Morning Routine

Every morning I get up and go downstairs to make coffee for the cat and feed my husband some wet food. Oh wait, I mean the other way around - I make coffee for my HUSBAND and feed the CAT some wet food! Her long-awaited and very much loved wet food breakfast. We all love morning routine around here. 

Kissekatten (Pina, aka cat) has been with us now for just over three years and during this time she has gone from hopping all over us in the mornings, pushing things off our night stands, and in general being a holy terror until I get up and go downstairs, to sleeping in right along side us, waking up slowly and slithering down the stairs to the kitchen. Most days however she practices the art of subtle manipulation. She hops up onto the bed and comes over to one of us, purring loudly, butting us with her head, and being as cute as possible. This can happen several times before she tires of that and moves on to a new tactic. The final straw, for us both, is when she jumps up onto my night stand. At this point I know she is saying, “Either get up now, or someone gets hurt.” That someone being whatever she decides to push off of the night stand. 

Never-the-less, after I have finally “woken up” both she and I make our way down to the kitchen where I prepare her wet food with a little warm water (to make the gravy of course). We love the gravy. And by we, I mean Pina. Some days she sits patiently at her placemat waiting for me to bring over her food but most days, she is standing impatiently beside me, on her back legs while reaching her outstretched front paws up toward the counter, yelling the whole time until I turn to make my move toward her placemat. She then runs to her bowl with vigor (yelling and trying to trip me along the way) where she immediately slurps down the gravy. 

Sometimes I want to tell her, “Take it easy kitty, the next bowl won't arrive for another 24 hours.” But she doesn’t care. There will be treats and dry food (and an occasional people food treat) to tide her over until then. 

But the absolute best part of morning routine is when I get to sit down and enjoy my morning cup of joe. Some days I cannot wait for morning to arrive for this moment. The anticipation is nearly as good as the reality, but not quite. Some years back I stopped drinking coffee. I know, why? Right? But I had my reasons. Now I cannot imagine being without my strongly brewed, dark roast with just the right amount of cream. No sugar, just cream. And it has to be real cream, milk does not do it for me. A good dark cup of coffee can only be complimented with a rich shot of cream. To drink coffee with milk is like adding water to a smoothie. It merely dilutes the beauty of the bitter roast. In my opinion. That being said however, I would never turn down my morning joe simply because my beloved coffee cream is lacking. It would only reinforce my anticipation for the next time I get to enjoy it my way. That in itself is worthwhile.  

What routines and rituals do you have that make your days a little brighter?