Don’t you hate it when your morning routine gets abruptly, unexpectedly disrupted?

It’s your way of slipping into the day as easily as possible, without having to think too hard about what you are doing until your mind reaches its fully awake state. A break in the routine is like a splash of cold water in the face.

My routine includes one cup of coffee, savored in front of the television while CNN drills slowly into my consciousness. It’s my only cup of the day, and it has become a ritual. My reward for climbing out of bed. Thanks to technology and automated coffeemakers, it’s ready and waiting for me when I stumble into the kitchen. All I have to do is pour, add copious amounts of CoffeeMate, and get to my chair.

This morning, though, there was no CoffeeMate!! Disaster. Black, bitter coffee was all I had. I went to the grocery store several days ago and I know I bought more CoffeeMate (the powdered kind, French Vanilla, full fat and sugar content). Yet sometime between taking it off the shelf at the store, and looking for it this morning, it disappeared. I’m hoping it just rolled out of the bag and is in the trunk of my car. Otherwise I’ll have to go buy some more. Not a big deal, in the overall scheme of things… but I’m such a creature of habit.

Sad, isn’t it?