Today was a rather Nothing sort of day.
It's funny how once you get into a routine, you can go through a day getting your house clean, your kids maintained, even exercise done, and still feel like you've spent the entire day in your sweats playing the Sims. It's the danger of routine I guess. It almost makes me want to let everything go to seed, so I can do ten loads of laundry in one day and feel like Superwoman afterward. You think that was something, I'd say, watch me nuke this lasagna!
Instead I fall into bed each night feeling like I never left it. I'm not tired or depressed, just a tad too efficient methinks.
I need to mix things up. And I'm not talking about breakfast for dinner. Wee-haw, now that's living! And then we'll play a rousing game of Clue! And we'll drink regular coffee while we're at it!
Some people thrive on routine, I just don't. I pack the exact same lunch for Brad every day: a turkey and swiss sandwich on whole wheat, a granny smith apple, a bottle of juice, and a bag of Cheez-Its or some-such. If I try to mix it up a bit, say use red leaf lettuce instead of green leaf on his sandwich, his whole day will be thrown off.
I used to make fun of my friend Dawn, because when we'd go out to some very collegiate hangout, like Denny's, I'd order the most complicated dessert on the menu, and she'd get one scoop of plain vanilla. Every single time.
Me, I need some variety.
Last night we went to the library, and there was a bluegrass band playing in the courtyard. It was so incongruous, signs everywhere begging for quiet while just outside a group of men in straw hats and white suits belted out Dixieland.
That's what I need, a bluegrass band blasting old Southern tunes over my dusty bookshelves. And the next day, a barbershop quartet. The day after that a hair band. You get the idea. I need Atreyu at the Ivory Tower shouting out my new name, and Mr. Bingley to rent Netherfield Hall.
Something.
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See I am the opposite. My life is chaos, everyday different and I strive for routine. I would love to have a perfectly clean house and dinner on the table by a certain time. I guess it's that old "grass is greener" saying.
The routines are what give you the time to do something different and exciting, you know. But sometimes, those things are hard to come by. There are days I love having nothing happen out of the ordinary, and other days when I feel as though the monotony is going to kill me.
I was just complaining to my sweety last night that we NEED some kind of routine so we can actually get to bed on time, etc. From one day to the next, I never know what's going to happen. Sometimes I love it, but sometimes- like when I really don't want to get up in the morning- it drives me nuts.
Andy always complained that 'all the other wives make their husband's lunch' so I got up one morning at an ungodly hour 6:30 and made him his sandwich.
I lightly toasted the bread, spread mustard and mayo, cut some lettuce and tomato with some ham and cheese. I cut it diagonally and wrapped it in a napkin.
He called me on his lunch time and asked me why the hell I had wrapped his sandwich in paper and why had I cut it?
That was my one and only time making his sandwich since I disturbed his routine. :o)
I'm like you, but I can't always find the balance. Sometimes I crave the unexpected so much I whirl out of control (I know this is such a subjective phrase) and get myself into too many hobbies and/or fill my schedule with WAY TOO MUCH and then I crash and burn. And in that moment (that moment sometimes lasts months), I find quite a bit of comfort in a mundane routine. Right now I'm at the tail end of a routine phase and am starting to get bored. Maybe this time I'll take up surfing or something.
I need a mix. But one identical day after another makes me nuts.
But, it was Bastion who renamed the Empress...and he picked a really lame name too, Moon Child. Damned German hippies.
Some days (times) are like that, aren't they? You just gotta hope they pass soon... Hope today is better!
lilacspecs- you're right, though I thought the name was Alora Dannon. Guess I got it mixed up with Willow! But the name is supposed to be Bastian's mom's name. I guess her parents must have been hippies.
wow you just gave me insight to the way I live. I am the person that leaves the clothes for fridays when SUPER WOMAN appears and tackles all the clothes and then says look at me, I did all this in one day! Ain't I wonderful? Now if I was smart I would do a load a day and maybe I could then see the floor of the laundry room.
Sounds like you need a randomizer. Maybe every day you could go somewhere or do something you haven't done before, just to mix it up.
Although... I'm the wrong person to give this advice. My routine is locked in and I prefer it that way.
OH, I soooo identify with this, Marie! There's so much same-ole, same-ole, even with my crowd, it makes me crazy after a while. But my big kids are coming home from school soon (HALLELUJAH!) and we'll have some fun around here again! (Nothing's ever mundane with a houseful of teenagers ~ even if you want to try to make a schedule, they put their own twist on it!)
Yes, I'm with you! I can't even do leftovers for the same reason. Spice it up! Now, my kids? I like for my baby to have naps at the same time every day. But I do a variety of different things during nap time. Yeah, I'm wild. I know.
It is said that variety is the spice of life.
Routine, though, is important when you have kids. They like things to be as expected. Although Annick, a friend of ours who sometimes babysits on the rare occasion just the two of us go out, amused them no end when she suggested an "upside-down" dinner. Start with the dessert and work backwards...
I think it so cool how diverse we all are!
I never even considered making my husband's lunch when he was working away from home. Now I am feeling a little guilty.
I change little things constantly because it is just interesting. One way I keep my adrenaline charged is I take on new projects with zest!! Here is a classic example of "What is Mom doing now??"
My daughter laughed at me (in a good way) when I decided to get my Kindermusik & Music Garden certification. She said,"You want me to teach you to sight read music in 2 days?!!!!" (She is a music major - I just have a decent ear).
Somehow we did it and I loved the training and now, the side classes I offer in KM and MG.
Yep, I've crashed and burned a couple of times with new projects but it is worth it.
(Like the time I decided our porch should be yellow . . . by tomorrow)
That just proves that while some people are vanilla, others are anything but.
My children and I have no routines, although I see nothing wrong with routines. I'd like very much to, in fact, and I've tried Flylady and the like but it doesn't stick much.
Some days we run around town together all day long, or stay home all day and do nothing but play on the laptop and have lunch. The evenings are always different; work, school, beach, errands, hanging out here like bums.
If I had a real system, I'm sure I'd be more productive, and there'd be some empty space at the kitchen table, instead of piles of stuff, but it's not like I have a man to keep happy, so I just kinda do things however I want inthe moment. Some days my house is actually shiny sparkly clean.
-Gladis
Well, I think I could count on one hand the lunches JoMarie made me. Of course for years I did not pack a lunch, back in my money making days. Now I get up at 5am, make my breakfast and lunch and am out the door at 6:15 leaving JoMarie to sleep until? I am for routine. I think almost everything I do is in a routine, and if not, it is routinely unroutine.
DeDad
Well, I think I could count on one hand the lunches JoMarie made me. Of course for years I did not pack a lunch, back in my money making days. Now I get up at 5am, make my breakfast and lunch and am out the door at 6:15 leaving JoMarie to sleep until? I am for routine. I think almost everything I do is in a routine, and if not, it is routinely unroutine.
DeDad
It took me a month of frustration and self-pity to realize what you wrote in one itty, bitty blog post.
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