Larocque and Roll

Ritual

This weekend, I was all set to write a post about what this year’s theme was going to be, as opposed to making resolutions. Sadly, on Thursday (or thereabouts), I was struck down with Braindeaditis. My ability to focus on important tasks was nil ¹, and making any sort of decision required at least fifteen minutes of navel gazing. Things that were at the top of my “To Do – NOW!!!!” list just kind of… sat there. Episodes of Braindeaditis always seem to hit when I have important deadlines to meet, and I can’t afford to sit around admiring the dust patterns on the stacks of things on my desk.

This is the conversation I had with myself earlier today:

Me: Um, Brain? Could you please pull it together? I have to finish a Very Important Presentation Including Handouts, plus write an update on the status of a Very Important Report That I Have To Redo. And let’s not forget the schedules that need to be examined.
Brain: Leprechaun giraffe sidesaddle!
Me: What does that even mean?!

So, making sense of anything is damn near impossible right now. In lieu of anything meaningful, I’m going to tell you about my new bedtime ritual. It’s all well and good to say that I go to bed shortly after 11pm, but all that means is that I make my way upstairs at that time; there’s still getting my pj’s on, brushing my teeth, remembering to go back downstairs to make sure the cat has water, going back upstairs because the cat is in the tub crying because he wants water from the tap, trying to remember where I left my book ² and so forth. By the time I’m in bed and am ready to read a few pages, it’s well after 11:30 and it’s time to shut off the lights (and yet I read until midnight anyway.)

To cut down on the amount of puttering I do when getting ready for bed, I start much earlier. Around 10:30ish, no matter what I’m doing, I go upstairs and do the following:

1. Put my pajamas on.
2. Brush my teeth ³
3. Turn on the heating pad on my bed so it’s toasty warm when I get in.
4. Fill the humidifier and turn it on low.
5. Make sure the cat has food and water.

This way, when I meander up shortly after 11pm, all I have to do is hang up my housecoat and crawl into bed, making my reading time that much longer!