Drift Away....

Hello routine.

We have had exactly one week of a school routine, and I’m blissfully back to my usual routine in the best way possible. There are many days that I am unsure if I am doing life correctly-I mean, learning to let go was like the most important thing I learned from my divorce, surely? (Actually, not surely, because I learned so, so many things, but that was a big one.)

Like it or not, though, routine is my friend and I’m delighted to have it back.

Routine has meant the return of my podcast routine. Podcasts are my favorite (after books, of course) because you can listen while you do something else-this actually keeps me so much more focused. I listen to my podcasts in the morning while I do the workout, in the afternoon when I walk, while I clean, and most luxuriously, in the bathtub with a glass of wine.

My podcast routine is one of those things that I’m super proud of in my most nerdy way. So, I thought I would share.

Mornings are for news. New podcasts almost always drop at 6 AM, and I get up at 5 (that hour is for morning devotions, mediation, and coffee). I start my workout at 6 (after waking the girls up) and so my morning podcasts are Up First and The Daily.

(Side note-so far mornings have been fabulous now that we all three are back on the same schedule. The girls get up and fix their breakfasts and get ready for school with minimal fuss. I didn’t realize at all how much of a difference all of us being awake and asleep at the same times would make.)

My week breaks out like this:

Sunday- The Bible Binge
Monday- The Lazy Genius
Tuesday- Pantsuit Politics
Ten Things to Tell You
Wednesday- The Popcast
Thursday- NPR Politics
Friday- Pantsuit Politics
Saturday- On Being
The One You Feed

Somewhere in the middle of the week I usually find time for Pop Culture Happy Hour and The Diane Rehm Show. Every night I listen to The Skimm.

Weekends are for the book podcasts. My current favorites are What Should I Read Next?, SSR, and From the Front Porch. And I usually find time for Every Little Thing, Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations, The Next Right Thing, and Throughline- and I’m currently binging when I can the series on Mitch McConnell on Embedded.

I’m still making my way though 80s All Over, which is the two guys talking about all the '80s movies. Unfortunately, they had to cry uncle and give up in mid-1985, but I’m still on November 1980, so I’m good for a while. (I love listening to this because they talk about extremely obscure movies and as a movie geek nothing really thrills me more than movies that most people overlook.)

My music playlists make up my entire day at work (at last count, I have 150 playlists). I try as hard as I can to mix it up so that my co-workers don’t have to listen to the same songs over and over. (I do listen to the same morning playlist every day though, so they do have to listen to "September," which is my most favorite song of all time, every single day.)

It’s amazing to me how much my head has quieted since school started and we have a normal rhythm again. Once when I had a reading with Heather, she said that she had a vision of my brain as a bunch of spiders running in all directions and I was desperately trying to corral them. I wish my brain wasn’t spiders, but I totally understood what she was saying-I’m constantly trying to get everything into its place, like if I just can situate everything perfectly life will make sense. I’m well aware that can’t actually happen, but my routine just gives me such space to breathe and loosen up a bit. The girls and I are enjoying this season of not being so busy, of going to games and watching our friends play, of having evenings free to take walks together and to watch ‘80s and ‘90s television shows and just be.

A season of quiet is the reset that we needed.