routine

School is fully started. There can be no doubt about it. I am trying to force myself to set strong, healthy routines. I am not one of those people who decides something and then it automatically becomes part of the bedrock of my life. I get..... distracted. I have been this way my whole life. I am happy looking out of the window instead of doing my work. In fact, I have developed strategies in my life to work within this weakness. During meetings (my arch-nemesis) I allow myself to draw. My meeting notes end up looking like a sketchbook, but my mind stays sharp and focused on what is being said. I learned this in college. My best thinking happens when I am slightly distracted... driving, in the shower, while talking to other people. When I get overloaded with correcting, my best option is the comfy chairs in Barnes and Nobles. People shuffling by, music that I am not in control of, people looking at me occasionally with slightly antagonistic wonder on their faces as a plop my huge pile of papers onto the table in front of me and pick through them one by one. This is perfect. In the down time, I rely on routine to get me through. I will not even brush my teeth unless its part of the canon, the underlying laws of my day. It takes a while, but once something is pounded into place, it stays..... I do brush my teeth. I wanted to get walking chaucer and bike riding to and from school to be part of that law. I have pretty much succeeded with Chauc, not so much with the bike though.

Here is a list of what I would like to happen everyday...

1. Wake half an hour before sunrise.
2. Shower etc (includes brushing teeth...)  floss!!
3. Drive Chaucer to Rutland State Park and hike with him for about an hour or so.
4. Eat a light breakfast (like a banana) and a take a multi vitamin.
5. Bike to school. This takes between half an hour and forty-five minutes. (this also takes prep... like
    clothes laid out the night before...
6. Get to school at no later than 7:30
7. Prep for class and work all day
8. Bring a piece of fruit for lunch.
9. Stay at school and correct and prep long enough to get home at 3:55. (kids come home at 4:00)
10. Come home and don't eat anything but a very small snack until supper (this ones tough)
11. Sit with Henry and Nora as they work through their homework and correct while they are working.
12. If Jenny is home, eat what she has cooked for supper and help her clean. If she isn't, prepare supper
      and clean up afterward (dishes included)
13. Watch some TV...
14. Have between half an hour and an hour of quiet (reading) time in our house before the kids go to  
      bed.
14. Get the kids to bed between 7:30 and 8:00
15. Prepare for tomorrows class
16. Write in this blog
17. brush teeth etc.
18. Go to bed between 9:30 and 10:00

There you have it: My schedule.
In all honesty, I have most of it down. The only things that sometimes don't happen are numbers: 5, 10, sometimes 14, and sometimes 18. Also, flossing everyday is somehow avoiding me. Its the darn floss.... it disappears in this house! I never know where the thing is hiding.
There is some derivation, like somedays Nora has dance, and one day a week we get together with our friends, also, there is Band Practice on Thursdays. So... you know... life. But this is more or less the frameworks of my day.
Now, when things don't go according to plan.... well... .working through that is a whole different entry.

Btw.... this morning was completely beautiful in RSP... love this last picture...