Routines

(Mushroom, onion, and bacon omelette)

I am such a creature of a habit that nothing makes me happier than a well-established routine. A GOOD well-established routine, I should say, as it takes me months and sometimes years to finagle a bit of my life into a fitting pattern, the repetition of which never bores me but rather comforts me. Like a favorite sweater, a routine should be cozy and it should also fit -- into the time available to it, into the season, and most of all into the notion of a person I would like myself to be.

So it is with my weekend mornings in the fall -- they are long and free, and the weather is perfect for that sort of thing. I wake up at 6:30 --  a late morning for me, since on the weekdays I am up at 5 am. I get ready and walk to the gym for my 8 am barre class. I love morning exercise classes, it's such a nice way of starting the day. Especially barre -- not too intense, but with plenty of varied movement and stretching, I feel energized and not exhausted.

After the class, I walk some more: I stop by a local Italian market to get some fresh rolls and almond milk, and then continue to the coffee shop, to get my latte and Chris's chai (yes, we like foofy drinks, what of it?) and walk back home. The loop home-gym-store-coffee-shop-home is just under three miles, and I get back by 10 am. By then, I am ready for breakfast, and usually cook something fun for the both of us -- omelletes, like the one pictured above. It's from today. Chris also enjoys hash browns, which I make from scratch. We get our produce from farmers' markets, when in season, and from Door-to-Door Organics year round. (And that is also a part of my routine: by opting to have most of my food delivered, I free up time to do other things. Yes, I do realize that we are very fortunate to be able to do that.)

We eat breakfast and drink our coffee, and then it is on to shower, internet and/or movies, lunch, reading, errands, afternoon, grading, prep for classes. I cook lunch as well, since it' the weekend, like this cod with piperade, roasted potatoes, and parsley almond sauce (via Blue Apron).

But it is the mornings that are my favorite, and I treasure every weekend day when it is not too cold or rainy to walk to the gym and all over town, errands and leisure pleasantly entwined, a perfect balance between indulgence and purpose.