Make New Friends (Habits), But Keep the Old

• Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies
• She looketh well to the ways of her household... 
• She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple

Last week I posted about my new habit for the new year of making my bed every day, along with a picture of Day 1 of a made bed.  And here you see before you photographic proof that I've continued all week:

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

We're now up to Day 8! Can you see how I tried to vary the pillows and the blinds so you could see that it wasn't just eight pictures of the same thing?? How clever is that? I'm not to the habit-forming magic figure of 21 days, but I'm well on my way. 

So now, while I continue on my bed-making habit, I want to add/start another, related habit.  I've been doing well at getting up and making/dressing the bed, but I have to confess, I don't always do so well about dressing myself, at least in a timely manner.  

Again, it's like making the bed--sometimes I do get up and get dressed fairly immediately, and some days--not. At least not in going-out-in-public clothes.  Can we agree that pulling on a pair of yoga pants with the same t-shirt I slept in doesn't really count?  Especially when I'm still wearing my fuzzy slippers?

Here is my convoluted reasoning/excuse for this.  Up until four years ago, I worked outside the home pretty much my entire adult life.  I had to get up and get dressed and out the door every week day morning.  Saturday was usually grocery shopping day, Sunday was church. Even for the couple of years when our son was in school that I didn't work, I took him to school every morning, so I still had to get up and get dressed and get out the door.  But the last few years, I no longer have a job that I have to get to every day, or a kid that has to go to school, or really any pressing reason, on some days, to even leave the house.  So there's no rush, really, to get (real) clothes on. 

Except that there is.  If I look sloppy, I act sloppy.  I'll get an idea of something that I want to do, but because I'm not (really) groomed or dressed yet, it seems like too much trouble.  Not that it would take that long, anyway, but sitting around looking like a mess makes me feel like a mess, too.  

And I have another confession to make.  Twice right before the holiday, our mail person (thank goodness it's a woman) came by with a package and caught me in my housecoat and slippers.  Way late in the morning. Embarrassing, right? The second time I told her, "I swear some days I actually get up and get dressed!" and she laughed, of course, and told me that if she could be at home, she'd probably be dressed the same way. 

Now ladies, we all know that there are some days that we just don't feel like getting out of our pajamas.  Everybody deserves a lazy day every now and then, and that's okay.  Every now and then.  But it's happening too often for me, and I never wanted to be that woman who sits around in her housecoat and slippers all day with her hair in curlers. 

My next habit that I'm working on is to get up, make the bed, of course, and get completely groomed and dressed, every single day, whether I have someplace to go or not.  I don't have to wear pearls and high-heels, ala June Cleaver, but if publishers clearing house comes to my door, I don't want to have to slam it their face because I'm too unkempt to be on tv. 

That wouldn't be very virtuous of me, now would it?

You can read the other parts of this series here:

Establishing New Habits For the New Year

Making New Habits--Sometimes Success and Failure Go Hand in Hand

Making New Habits and Tweaking the Old

Making New Habits--Sometimes You Just Gotta Go With the Flow

 Even though this is Wednesday, this post is linked to:

Make My Home Sing Monday at Moms the Word

Tackle It Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Mom

Titus Tuesday at Time Warp Wife

Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family

Until next time...