Morning Walk

Now that the weather has cooled some, Marceline and I have fine for morning walks aground the neighborhood after her first feeding each morning. Just a short half mile walk around the neighborhood.

It’s not much, but it sure is a nice way to start the day.

22 Year Old AJ vs 37 Year Old AJ

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So this morning I got up, dressed, brushed my teeth, fed the cats, did some dishes, made coffee, made my lunch, watered the plants and still had some time to sit on the back porch and drink coffee before work.  Back porch time includes this post.  It feels good.

 

Last year Pat and I talked about how our visits now have to be purposeful, as we’ve outgrown the “Let’s just get together and do stuff,” of our 20’s.  Thinking about that I came up with a plan.  The new plan / aspiration – bike from Cleveland to Buffalo over the course of a weekend.  Pat can ship his bike from Portland, Maine to here.  We can then split the 200 mile ride over two days – spending the night in Erie Pennsylvania on the way out since it is almost exactly the half-way point.

However during the conversation 22 Year Old AJ combated 37 Year Old AJ.  37 year old AJ is ready to go.  However much it would suck, it’d also be fun.  When 37 Year Old Pat raised concerned that he’s not sure he’s ready for a one day 100 mile ride, much less two 100 mile days in a row. 37 Year Old AJ commiserated, I mean after all my legs are sore after biking 150 miles over one week.  But in my mind biking 100 miles in one day would be something that I go at a much more reserved pace than when I’m just out biking 20 – 30 miles.  But 37 year old Pat has valid concerns and 37 Year Old AJ understood them.

Now in the back of my mind, 22 Year Old AJ was hurling insults of all sorts towards Pat to goad him into riding.  After all, it was 28 Year Old Pat’s insults that ultimately led to me shattering my collar bone when I initially was hesitant about doing something and let him goad me into it.

When I told Pat what 22 Year Old AJ was shouting, he said 22 Year Old Pat was right there in the back of his mind as well.  22 Year Old Pat was ready to make this both a race, drinking competition and put some money aside for a bet on who would do better on this trip.  Yeah….22 Year Old AJ had all those ideas too.

We haven’t thrown out this idea completely, but 37 Year Old Pat and AJ apparently need to evaluate their lives a little more before actually embarking on something like this.

Singing in the Shower

So my Google Play music service won me over this morning with the:

“Feeling Good in the 90’s Radio” mix.

In Order I was played:

Not a bad start to my day.

Looking down the playlist I also see:

  • Loser by Beck
  • Fly by Sugar Ray
  • Two Princes by Spin Doctors
  • The Impression I Get by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
  • All that She Wants by Ace of Bass

And a personal favorite crazy 90’s song:

It’s the little things….

Now that the heat has turned on, morning showers are all that much more comfortable.

I throw my towel over the radiator when I jump in the shower in the morning.  A few minutes later when I step out there is a warm towel waiting for me.  It is a world of difference on a cold morning to use a warmed towel.

It’s the little things that help in the morning.

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Waking Up

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The right music to wake up to is important.

Nothing crazy is my motto.  Smooth into melody.

I think I’ve hit the nail on the head with this one.  Maybe a little too good.  I’ve got the perfect morning song that ends up stuck in my head for at least an hour each morning after I wake up.  And as Sam can attest, if more than one second of the alarm plays before my lightening quick morning reflexes shut off the alarm, it has been a bad morning.

I once almost punched a girlfriend when she accidentally played the same song I used for an alarm late at night while I was sleeping.  She was awake in bed and was trying to put a show or movie on the laptop (I can sleep through that and just about anything else) and played the song instead.  I sat up immediately and snatched my arm out to shut off the alarm and almost gave her a black eye.

Anyways.  Stories aside, this one song has been what I wake up to on workdays for the last year or so.