Burning the Candle at Both Ends

One thing about my husband going out of state for a while is that I always do this.  I love keeping my own schedule, eating and sleeping when I WANT TO – not when I HAVE TO.  What a difference that makes.  Unbelievably, I usually get a lot accomplished too although many times I wish I had more time.  I don’t think I’ve crawled in bed before 3 AM the whole time he’s been gone.  If there’s one thing I hate, it’s almost finishing something and having to stop to go to bed.  That drives me crazy, so I’ll stay up the extra hour or half hour to get finished and then go to bed when it’s up to me.

Rotisserie chicken on a bed of spinach with tomatoes, green onions, carrots, celery, cranberries and toasted almonds - Yum!

I’ve been craving salads since I’m only making dinner for myself.  The salad I had the other night was so yummy and fit for a king.  I had to take a picture of it.  Usually on an ordinary day I find myself fixing two different meals (or I should say side dishes) because my husband isn’t as fond of veggies as I am.  In fact, he downright hates veggies and accuses me of making his salads too big.  In my book – he needs something green and nutritious.  How can people survive without that?

In addition, I can eat this salad at 9 PM, 10, or 11.  There’s no one here to tell me not to and to keep me on track of a “normal” person’s schedule.  And a salad, or any other meal, wouldn’t be as nice without my glass of chardonnay to top off the day after the blasted heat and slaving away on my projects.

 Chardonnay

I’m trying to make headway of organizing for the move and also taking advantage of the schedule I set out for myself daily.  Wouldn’t you do the same thing?  I really wish this situation would last ten weeks instead of ten days.  But I guess I’ll need to be saved from myself after ten days.  After all, how long can you survive on three hours of sleep a night?

Schedules – How Rigid Should They Be?

Royalty Free Clip Art



This is a constant issue at my house, even though my husband is retired. I would like to know if anyone out there still keeps a tight schedule even after retirement. I know if you are working all day, you have to get to work on time, etc., or if you have a particular appointment that day, you have to be on time for it. Otherwise, how important is a schedule?


It seems I can never keep one, or am not that good at it. In my mind, unless there is something going on, what difference does it make to do things at a particular time? I think once retired, you can make your own schedule and things can be more flexible, but I am beginning to think I am in the minority of thinkers.

A couple of years ago I met a police officer who said he hosted a party at retirement to smash his alarm clock to smithereens. I had never heard about anyone going that far, but I loved that story and thought ‘what a great idea’.

I do freelance so I do set the alarm to get up early everyday, but you can bet the alarm clock would get lost if I were totally retired like my husband. After keeping schedules all your life, wouldn’t it be nice to have a more relaxed existence?

Why do you have to be up by such-in-such time daily? Will the schedule police come around to issue a reprimand? This clock watching gets to be all too much for me. An ideal way of life would be to sleep when you’re sleepy and eat when you’re hungry. I can still accomplish as much on any given day regardless of what schedule I keep. Am I alone here?