New England mornings and car confessions

It has been so cold the last week or so, that I go start my car at least twenty minutes before I plan to leave. I am not really a morning person. So, having to wait for the car to warm up gives me the excuse I need to screw around on my computer before venturing off to the office (to screw around on the computer there).

In the morning, I typically read some of the headlines, check out the weather, look through my email for anything intriguing, put in a couple of turns on It's Your Turn, visit my friends' blogs, and maybe (like now) add something to my own blog.

Prior to this "screwing off", I usually pack my lunch. This involves cleaning and cutting up veggies, putting them in Ziploc bags, putting the bags in my messenger bag, and trying to insure that my nutty cat can't pull the bags out and run off with them while I'm not guarding my stuff. This last bit is no small feat, mind you. I can't tell you how many times I've started to eat lunch when I realized that I'm missing a Ziploc bag of something.

Sometimes, I'll take most of my stuff out to the car after I've made my lunch, just to avoid the potential thievery of parts of it. I am trying to get into the habit of bring an arm load of trash back in from the car to put in the kitchen trash can. My car is my sanctuary. I have at least fifty CDs tossed about the vehicle. Also, the passenger foot well behind the driver's seat is usually busting with trash. Typically, soda cans, water bottles, and Starbucks coffee cups.

My car is such a disorganized sty that I am embarrassed to have a non-family member ride in it. I don't go out to lunch much with people from the office. When I do, I always try to make sure that someone else is going to drive. My initial tactic is to say that I'm not sure how to get to the restaurant. If pressed I will usually confess that my car is an utter mess and that there really isn't room for more than one passenger (assuming that we're going in a group of three or more).

Note to self: This is silly. I need to clean the car out and keep it cleaner.