Daily Rituals*

I’ve been thinking quite a bit these past few days while I’ve been away from blogging. I had some 24hr stomach bug that left me immobile on my futon with nothing but Nintendo and my thoughts to keep me company… and after I had played enough Mario Kart I got to thinking about our daily rituals, or routines, if you will.

Ritual: any practice or pattern of behavior regularly performed in a set manner.

Routine: commonplace tasks, chores, or duties as must be done regularly or at specified intervals; typical or everyday activity

I have a lot of these, and have decided to share some with you. :) Some of them are very simple, others are more… involved… and require more time on my part. For example, I have a set-in-stone ritual for how I get ready for bed. It’s the same every night:

–Take eye make-up off at my desk while I finish catching up reading blogs / Twitter.
–Move to bathroom where I finish taking off make-up, wash face, etc… but I always have to brush my teeth last.
–Grab a glass of water from the kitchen (I have to have one on my nightstand, even if I don’t touch it all night. I’m weird, I know. haha)
–Double check doors are locked, oven is off, blinds are closed. (I’m a little OCD about this… *sigh*)
–Off to the bedroom, remove countless bobby pins from my hair (I have massive cave woman hair most days) which the Hubster then finds all over the house in the days to come. haha
–Apply lotion to my hands and arms (Mmmm aloe scent) & throw on a smidge of lip balm
–Turn on oscillating fan (I need the noise… we even have it on in the winter. haha)
–Shuffle over to my bed.

The Hubster and I also have some daily rituals that we do together every day. I’d never really thought about it until yesterday, but they are just little routines we have that I actually really love that we do. I’d be quite sad without them. :)

–Every night, after we’ve gotten ready for bed, the Hubster and I climb under the covers and talk quietly before falling asleep. Sometimes it’s just reflecting on the day, sometimes it’s discussing plans for the next day, sometimes it’s something funny / interesting we wanted to tell the other, or, depending on how tired we are (extreme exhaustion = ridiculous Shop Girl) some random thought he or I have made up (yeeeeeah the Hoopitaur was one of those… haha). The Hubster then pulls me close and we lay quietly until his breathing slows (he is almost always asleep before I am) then I wriggle free and let him flop around until he finds his sleeping position for the night and I move into mine (I sleep the same way evvvery night). Then, just as he’s almost asleep I whisper, “I love you, Hubs” because I always want it to be the last thing I say to him each day.

–The Hubs is working some sweet hours that allow him to finish his work day by 3pm. However, this also means that he wakes up reeeeeeally early and is out the door for work by 6:30am. Now, in my current unemployed state (hire me, please!) I really could stay in bed and leave him to fend for himself while I sleep until noon, but being the good little loving Wifester that I am, I like to get up and give him a hand. So, this is our morning routine:

*5:40am: alarm goes off, Hubs begrudgingly begins to awaken and is out of bed shortly after (sometimes with a few nudges from me. haha)
*I roll over and fall back asleep and always manage to wake up just as he is finishing shaving. I haul my scary self out of bed (I have serious morning hair) and shuffle to the kitchen while he gets dressed. I throw some toast in the toaster or throw a bowl of cereal on the counter. Next I make his super man-protein shake as he comes into the kitchen. I’m still half asleep, and every morning he hugs me and tells me how grateful he is that I get up with him and give him a hand. I grunt a response. haha
*While he eats / gets his work stuff together, I pull the stuff for his lunch out of the fridge (we make it the night before)
*I then go and collapse on the futon while he puts things in his work bag and brushes his teeth. I stay there until he has his shoes on… then I shuffle over to the door (yes, it takes me an obscene amount of time to reach the “awake” state of mind… haha) where he pulls me into a massive bear hug and tells me he loves me. I always say it back and tell him that I hope he has a wonderful day, then he’s out the door. I walk across the kitchen to our window just in time to see him turn around, smile and wave to me as he disappears from sight. :)

So, what about you? What are your daily rituals?