(Sorry for this going up late, I forgot to hit the publish button, and instead hit the save button! Sorry about that folks.)
One of my favorite luxuries and indulgences is a warm shower in the morning. While I wake up alert, I don't wake up at my best and the ritual of showering in the morning has long been part of my ability to be full functional for the day. Given the awesomely cold temperatures we've been getting up here I've been starting to reconsider my morning showers given that I'll be out checking on and feeding the rabbits and chickens next winter. Depending on how long it actually takes to do animal care, I may or may not change this long time habit. I mean, after all, the cold will probably wake me up quite nicely.
On the other hand this has brought to mind a few habits that aren't per se bad habits but ones that I will almost certainly have to modify once we have animals.
* Sleeping in: When I don't have to be anywhere and I've had a lot of work in a few days, I have the tendency to sleep in. Sometimes as much as 3 hours when I've been doing multiple 12 - 15 hour days. Unfortunately you can't shift schedules too much on animals or it causes significant stress.
* Biting my nails: This one isn't common anymore but it sure does still crop up. This is one that I'm going to try to entirely eradicate before we are working with animals on a day to day basis because the things you can catch from biting your nails when you're covered in animal shit is amazing.
* Not checking the weather: Realistically if the weather isn't bad enough that my friends or co workers are all talking about it, I don't care. Rain, light snow, 100 degree heat, it's just weather. In the past I have always just looked outside, and grabbed appropriate clothes. With animals I am not going to be able to do that. Especially given that we can have some damn cold rains, and brutal north winds. I need to know not only what the weather will be overnight, but what it will be while I am gone during the day!
* Forgetting things: This one sounds a bit odd given that everyone forgets things, but it is important. I sometimes forget to feed the dog in the morning or evening. Just that part of my routine gets skipped. It isn't common but it needs to never ever happen with the farm animals. Neglecting to provide sufficient water or food could be devastating to smaller animals.
I am certain that I have other habits that I will have to change, but those are the ones I am foreseeing now. Any habits that you have that you think you would have to change to have animals?
One of the reasons I don't plan to ever have animals other than cats or hamsters is the fact that when I am working, I am sometimes gone from 7 or 8 in the morning until after 11 at night and I go away for at least 6 weekends a year. In order to even have a dog, I'd have to be willing to make a total lifestyle shift.
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