back yard. He's a cute little min pin, a great friend of Cordy and Seumas, but if our neighbor Steve leaves him alone in the backyard at 6 am one more time to bark, I'm gonna kick that dog to the curb. But in truth, he's just barking over the sound of my alarm clock anyway so out of bed I crawl. I let Cordy and Seumas out and stroll out into the backyard. It's 6:30 a.m. and already the sun is bright and warming the earth, a pleasant 65 degrees or so. The cool cement feels good on my bare feet. I give all three dogs a scratch while they tumble and play fight with each other with their frisky morning greetings. After a little picking up around the yard and house and a quick water conserving shower, I fix myself up a quick cup of Americano from Don's delicious coffee press and sit down at the kitchen table with the laptop. I start to go over some work that I brought home with me which I never got to over the weekend. As I'm breaking down the file and as the caffeine seeps into my blood stream my brain starts to wake up and begins chewing over the numbers and figures hungry for a challenge. Lots of questions with this file that don't add up. I continue breaking down the financials, making note of the inconsistencies. I'll have to get a second opinion from one of the veterans at work to see if I'm missing something or if the people that filled out this application are full of doo-honkey. As it nears 8:00 a.m., I face the fact that I must finish getting ready for work. If only I could stay here in my PJ's all day sipping coffee and listening to jazz and work from my kitchen table. It would be so much more productive. Don mentions it is his goal in life to come up with a business plan where we could both work from home. He has no idea what that would be yet. I mention we will need a bigger house. I finish getting dressed and drying my hair. No makeup today, just comfort and practicality. The drive to work is especially pleasant this morning. Having left the house about ten minutes earlier than normal traffic is a breeze, especially considering that it's late June now and there's no more school traffic either. It takes me only 18 minutes to get to work instead of my normal 25. Along the way, I have a moment where I realize that I'm singing rather boisterously to the radio and tapping my thumb to the music on the steering wheel. Ahhhh, so this is what it feels like to have coffee before I leave the house! Normally I don't have my coffee until I get to work. I drive with the windows cracked welcoming the fresh morning air. I have a few extra minutes so as I near work I pull into the grocery store to pick up a few things for work: some more coffee creamer, a bag of pita chips and hummus, and a couple of yogurt cups. As I'm putting my recent purchases away in the kitchen at work, I pop a few slices of turkey bacon in the toaster oven and refill my coffee cup. Definitely not as good as the Americano I had from home but with enough creamer it will do. The awesomeness of the toasted turkey bacon makes up for the unremarkableness of the coffee.

Don recently posted on Facebook that mornings do not agree with him. This morning at least, we agree, the morning and I. In fact, it's the day and evening that promise to be far more pretentious with it's growing demands and interruptions. This morning, it's just me, my coffee, and the work I have in front of me, and maybe a quick splurge for some self-indulging blogging.