Making the most of it: Shower time

=Making the Most of It: Where we take the little things in life and make it all worthwhile=

Living in Arizona, it does not take long, or much, to wind up sweaty, smelly, and a little bit sticky. Especially during the summer months. Coupled with a hectic work schedule, I look forward to a good hot shower to wash away the dredge of the day. A sign that the day is over and I can relax.

Even if you shower in the morning before your day begins, that doesn't mean a shower can't be just as relaxing and enjoyable.

One of my big rules is, give yourself enough time to actually enjoy it. Nothing ruins a good time than rushing through it. May as well not even have done it, I say. For a good shower time, in my opinion, you need at least 20 minutes.

To start, get your water going. I personally prefer to start my shower water at a moderate temperature, and then once I'm in, to gradually increase it to nice and hot. But this is also depending on your preference. You might prefer a more middling temperature, or maybe you like a cold shower. I hear that a cold shower is good for the skin. It's what you want.
While your water is getting ready, lay out your clothes. If you take your shower at the end of the day, pick out some nice comfortable clothes. Your day's over, time to relax. If you take it at the beginning of your day, well, I personally prefer to have my days clothes set out and waiting for me when I wake up from the night before-- and that's another blog entry.

So we have our water prepping, our clothes set. Do remember to grab a towel from the linen closet, you have no idea how many times I've had to sneak to get a towel dripping wet and naked. Next, why not set a little music? I personally will put on a podcast. My current work situation doesn't leave me with a lot of opportunity to kick back and listen to them as much as I used to, so this gives me an excuse to put on, say, Good Job Brain, or even Never Not Funny.But once more, it's whatever you want.
Shower drowning out the sound? I put my ipod in a clean glass on my bathroom sink. It naturally enhances the sound and volume.

Invest in a good body sponge or loofah. Not long ago, I bought one that was made of bathcloth material. At the time I figured this would be a reasonable and logical item to have. After two weeks, I was afraid to even touch the sodding thing, with how mildewy and disgusting it had become, plus it didn't lather worth anything What's the point of washing if you can't get a good lather going, right? I dropped three dollars on one of those more common, poofy loofah's, and have been much more happy.

So we have everything we need, now it's time to just...enjoy it. While the water rolls over me, I like to just imagine all the dredgery of the day washing away. The only issue you should have at this point, is negotiating when you should get out.

For us men, once I'm out of the shower, I move on to getting a good shave. It's the perfect time, as a shower gets the whiskers all nice and soft for the razor. I'll cover making the most of a good shave soon enough. A shave is also one of those little moments in life worth not rushing.

Now as you take this with you, I emphasize, it's all about what you want. Alter or add on to what we've talked about here to your satisfaction. And in doing so, you can make something so mundane and simple as taking a sh ower, into one of those little things that we look forward to that make life all worthwhile.