Cleanliness.

--next to godliness, as we all know.

As I have heretofore whined about, dear reader, I'm currently wrestling with a big anaconda of a schedule--you know, like in the movie Anaconda?

 

--and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be IceCube in the river with the anaconda popping up like a real bad dream, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be more like a super-smart character who *outwits* the anaconda by staying home and watching TV where no anacondas live, but that doesn't mean that the anaconda, aka my schedule, isn't running me around like a bad idea. Just four weeks of this, and then things moderate. Just four weeks. (is my new mantra, which I just typed 'moantra,' which is maybe more accurate and in tune with my current whiny mood.

ANYWAY. Today I had to wrap my mind around the fact that if I wanted to work out today, it would have to be in the morning, a realization that simultaneously resulted in the concomitant clarity that I  would thus have to take a shower, and get dressed, at the gym. And all that that entailed.

--oh the HORRRRRRor. (with extra Rs, as the situation clearly warrants.)

For your reference, here is what taking a shower and getting dressed at the gym, in the morning, for the day, entails, in my world:

1. consideration of the hair and the hair product.
2. consideration of the clothing, shoes and accessories.
3. consideration of the 'I need to smell awesome' accoutrements.
4. other crucial stuff I am forgetting.

Should going to the gym on the way to work be this hard? Should I have so many considerations and requirements? Perhaps not. But on the other hand, should working out in the morning mean I should look less splendid than I want to look on an ordinary work day? The people, I submit to you that it should not.

So I went to the gym, packing all of the considerations and requirements and my dedicated gym towel. I worked out like the righteous, and thereafter got clean, including washing my hair, which is a project unto the highest degree of project-iness.

May I say, as I evaluate my performance:

• I got all the things I needed into my bag. (25 points.)
• maybe I forgot just one thing, but it was of no consequence. (Minus one point.)
• well, of little consequence. (Minus 3 points.)
• I was expeditious in my workout-to-dressed time. (25 points.)
• I left the gym with damp but not dripping hair. (which is my usual, anyway. Curly hair, you guys. It is bossy.) (20 points.)
• I wore super cute shoes and a sophisticated outfit composed of summer-to-fall neutrals, in linen, and forgot nothing, so that my outfit was complete, including earrings and a bracelet. (25 points, plus five points for the bracelet.)
• I was not late for my first appointments at work. (10 points.)

In conclusion, I give myself a solid A for this performance, because I did not let my loathing for the morning workout deter me from doing it, and because I accomplished a satisfactory level of dress and grooming, AND because I did with without whining to anyone, except maybe to this blog, and thus to you, my readers, but nonetheless delivering a triumphal conclusion, TA DA, the end.

(p.s., I am so sorry about that angry looking anaconda, but I think you'll have to agree, it was necessary, if graphic, to make my point about my schedule.)