HABITUAL

As I sit here sipping my Marble Mocha Machiatto, courtesy of my local Starbucks, with the heat blowing on my feet, I'm pondering the routines that we create for ourselves.

Sure, there's the inevitable work routine, but I already have several routines set up within that routine that make it comfortable and familiar, such as how many Vanilla creamers I take in my coffee that I drink from my Pier 1 mug everyday, or the order in which I check my e-mail, voicemail and generally get moving in the morning.

My favorite routines are the ones that have come to fruition through my own effort to create them.

This cup of Starbucks in my hand, for example, is my Saturday morning treat. I put on sweats, throw my hair up and drive less than a mile to the same Starbucks, and order the same thing.

Tomorrow will be Sunday. That means I'll call my best friend in Memphis so we can have our weekly chat. We always talk on Sundays. Tomorrow, we'll have lots to catch up on.

My morning routine is pretty established. Shower, makeup, hair, clothes, pack my bag, fix a bagel in the kitchen, grab a Lean Cuisine and some jello and take off. The order I put on my makeup, the way I dry my hair and how I straighten my hair are more sub-routines.

My mom laughed when I told her about my Saturday morning Starbucks tradition I've created for myself. But now that I'm an adult (like it or not), I'm making this world "my own." I'm paving my own way. For me, that road is easier traveled with a Starbucks cup in my hand on Saturday mornings. I say it's a small price to pay for stability in a life where things are changing all the time.