I have great dreams about how to start my day well: wake early, meditate, journal, exercise, eat healthy breakfast, get shit done before work.

No crappy food, no sleeping in and no needless worries about stuff I should be doing because hey, it’s only 9 am and I’ve done most of it already.

Ah yes, I have such great plans.

Reality though is always just a tad different.

On a typical work-day my alarm goes off at 7 am.  And again at 7.10 am.  And again at 7.20 am.  It continues like this for forty five minutes as I repeatedly doze off in between snoozes.

Finally, I struggle out of bed at 8.45 am and crawl to the bathroom to pee and brush my teeth, trying to avoid the groggy beast squinting back at me in the mirror.

If I’m not washing my hair, it’s a lightning-quick shower which makes me feel human again and I quickly throw on my uniform with a quick smell-test to see if the previous day’s shirt is still good to go.

The odd day I do actually brush my hair but most of the time once it’s up in a messy bun pre-shower, there it stays.  Slap on some moisturizer – sometimes literally if I’m still  sleepy – a pair of earrings (about the only effort I ever make) and I’m all set.

If I’m being good I drive straight to work.

If I’m indulging, I head to the local garage first.

Which means I usually head to the local garage first where I buy a scone and a coffee.

When I lived in Douglas it used to take 20 minutes during rush-hour to drive just 200 meters; I used to eat an entire bowl of porridge on my way to work.  Here it’s not that bad and I still have plenty of time once I reach work to sit down and scroll through Instagram, or read the Irish Examiner and finish my breakfast while the cleaning lady finishes her work around me, probably thinking I’m a total weirdo, arriving so early.

What can I say; I am a total weirdo.

So on the one hand there are the Dreams: meditation, journalling, exercise, healthy breakfast, being productive…

And on the other, there is the Reality: snooze button for an hour, no exercise (unless you count running out the door) and a balanced breakfast of a scone in one hand and a coffee in the other, all while driving to work.

*Sigh*

At least I didn’t fall off my bike today.  Or spend 20 minutes crying and dribbling snot down my face afterwards…. today’s been a good day.

Ciao darlings!

Lizzie xxx