I use my tea machine with a timer. Like a coffee machine, only TEA. Awesome.

Does it make good tea? I had a tea machine before, but it was way too weak.

It's fantastic. It has settings for different kinds of tea, so that it brews for the right time and with the right temperature of water. This is the one: [link] I managed to find it cheaper than that on the high street, although I don't know if they sell them internationally.

Put the alarm ACROSS the room. Not next to the bed. Open the blinds before you go to bed, if you live somewhere where that's not a safety issue.

That would have to be outside for me.

Vortex is me. I can get up, walk across the room, hit snooze, and be back in bed asleep in no time. And do that every few minutes for an hour. Now, if it were inside some kind of puzzle box that I had to figure out, and it changed every single day... hmm. I think there might be an alarm app that makes it really hard to hit snooze. I should look into that.

Program a voice message on your cell's wake up alarm that is you, telling yourself "Time to get up, get your lazy ass out of bed, and get some shit done!" (That's my message verbatim."

I may have to try something like that. I'm also considering changing my alarm to The Muppet Show theme, hoping that it will kick things off in the proper vein.

Feel free to suggest a good wake-up song!

"Good morning Good morning" by the Beatles.

It's fantastic. It has settings for different kinds of tea, so that it brews for the right time and with the right temperature of water. This is the one: [link] I managed to find it cheaper than that on the high street, although I don't know if they sell them internationally.

Want! Amazon.com has them. They're pricey, but maybe I can get it for myself after Christmas.

I can't justify getting myself a tea machine. It's really not much less work than boiling a kettle and pouring the water into a teapot.

What kind of appetizers are you making?

Don't know yet. I'm going to go to Fresh Market and peruse and see what captures my fancy. Definitely bringing some good cheeses. Perhaps a hummus. The crowd we're dealing with does not have adventurous palates. Little spinach/cheese quiches counts for exotic.

"Get Up" by REM

I'm also considering changing my alarm to The Muppet Show theme, hoping that it will kick things off in the proper vein.

yes, the wake up music is key. I work in a separate office than my boss, so no one really watches my comings and goings. Therefore, I am often "late" (I put late in quotes because if they want to be a hardass about my getting in on time, then I will be a hardass about leaving on time, and will no longer stay until 6:30 or 7 on a regular basis). Occasionally, I really need to be in on time, so I set my phone to do an additional alarm for a drop dead time. It's usually something peppy like Britney's "Circus", or Ini Kamoze "Here Comes the Hotstepper". I also have Tim Gunn saying "Carry On! Make it Work! Holla at your boy!"

is there anyone who has/had massive issues getting up on time and found ways to deal with it? Besides multiple alarms, because I can apparently hit snooze/turn them off in my sleep like a CHAMP. The thing that's worked best for me is to get a wakeup call from a real human being, but I despise asking that of anyone.

Man, I *cannot* get out of bed in the morning. It's like I have an actual medical condition — lack of wakefulness, or something.

The only thing that works is that The Boy gets up, too, and so either (1) I feel guilt at my sloth, or (2) he comes back in the bedroom and pulls the covers off me.

Otherwise, I'd be late every single day.

I do also set up the coffeemaker the night before, because there is no way that my uncaffeinated morning brain can figure out how to make coffee. This way, I set the timer and coffee appears, as if by magic, every morning.