A New Schedule

Hello reader. I've missed you! Have you missed me too? Or, at the very least, are you sick of looking at those darn veggie pictures that have been up for days? I don't blame you. They're getting old. In fact, the veggies in the picture are long gone. That means it must be time for a new post.

I would've been back sooner, trying something I'm sure you'd find most interesting. But, you see, I've been trying to get the hang of trying a very big something: A new schedule. Trust me, it's not quite as mundane as that sounds. In fact, it's quite action-packed. See for yourself, with this thrilling play-by-play:

5:45 a.m. The alarm goes off. I roll over and pretend it didn't go off. It's barely light out, and that just isn't right. Then I realize if I don't get up now I'm really going to be angry at myself later, so I roll out of bed straight onto the floor. On purpose. Every morning must begin with stretching. I don't care how early I have to get up, my back needs loosened up or there's no hope for the rest of the day.

5:55 a.m. I emerge from the bedroom to a Butter, who is gleefully wagging his tail in anticipation of his walk. He's rarin' to go, despite the fact he spent a long night in the hall snoozing ... er ... playing guard dog. Butter goes outside to take care of his business while I take care of mine inside, then we meet up again for a walk.

6:15 a.m. The walk is over. Butter eats his breakfast. I grab a bite of mine. Then it's time to shower and get ready for the day.

7 a.m. Work starts. I won't take you on a detailed play-by-play or I risk making your head spin, so I'll just say that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday I get 5 hours to get as much done as possible (on Thursdays I get a full 10 ... wheeee). Writing, editing, project managing, more editing, story assigning, brainstorming, interviewing. You name it. Go, go, go.

12 p.m. Lunch. Right now that involves lots of tomatoes. Yum.

12:15 p.m. Yes, I only get about 15 minutes to eat. Gotta walk the Butter now. We are in a strict training regime to whip him into Best Dog In the World status. We have a ways to go yet. Quite a ways.

12:35 p.m. Time to get ready to head to campus. Wait, you're saying. Why are you headed to campus? And what campus. Muahahaha. (That's my evil movie laugh, in case you were wondering.) I'm headed to campus to teach English classes at Lincoln College. That's right. Not one, but two. More about how I (quite suddenly) ended up doing that later ... I'm going to be late for class if I don't get this timeline moving.

1:00 p.m. Teach first English 101 class. Try to make thesis statements interesting.

2 p.m. Teach second English 101 class. Work on making thesis statement even more interesting than last time.

3 p.m. Office hours. No students have actually come to office hours yet, so I use this time to figure out the attendance systems (yes, there are two), how to input grades, and what the heck I am going to do to keep the students' interest during the next class period. And the one after that. And the one after that. Oh, and I call to set up an interview for a freelance article I'm writing.

4 p.m. Head home. Betcha you'll never guess what comes next? Yep, that's right. Butter walk #3. Butter just loves his walks and I have to admit, I'm pretty fond of them too. They get me outside in some absolutely lovely weather (ask me again how much I like them in November and December) and get me moving.

4:25 p.m. Take care of a random task or two, like loading the dishwasher or watering the plants. I prefer the latter, but sometimes the thirsty guys out front have to make a sacrifice when the dishwasher needs loaded. Or the floor needs swept (Butter hair!) or the bills need paid.

4:45 p.m. Figure out something to eat for dinner. Preferably, this something can be eaten in the car while driving. Feed Butter his dinner and apologize 10 times for abandoning him yet again. Pack snacks, fill up water bottle, and get ready to head out the door.

5:05 p.m. On the road, headed to the University of Illinois at Springfield. What now? You ask. Grad classes. Yep. At least if it's Monday or Tuesday night. More on that later too. This is just an overview, folks.

5:35 p.m. Still driving. Just finished eating. Listening to NPR. Man, I love NPR.

5:45 p.m. Arrive at UIS. Pull into parking lot and scramble to get into class in time. Fortunately, it's a small campus so I don't have to hoof it too far.

6 p.m. Learning commences.

9:30 p.m. Head home from class. (Although, at least for this first week, I got to head home much earlier than scheduled, so I actually had time to flop down on the couch, grade some papers, and pet my Butter.)

10:30 p.m. Must. Go. To. Bed. I should've been in bed half an hour ago, but that's never going to happen.

Now, as I mentioned above, I only have grad classes on Monday and Tuesday nights. Which means I have the other weeknights free. And by free I mean I will figure out how to cram the following into those evenings: working out, freelance writing, reading and writing for grad classes, grading papers, cleaning the house, taking care of my plants, spending time with Butter, spending time with Conservative Boy, and perhaps on occasion even relaxing. Oh! And writing blog posts to you, dear reader. So come back soon!