Sabrina Reyes-Peters

One Tuesday Morning

As Anne Lamott says, “butt in chair.”

Since I don’t have any brilliant ideas, but need to practice writing (last week's post sorely reminded me that I’ve gotten really rusty!), here is a chronicle of my morning.

7:25 First alarm rings, playing the intro to Almighty God (Bonus Track). Bleary eyed, I turn it off and set a new alarm for 30 minutes later. I had stayed up until past midnight, watching the newest episode of True Detective.

7:55, second alarm rings, as well as Charlie’s. I take my phone and quickly scroll through Twitter. Then I get out of bed, brush my hair and tie it back, get dressed (t-shirt and basketball shorts), clean and put on my glasses, and head out of the bedroom into the kitchen.

8:04 I decide to oil-pull, so I pour (it’s summer, which means the coconut oil is liquid!) 2 tablespoons of coconut oil into a tiny medicine measuring cup, and toss it into my mouth. I need to swish it around for 20 minutes.

8:04 I fill up the water bottles (one is mine, one is C’s) that are on the kitchen counter, put C’s in the refrigerator, and grab my morning supplements (L-Tyrosine) from the hall closet.

8:06 I take my water bottle and supplements to the living room, where I sit on the couch, browsing Twitter on my phone, until the 20 minutes of oil-pulling are up.

8:24 I spit out the coconut oil, and rinse out my mouth with warm water. Then I take my supplements.

8:25 I sit back on the couch, and read the Daily Lectionary scriptures on my iPad, using the ESV Bible app. I am not really partial to the ESV, but aesthetically speaking, it’s got the best Bible app around.

(From here on out my times are estimates, which is why they're so even.)

Around 8:45, Charlie emerges and asks for breakfast. I go back to the kitchen, fry up 10 pieces of uncured bacon on the cast iron griddle, and pour the grease into a mason jar. Then I scramble two eggs with some salt, pepper, and a bit of leftover bacon grease. I work on drinking water while I make breakfast. After I’m done I let C know it’s ready. He is situated in his home office, and requests his breakfast there.

9:05 I finally finish cleaning up the griddle after breakfast (I love the griddle, but it’s annoying to use for two reasons: 1. It’s heavy, 2. It must be cleaned directly after use), and decide to wipe down the dining table. I take the table runner and throw it in the washer along with various kitchen towels and placemats. Then I notice that the floor under the table needs to be swept, so I sweep.

9:20 I sit back down on the couch to enjoy my cup of green tea. (I have this morning eating and drinking routine that I follow: water, tea [or coffee if I’m on a coffee kick!], then breakfast. I can usually follow this routine fairly consistently because C isn’t always up in the morning. But, regardless of whether or not I cook breakfast for the both of us, I can never manage to sit down to my breakfast until between 10 and 11.) I contemplate doing yoga before breakfast, but skip it.

9:30 I get lost on social media, but I do find a FB event that is scheduled for tonight in the Seattle area. It is a Black Lives Matter Solidarity March, and I know some people who could potentially participate. I share the event. My friend Beth tweets that she is looking for things to do in Seattle today, so I try to help by suggesting the Central Library, Pike’s Place, UW Suzzallo, Kubota Garden, Underground Tours, and Space Needle.

Around 10:15 C comes into the living room to give me a hug, because he (we are) is excited about applying to a rental house we found in Tacoma last night. We joke around for a while, and notice my stomach growling. I remember that I need to eat breakfast.

10:20 I make a three-egg-white omelet with spinach and some parmesan, because that is how many eggs are left in the carton, and I don’t want to dig out the new carton of eggs. I take a peach out of the refrigerator, and cut a slice to taste test it. I decide to have that with my omelet.

10:30 I set down my breakfast on the table. I remember that I didn’t actually get the washing machine going, so I go back to the laundry room to fix it. C calls me from the office. I find out he needs the Comcast password, which I have forgotten. So I sit down with my iPad to retrieve the password, and type it into his computer.

10:40 I eat breakfast.

10:50 I decide to take out the kitchen trash. I notice there are maggots in the outside garbage can, again. I remember to take out the wet contents of the washer. I put the towels in the dryer, and lay out the table runner and placemats to dry. I also take a phone call. It is the hospital, reminding me about my procedure tomorrow.

11:00 Back on the couch, I take out my laptop to look at my brother’s resume, for which he had requested some editing help. The file format is RTF, so instead of experimenting with Apple Pages, I use Google Docs to make some tweaks and offer suggestions with the comments feature.

11:15 I decide to write this.

11:30 C asks me to check the mail. I think he is expecting something, because it is probably too early for the mail. While I’m out on the porch, I notice the jade is looking dry.

11:35 I water the jade, and as I’m wondering about the hanging plants, C says we’re going to my FIL’s house across the street to use his printer. We need to print out the rental application.

11:40 The printer isn’t working. We decide to go another route.

11:45 I come back to my laptop, and continue to work on this self-assigned writing practice.