By the Book

Today I've been thinking about my schedule.

I'm a person who likes a plan. It's not that I don't love spontaneity; I do. And it's not that I'm not brave about new things, because I'd like to think that I am. But in my ordinary, day-to-day life, I like to know what's about to happen. Though I think I'm a bit more rigorous about my schedule than most people.

Here's how it goes:

6:00 am: Wake. Feed dogs and turtle. Pee and brush teeth. Let dogs out. Check email. Let dogs in. Take shower, blow dry hair, dress. Make salad for lunch. Water back garden.

7:10 Go to work. Stop at gas station or grocery store if necessary. Write tests, distribute folders.

8:30-2:30 Teach

2:45 Walk a mile.

3:00 Visit Thomas at Fanboy. Head home.

3:30 Feed dogs and turtle. Water front and back gardens. Eat snack. Check bloglines, myspace and email. Clean turtle's cage.

4:15 Grade student work.

5:00 Walk 4 miles, with various people.

6:00 Watch/help Thomas prepare dinner

7:00 Eat. Watch TV.

9:00 Get in bed. Read. Sleep.

Begin again.

This is every day of my life. Today, 3 minor deviations caused stress: I forgot to put on deoderant (um, it's 90 degrees out and I smell horrifying), I forgot to write tests for my students last night and had to write 5 this morning at 7:30 and, last but not least, I had an extra minute between watering and leaving this morning so I called to check my bank balance and realized I was about to overdraw by 10 dollars.

This has cast a shadow over my otherwise predictable day.

How wedded are you to your schedule?