Hot Chocolate Is My Coffee

I have a couple of options for my commute in the morning. Most of which have their ups and their downs:

Option 1

Get up approximately one hour before needing to leave. Get ready. Approximately 1 hour 15 minutes before needing to arrive at work walk to the bus stop. Get on the bus—doze off.  Arrive at metro, wake up, get off bus. Wait to get on the metro, get on metro. Doze off. Get off the metro, wonder how I miraculously managed to wake up just in time for the right stop. Say a quick “Thank you, God.” Walk to bus stop, get on another bus DO NOT DOZE OFF, continuously remind myself so that I do not miss my stop. Get off the bus. Make sad eyes at Starbucks as I walk past because I do not drink coffee. Arrive at elevator. Get on elevator. Go upstairs. Search desperately for my keycard to the office, hoping I didn’t forget it again. Find keycard buried beneath keys and GPS. Wonder why I keep my GPS in my purse. Enter Office.

Public Transportation. Busses, man. Cheap travel's legit. 

Option 1.1

All the stuff the same except: get on one metro. Stay on metro--wake up just in time for the right stop. Say a quick "Thank you, God" walk approximately one mile to workplace. Admire the scenery on the way. Considering stopping at Baked & Wired, think better of it. Arrive at elevator. Get on elevator. Go upstairs. Search desperately for my keycard to the office, hoping I didn’t forget it again. Find keycard buried beneath keys and GPS. Wonder why I keep my GPS in my purse. Enter Office.

Pretty walk in Georgetown side-streets C&O Canal

Option 2

Get up. Look at clock. Wonder why I didn’t get up the first time my alarm went off. Vow to go to bed earlier. Know that’s a vow that’s as good as broken. Roll out of bed. Decide to rock the sexy messy look  (Thanks for the rationalization advice, Susan). Choose clothes. Scramble to find keys. Consider breakfast; decide against breakfast. Scramble to find phone. Lose phone while finding keys. Find keys and phone at the same time. Exit apartment. Ride down elevator. Curse every person that chooses to ride the elevator at the same time as me this morning. Exit building. Search the parking lot for car. Use key beeper thing on my keys to find the car. Say a quick “Thank you, God.” For technology. Get in car. Use GPS to find workplace. Fight traffic to get to work. Use valet parking beneath office. Take my GPS out of my car and put it in my purse because they don't lock my car during the day. Walk to elevator. Arrive at elevator. Get on elevator. Go upstairs. Search desperately for my keycard to the office, hoping I didn’t forget it again. Find keycard buried beneath keys and GPS. Remember why I keep my GPS in my purse. Enter Office.

Option 3

Get up at a reasonable time. Get ready. Grab a bite of food. Talk to Susan a little. Ask Katherine what time she’s leaving. Hope Katherine offers a ride. Ask Katherine for a ride if she doesn’t offer (Which is rare. Because Katherine is really nice.) Ride with Katherine to work. Try to have conversation. Fail—because I don’t like morning. Try anyway, because I like Katherine and she’s nice, and giving me a ride. Get out of car at a stoplight by the Watergate. Thank roommate profusely for ride. Begin walk to Georgetown. Walk approximately one mile. Begin to wake up. Think that Georgetown is beautiful. Consider stopping at Baked & Wired, think better of it. Arrive at elevator. Get on elevator. Go upstairs. Search desperately for my keycard to the office, hoping I didn’t forget it again. Find keycard buried beneath keys and GPS. Wonder why I keep my GPS in my purse. Enter Office.

Naked Chapstick at Office. Important to starting Day.

Once I get to my office I start work for the day. That means a lot of different things right now. I’m a temporary HR assistant at the Bank of Georgetown. Sometimes I know what I’m going to do for the day; sometimes I get assignments as I go. It’s an awesome job; I really like it. But I’m not entirely sure I’m going to stay there permanently, yet.

Potential reason to stay?  This phone says my name. 

Sometimes, as I’m working, I feel my eyelids drift shut. It’s at those moments I revisit that brief moment walking past Starbucks. What can I do?  What can I do? On Tuesday, I realized what I could do—and it was magical.

I stood up from my desk and walked into the kitchen. Glancing around, I located the box of Swiss Miss. I pulled out a coffee cup, filled it with water, nuked it (I didn’t realize the coffee machine would dispense hot water until after I had murdered my poor coffee cup with the evil microwave) poured in my hot chocolate and took it back to my desk to nurse for the rest of the morning.

Best. Idea. Ever.

I hummed happily as I stirred my hot chocolate with the nifty plastic coffee stirrer, and did my work. That’s all I needed. It was a fix. It was happy. It was a ton of calories that I am completely happy to drink. And it is possibly my new addiction.

Hot Chocolate Is My Coffee—none of that Diet Coke stuff.

~Meggers

Sleep Convert

Anyone who knows me knows that I have this habit of not sleeping enough. For example, it’s currently 1:37 am and I should totally and completely be sleeping.  In fact, in the little Facebook “About You” section, the only thing I have written is “I should be sleeping” Go ahead.  Go check it. Go check it right now.  That’s right.  And I didn’t change it just now--it’s been there since my freshman year of college. 

I visited Utah two weekends ago. And I was standing talking to some friends in the hallway of the library and Kelsey told me, “Megan! You look fantastic!  Have you lost weight?” with my ego stroked I felt like doing a little happy dance, but I smiled.

“No, I haven’t.” (Actually, put on five pounds.  Yikes.  But HEY. She thinks I look smokin’. Score.)

“Well, I guess when I spent most of my time with you, you were always short on sleep. You were forever coming in and saying, ‘Agh, I only got three hours of sleep last night.’”  Note to self, (again) stop telling people when you go to bed.

“Yeah, Meggers never gets any sleep.” Thanks, Peets.

“No she doesn’t!” Traitor, Eric, traitor.

“I do better now!” I protested hotly. Which, by the way, is true-ish.

“What time did you go to bed last night?” I’ve done a lot better since moving out to Washington D.C. However, in the days preceding my trip to DC I had a friend from Tennessee come visit me. So we stayed up late talking. Then I had a friend who was going to basic training bring ice cream and watch chick flicks. Then I woke up at 4 am Utah time to get on a plane, and went to bed at midnight because of spending time with my family. So… I wasn’t doing SO hot on the sleep thing, but I was doing pretty well because I’d slept 10 to 7 or so the next night.

Regardless. The deep dark circles under my eyes and sallow skin that used to be a byproduct of NOT sleeping are becoming visitors in my life instead of constant companions. And I’m going to be honest with you (don’t tell my Mother. She’ll say wise and smart like “I’ve always told you sleep is important) I LIKE sleep.

In fact, I like sleep so much that when people tell me they are going to pull all nighters to study for a test I say “NO. SLEEP. RETAIN SMART. AND EAT TOO.” And then I do things like sleep. Of course, as I do from time to time I stay up too late.  

But overall, I’m converted to sleep.  Speaking of which, I’m going to head to bed now.

Sweet Dreams, dear internet and lovely friends.