The Big 2-3

I woke up to the smell of crackling bacon; it's a perfect way to start the day. Matthew made me a huge breakfast of French toast, bacon, and eggs just the way I like 'em (with mushrooms and green pepper...yum). And no proper English breakfast would be without the standard cup of tea, which I had in my brand-new, beautiful tea-for-one set. The rest of day was spent lounging around with my sweetie, reading, snacking, watching movies...all my favorite things. And as a special treat, we found out Cambridge has a KFC. Nothing says "Emily feels loved" like fried chicken. And the cake: let's just say it was appropriately named the "Seriously Chocolate Cake." All in all, it was a pretty good day. But the reason it could be so great was simply because Matthew is absolutely the perfect man for me. The entire day, I kept thinking, "You know me so well. This is exactly what I could have asked for." So lesson learned: Never spend another birthday without my perfect man; he'll take care of the rest. :)

Now you know me a little better...even if you didn't want to.

I am a very routine person. I'm not quite sure how it began, though it probably had something to do with things like practicing and muscle memory at an early age. But since college, I feel as though things have worsened. Without getting into the most severe of my routines (those in the bathroom), everything I do on a regular basis has a regular process and function of its own. And there's actually thought and reason behind every detail of the act. For instance, when I climb into bed at night, I first must make the bed. This is to fix any disheveling from the night before that Matthew thinks he fixed by merely pulling up the covers. Next, I fluff my pillow; it's a feather pillow and therefore does not keep its shape. I then fold down the covers on my side, sit down, and take off my slippers. Next comes the application of Softlips, followed by the setting of my alarm (set the time, make sure it's turned "on", change the color to the next one in the sequence), followed by hand lotion. These last three are particular to this order because after applying my chapstick, I spread it with my index finger, the same finger needed to set the alarm. If I were to reverse these two, I would end up with a minute speck of dust on my lips. Gross. But if I were to set my alarm post lotion, the alarm would feel really slippery in my hands. Also gross. So after these tasks have been executed in the proper order, I can finally climb into bed. Some might consider this to be a sign of OCD or some other ironically named "disorder." And if these actions had no purpose behind them, I would agree. But I feel my reason is my saving grace. There is a point to it all, as there is for this post: my routines are shortening my life. Enhancing, yes, but shortening. As I go about my day (and I say "day" because there is only one stock day that I experience every day...maybe two), the routines of yesterday get melded with today and that of tomorrow, to the point where an entire week has passed and I don't even realize it. It's been a month since we were last home, four since Christmas...When I realized that it's been a year since I graduated, I felt a shift in the space/time continuum that actually involved the ideas of space and time. Have I reached that age where another year goes by and I don't even notice?? Am I...old??? Age 17 to 18 was the longest year of my life. How could I not notice one just as long? It's nice in that it means the time until we're back in the country will go by fast. Only a few blurred months and we'll be out of this tiny apartment. It's an interesting time of the same thing every day, but every day still passes by.....
Yeah, I'm definitely getting old.