6:08

Each weekday I wake up at 6:08 AM why 6:08, exactly? Why not something round and even like 6:10 or 6:15? must have something to do with the length of the snooze I'm guessing because that alarm's been going off at 6:08 since the beginning of time I'm pretty sure can't even tell you how long we've had that clock. I hit the snooze a couple of times while Mark is showering and always, right around 6:40, Mark heads downstairs, ready for breakfast.

This is my cue.  Time to begin the day. I get up, go downstairs with him, and pour us each a cup of coffee--mine light, his light and sweet thank the powers that be for automatic coffee makers I don't think I could bear having to make the coffee in that coming-out-of-sleep stupor fumbling around for filters and scoops while being blinded by the blaring my pupils resisting their imperative adjustment to light so unwelcome,  and we sit, together, drinking our coffee, discussing the upcoming day until he leaves for work at explicitly 7:12 each morning because that's the exact amount of time it takes to get in the car and drive to his van pool. Precisely. 

There is something magical about this time with my husband. Part of the time he is across the room from me at the kitchen bar, scooping up his spoonfuls of cereal, measuring his bites to achieve the perfect balance of cereal to milk, drinking his juice just for me in an effort to get his 5-a-day. But the rest of the time, he comes over to the couch, sits close to me, and we linger. We don't always talk, and if we do, it's usually me babbling about whatever I've got on my mind because we've both learned that I process things that took place the day before the morning after.

He is patient with it. And I try to be sure that I don't dominate the morning stillness.

Over the years, this has become a part of the day that I treasure, and I rarely miss it. For in reality, I don't need to get up anywhere near 6:08 AM. I don't have to be to work until between 9 and 9:30, and it only takes me about 45 minutes to get ready from shower to breakfast to teeth brushed to lunch made to out the door. So, technically, I could be getting up at 8:00 and be totally good to go.

But I don't. I am tethered to this early pocket of sweetness, my daily dose of love you.

Since Mark is currently out-of-town, I was thinking that this is a perfect opportunity for me to sleep in. No sense in getting up for those precious few minutes together with our elbows touching before the day begins if there are no elbows to touch.

So, last night I set the alarm for 7:00 thinking I would snooze my way to 7:30 or so; a leisurely waking up entirely on my own terms.

A pleasant plan and a grand experiment. But entirely not what became reality.

Because, sure enough, I woke up faithfully at 6:08 AM. When I rolled over and convinced myself to go back to sleep, I proceeded to wake up at 8-minute intervals, annoyingly and exactly at the time when the snooze would be coming on to jostle me from my slumber again and again.

It is in one of these faux-snooze moments that I realize that I am, indeed, a creature of habit. A herald of routine that has been intensified by the fact that I have become a believer of mornings, knowing that there is much to be gained in the stillness of daybreak, the comfort of a quiet conversation, the warmth in a gentle nudge, and all before the long workday apart from one another begins. It is a gift that I carry with me until we come full circle, when sooner than we'd thought, we're setting the alarm for 6:08 AM yet again, preparing to begin the day anew.

Are you a creature of habit? When and how does your weekday begin?

Comments

[Sharyn]

I have my alarm set to 6:12
I've never been one for the snooze button - never made sense to me.
So 6:12 it is. Alarm goes off, feet hit the floor. Boom.

[Jan]

I chuckled when I saw your alarm set time, mine is set for 6:04. Not sure why, I could just as easily be up at 6:00 or 6:10. :)

[wendyp]

LOL! oh my, your post has me laughing. Even though the alarm is set for 6 am I always manage to wake up about 10-15 minutes earlier, even on the weekends without the alarm. Guess I'm a bit of a creature of habit. I like having those few minutes of absolute quietness before all the kids wake up and the hustle and bustle of the morning begins.