On my days off from work I usually relish sleeping in, which means for me waking up at noon, but lately I've been waking up at 8:30-9AM. I don't know if it's my internal clock waking up at 6:30AM on the days I work is catching up to me finally as I figured it would, but either way, I'm not too upset. I used to get angry at myself for not being able to fall asleep but lately I've come to embrace it.

It's the small things waiting for me in the kitchen to help start the day that make the loss of a few hours of sleep sort of worth it. Small things referring to a nice hot cup of coffee and/or tea to start my morning, that is. I don't know what it is about the routine of brewing a pot of coffee every morning that just makes my day just that much better.

It feels nice knowing that I have a few hours to spare before I get into the busy flow of the rest of my day. It feels nice knowing that I have a few minutes to spare while waiting for the coffee to brew or the tea water to boil, that I can sit down in front of my computer checking emails, transferring money, paying bills, (my gym membership and Disneyland pass, lol) or just simply looking outside my window watching for that first ray of sunshine to hit our mailbox, then eventually lighting up my entire block.

And then I hear the timer on the brew machine go off, and the water boiling on the stove. I pour my coffee into my favorite San Francisco mug (I refuse to drink coffee out of any other mug I have) then steep my tea in another (tea, not as picky.) I bask in the smell of both of my favorite beverages in the world wafting up my nose, and it's the first thing I smell in the morning to wake me up and help start my day.

Maybe it's a good thing that I stopped waking up at noon on my days off. You don't know pleasures like these at 12PM when you know you've wasted your entire morning.