Oatmeal Obsessed?

You people have been laughing at my oatmeal habits.
And yes, the habits probably ARE laughable.
But this topic, obsession, has gotten me to think a bit about my daily breakfast routine and why it matters so much to me.

Oatmeal before the milk step.

Let me describe it to you first: into the oatmeal pan (yes, the same pan every day), I scoop one half cup of uncooked, old fashioned oats. Then one cup (plus a splash) of water. I put this on the stove on high. Then I get a small plate out of the cabinet and the container of raw almonds out of the fridge. I grab a handful of almonds and put them on the plate and count them--2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18!--it's a great day when I grab exactly 18. I do most of the time actually. I put the plate of almonds in the microwave for 2 minutes. Then I check the oatmeal. If not already, soon it is boiling, so I remove it from the heat and stir it with the spoon I'll use to eat my oatmeal. While still in the pan, I add cinnamon and a few raisins. After I scoop it into my oatmeal bowl (it's a handmade work of pottery with a beautiful blue glaze), I put some frozen blueberries on top and stir those in. I wash the oatmeal pan and set it aside to dry. I take the almonds out of the microwave when they finish and place the oatmeal bowl in for 30 seconds (to thaw the blueberries). In the meantime, I choose a pear from the fruit bowl and slice it up and put it into a plastic bowl (so I can take it in the car with me if I'm unable to finish it before it's time to leave for school). When the microwave dings, I retrieve my oatmeal bowl, toss the 18 toasted almonds on top, pour a bit of 1% organic cow milk on top of the oatmeal/blueberry/raisin mixture, mix it up with the spoon, and carry my breakfast to the dining table to sit down and eat.

You may call me obsessed when I tell you I do this entire process, exactly like this, every single day. You may call me obsessed when I tell you that one of the most difficult things about traveling for me not having this morning routine. (Thank you, Starbucks, for this.) (And I'm sorry, McDonald's, but I will never eat this.)(Because I don't eat at McDonald's.)
And maybe I am obsessed, but this is all important to me.

Mornings have always been extremely difficult in my world (though ever since I turned 40, mornings are becoming a little bit easier. Strange, eh?) I'm not sure why mornings are rough. It doesn't seem to matter how late I've slept in or how many hours of sleep I have gotten, that first hour or so is rough. Part of it is physical--I have some form of arthritis (arthritis as a whole is incredibly difficult to pinpoint and diagnose specifically, so I'm not sure exactly what to call it), and my body in the morning is slow and stiff and sore, some mornings more than others. That's a huge part of it. But well before I was dealing with that in my life, I struggled right out of bed. Speech is difficult (beyond single syllable utterings). I don't like people in my physical space. I can't handle extra noise, not even the radio on morning NPR news. Every morning is an epic battle with my alarm clock to pull myself out of bed.

But the oatmeal routine helps. It's less the meal itself than the process to create it. All of the motions create a ritual--my morning ritual to start my day. It's meditative. It's predictable. It's quiet. There are no surprises. I know exactly what to expect. And somehow, going through all the steps helps wake up my body and mind. After the routine, I'm more ready to face the day, whatever it brings.

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If you've gotten this far, you might as well check out my photos from spring break last year to see the photo I told you about--the one where my daughter demonstrates absolute and total fear on a water ride at Sea World (it's toward the middle of the collection of photos--scroll and you'll find it).