UPDATE

Well, no definition coming for "update".  This is simply an FYI to tell my now 8 or 9 regular blog readers that I have not fallen off the face of the earth....just been on, uh as they say about sitcoms, hiatus for a while.  With a floor repair and a vacation behind me now, I have a lot of photos to share and plan to do that before the week is over.  I hope to squeeze in writing time between my doctor's appointments, Bible study, work, and choir practice this week.  So more to come.........just not tonight.

HABITS

I’ve been up this morning for over an hour now.  Yes, I have been getting up at 5:30 a.m. rather than 4:30 a.m. for the past couple of weeks.  It has made a huge difference in how my body handles the whole day.  I needed that extra hour.  Thankful am I for little things like an extra hour of sleep.

Habit.  My online google dictionary defines “habit” as “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up”.

My mind began to think on this on this particular morning as my floor repair began yesterday.  The damaged floor areas have been torn up.  Thankfully, there was no damage to the underfloor (or do that call that a subfloor?) .  Good news.  The hardwood could not be reset yesterday, though, because the floor area was so wet underneath.  So since then I’ve listened to three very loud fans in my kitchen running 24 hours.  It’s a noise, let me tell you , but a small price to pay for a job done right.  And there’s something to be said for a job done right…but not in this post.  I will listen to these fans until the floor technician returns tomorrow.   Taking my Pollyanna approach, I can be glad that these fans cool my kitchen more than just the regular air.  That’s nice.

So at our house, I prepare a cooked breakfast 99% of the time.  Not very smart, I know that.  But it’s my routine…or habit, you might say.   For a few years now, it’s been pancakes on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  Biscuits, gravy and eggs on Wednesday, and Saturday and whatever I make on Monday and Friday.  And since this is Wednesday, I made biscuits.  Just in case you are wondering, my biscuits look like this:

And lest you think I made these this morning, I did not.  I do NOT make this many for The Husband. These were from another day.

I didn’t mention earlier that to prepare for the floor repair, the refrigerator that caused the problem to begin with had to be moved to the carport.  Luckily, my carport is right off my kitchen.  I went out to the carport this morning to get the buttermilk.   Then I went to put it back and get the sausage.  The sausage went back and I got the eggs.  Oh, and I had to go back for the butter.  And then the milk.   Oh, and did I mention the sandwich meat and mustard?  And the ice?  And the tea for The Husband’s lunch?   It was a never-ending trek back and forth and back and forth to the carport.  I was exhausted and said “Arrghh” more than once or twice.  The funny thing that made me think of a habit is that even after all these trips back and forth to the carport, when I got done with the mustard for the last time, I STILL walked to where the refrigerator used to be in the kitchen to put it away.    I know!  Isn’t the human mind complex?

So I considered my habits.  Habits are like everything else.  There are good ones and bad ones.   I’m not even going to classify habits as we were taught to classify blood sugar readings.  Habits are not classified as not normal or normal.  They are good or they are bad, with a few in between. 

From childhood to now, I was  (and still am) a horrible nail biter.  I never was able to have a manicure until a few years ago because I didn't have enough nail to file.  I had tried painting my nails with that nasty tasting stuff but you know what?  My habit of biting my nails was so strong in me that I still bit my nails.  Ridiculous.  Through the years I have tried harder to master this habit and have improved.  I tried to think of ways to avoid doing it especially during stressful times.   I finally decided that when I began to bite my nails, I would get a pair of clippers and just cut them off.  So that’s what I do.  Once they’re cut, there’s nothing to bite.  So now I know you will all look at my nails.  And you will see closely clipped nails.  And that’s why.  The best solution?  Maybe not.  But it works.   I used to twirl my hair but had a remedy for that when I had it cut short. 

I like to think that I and others have good habits, too.  Maybe cooking breakfast EVERY morning is not so good a habit to me, but it’s one that The Husband enjoys.  Exercise is a wonderful habit that I have slacked on of late.  Eating right is good, too, but on down the totem pole.   Watching certain TV shows—not many—just a few….Chopped, Masterchef, Hallmark channel…is a habit.  I even sometimes classify going to Sunday School, worship service, and choir practice as a habit.  This, however, is a habit I never want to break.  It’s a habit that I look forward to every week and never want to miss.  Lying in bed sleeping late on a Sunday morning just don’t cut it in my world.  I HAVE to have that worship and time with the Lord and my church family. 

I once heard that if one does something for a month, it becomes a habit.  I’ve never counted days or noted that to know if it is true or not.  Sounds like a good plan.  I think that the bottom line is that habits are what we make them, just as life is what we make it.   We must adapt and do the best we can with what we’ve got.  I guess if I look around as I sit here at the computer in my kitchen that is in disarray, I can look beyond that and see the finished result when it’s done and look forward to that.    I have decided I want to work on my habits and try to get rid of the bad ones and hold tightly to the good ones.  No one can do that for me.  I’m the only one who can make that happen. 

“Let love be without dissimulation.  Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”   
                                   Romans  12:9