The funny thing about routine...

If I'm at home, I have a pretty standard routine that I follow every Sunday morning without fail. I sleep in a little later, and upon awakening I head downstairs to make coffee. By the time I get downstairs, the dogs are clamoring around me hoping that the Biscuit Lady will get them their expected morning biscuit treat. So while the coffee brews, I get the dogs their treats and I refill the cat bowl with food. While I'm waiting for the coffee to brew, I turn on the tv to HGTV to have on in the background. I fix myself a cup of coffee and I sit down to read the paper in my typical Sunday leisurely fashion. All went as planned this morning until it got to the newspaper part. Erik had already left for a bike ride, so I figured the paper would be waiting on the kitchen table. Nope. Not there. Okay the paper has been coming later on Sunday morning, but geez it's after 9am. I go out front and look around. Nope. No paper. Once I realized that my paper really hadn't been delivered, I felt really off-balance. Now what do I do? It seemed like my whole day was going to be off if I didn't adhere to this routine that I've been following faithfully for years.

So I made a cup of coffee and I checked out the front window several times over a 15 or 20 minute period. Nope still no paper. I noticed on one of my window searches that my neighbor across the street must be having an experience similar to mine. I watched him walk to the end of his drive-way and look this way and that to no avail. Then he turned back toward the up incline of his drive-way to see if his paper was perhaps thrown under one of his cars. Nope not there either. He looked rather dismayed too. Somehow I took some comfort in the fact that it appeared that my neighbor's world was also knocked a little off kilter. Plus if he didn't get his paper either, then chances were the newspaper guy probably just tied one too many on last night and was getting a late start on his route. So I playfully admonished myself and told myself that I could do something else until the paper came. But this morning I didn't take much comfort in that notion because Sarah and I are working on Sundays for awhile. So all I could think was that if the paper did come shortly, I wouldn't have the opportunity to read it in my usual lazy and thorough fashion.

I took my coffee and sat down to watch whatever show was on HGTV. It was a British import called the City Gardener. After a few minutes I got caught up in it and forgot to go to the window for my newspaper vigil.

What do you think happened next? Well as soon as I stopped thinking about the damn newspaper it was delivered. I looked out the window after the show was over and there it was. All nice and big and fat sitting out there at the end of the drive-way just waiting for me. I did get to read a bit of it before Sarah came over, but my Sunday morning routine was shot to hell.

Now I'd like to think that I'm a pretty flexible and adaptable person, but I thought it was quite funny and odd that I was so thrown off by having my Sunday paper reading routine altered. I apparently had become waaay too attached it. For a minute there, I thought I would be grouchy and off all day if I didn't have my way.

Routines can be good and necessary in the proper context. Every morning I brush my teeth and I put sunscreen on my face as well rain or shine. These are good and necessary routines. I don't want or need my teeth to rot, and I've already had one bout of skin cancer so I don't want another. So this is the good kind of routine.

However, my Sunday routine is not necessary, but I've apparently become quite attached to it...and I found that I may not be as flexible as I think I am sometimes.

I finished reading the paper this afternoon. My Sunday morning routine was thrown off from the start, but it didn't ruin my day and I wasn't a big grouch either. And I know I probably have other unnecessary routines too. But I need to be sure not to become inflexible about them...and go with the flow.

I sure don't want to wind up some crotchety old lady who acts like a spoiled brat if she doesn't get everything just so and all her way. We all know how pleasant those kinds of people are! And maybe their first step on the way to inflexible crotchetyness was they had a Sunday paper reading routine that they could not deviate from whatsoever! Okaaay, that's motivation enough for me! Alright so maybe that's a bit dramatic...but being properly motivated works wonders for me! And I really don't want to be the old lady on the street that all the kids are afraid of just because I became inflexible with my personal routines. Who would have thought that such an innocuous routine as reading the Sunday paper could be such a slippery slope?! Maybe I'll go for a walk next Sunday morning instead!