Liquid Sunshine

So you'll never guess what happened... The bipolar weather is back, yet again. After almost a week of partly cloudy and temperatures climbing up to fifty-five degrees, it was beautiful outside. Although the overcast clouds yesterday started to indicate the downpour we received today.

I could hear the rain drops by the time I went to bed last night. I actually am in love with falling asleep to the sound of a drizzle outside my window. Waking up seven hours later, the chilliness was what hit me first. The coldness made me want to climb even deeper into the warmth of my heavy down comforters. Then the smell started to creep up my nose. The wet pavement and running gutters wafted through my bedroom. I quickly shut my cracked window and got out of bed.

Photo Courtesy www.howtobeadadtoday.com

Heading outside to get in the car, the reflection of the gray sky was mirrored off of the blacktop driveway, and a mist slowly fell from the air, not even enough to call it a drizzle. I ran back inside to grab a raincoat. I love this kind of weather. I like how it makes the day at school so cozy, and somehow you feel the warmth radiating off of other people more just because of the cold outside. I like looking out the classroom window and noticing how smoky the sky looks. I like how everyone shows up to school in sweatshirts and scarfs. I don't see the rain as such a bad thing on a day like this.

The rain soon turned into sleet as the day began to get colder. By this evening the precipitation could easily be classified as snow. By the end of the day a thin layer of sugar veiled the ripening grass, it should probably be melted away by tomorrow or the next day. It feels as though every time the grass begins to fade to green, and the trees begin to foliate, and the flower begin to bloom, it must snow.

The rain made me want to curl up with a hot coa-coa and read a good book or watch an old movie. The coziness of the rain is completely evident to everyone as well. The weather tends to put people on the same page like that. It's even been thought and proven that a rainy day can change your mood. This is mostly thought to have to do with how much sunlight your body is exposed to, so on a dark rainy day, for example, the amount of sun your body is receiving will obviously be significantly less than a hot sunny day. Rainy days can also effect your internal clock.

I'm not necessarily even complaining about the rain. I definitely enjoy a lazy and snug day under the clouds every once an a while. I'm just glad that the forecast foresees the sun coming back by Wednesday ;-). Until than I'm more than content grabbing some cuddly blankets and some 90s movies to wait out the rain.

Morning My Sleep

I think we all know mornings can be rough. When it comes to waking up before dawn to go to school, it's not fun for anyone.

Usually my weekday mornings are on a pretty tight routine, starting with the shrill of my alarm at 6:17. After allowing myself to hit the snooze precisely twice, I end up rolling out of bed at 6:37. Trudging to my closet, I try my hardest to avoid the mirror, because at this point it's never a pleasant sight. Picking out an outfit is always a process. After praying that I'm awake and aware enough to decently match my shirt to my pants and shoes, I make my way downstairs to grab a quick apple or banana to eat.

Post breakfast, I usually go back upstairs to finish getting ready. Double checking my outfit is a must, because there are always those days where I just wasn't conscious enough to dress myself properly before getting something in my stomach. After the occasional outfit change, I'll brush my teeth, wash my face, and throw on a little mascara. I truly believe that mascara is an art, and it probably takes me longer than it should to paint my eyelashes, but it is the way it is. The clock reading 7:00 am, I'll start to re-pack my back pack. Once I'm feeling confident I haven't forgotten anything, I do one last mirror check for good luck ;), and then meet my waiting mother downstairs to leave.

Photo Courtesy prweb.com

I know for a fact that my morning routine is different than yours is, in one way or another. I also know that we probably share that same lagging tiredness when getting up for school. Everyone has their mornings. Sometimes if I shower in the morning that can help to wake me up for the rest of the day, but for the most part I don't usually shower right after I wake up because I hate having to walk to school with wet hair if my locks don't dry in time. If you share the same struggle (or like-wise) than a quick shot of orange juice can often seem to waken me up a little as well. One trick that I use is setting up my alarm across the room. By forcing myself to get up and walk over to hit the snooze button it gets me up right away and prevents the repetitive quantitive-snooze-hitting procrastination that tends to happen with the alarm an arms length away.

Morning grogginess should be shot down by it's source, which is lack of sleep in the first place. These days sometimes it's hard to give myself enough time to sleep, as previously discussed in my, Super Sleep Deprived post. I think that this is an aspect of time management that takes practice to perfect and time for someone to learn how to plan ahead in order to get everything on their to-do list checked off in time to get enough sleep at night. This being said, the more sleep you get and the more consistent you are with your sleep schedule the less you will be mourning (of your sleep) the next morning.