Every morning I wake up and open the back door for my dog, Cordelia. Then I go into the kitchen, fill her bowl up with food and get her fresh water. Then I check to see if my cat William has fresh food and water, and if not, then I fill those up, too. After that, I fill the teakettle with fresh water and turn it on. Then I wash out the brown teapot and put in 6 teabags of black tea. Once the teakettle is done, then I fill up the teapot and after it steeps, I put some nonfat dried milk in my cup and fill it with the fresh hot tea. This is my first real treat of the day. Then I wash up any dishes that were left the night before. Nothing makes me happier first thing in the morning than putting my hands in warm, soapy water and getting dishes done.

By this time, daughter Liz has arrived in the kitchen and we chat while she makes herself breakfast. I usually make a bowl of oatmeal sweetened with honey with a little nonfat dried milk added for flavor, and it’s not unusual for me to have one piece of toast with either Smart Balance or else real butter. We talk about her school, or my writing, or the upcoming trip to Texas for a family wedding, then off she goes to the shower to get ready for school and I head to the couch where I pick up my computer and check my emails for the day. I respond to any that need a response and also write any that I know I need to write. I also check my calendar for the day to see when I’m going to have students.

These days, I might have college students in the morning and early afternoon instead of how it used to be when my day started at 3:30 when my middle school and high school kids came after their school day ended. They still come, but now I have this other group of older kids and their college projects. That’s been a fine addition to my life for income as well as brain exercise. My day might go from 9:30 in the morning until 6:30 at night and on at least one night a week I have a writing group that ends at 10:30.

Once the students start coming, then I fit the rest of my daily tasks around them. I might have an hour break and go up and make beds, or out to the garden to water, or off to the post office or grocery store. When I don’t have students in the morning, I try to cook something that will work for lunch for a couple of days. Today, I made chicken enchiladas, which we’ll eat over several days and also a strawberry cream pie that might last a shorter time than the enchiladas, though they are very good. Somewhere during the day, I pay bills, or bill my students, or do paperwork, or write, though I often do this when my students are writing so I get to take advantage of “writing time” for both of us. I also edit either my work or my students. At night after supper, if Ray is here, then we usually watch television together. If he’s out of town, then I often sit and write until I’m too tired to keep my eyes open.

I also spend time reading either novels or online from news to stories to blog posts from my blogging friends. I also write my own blog posts, usually in the evening when I’m too tired to put lots of energy into it. This is a good thing in that my defenses are down; a bad thing since I probably would have been more descriptive earlier. Then after a bath and teeth brushing, I head off to bed.

This is my life on any given day. Not too exciting, but happy enough for me. I talk to students during the day and daughters, perhaps, or a friend or so. I go once a week to have breakfast with one friend (Ray and I go together) and I go to church at least once a week, sometimes twice, particularly if I’m scheduled to serve as an acolyte. We go to dinner and a movie with a friend usually about every 3 or 4 weeks on a Saturday night and we go to the LA Phil over the course of the season at least 7 or 8 times. We head up to our orange grove in Ojai when we get a chance, maybe for a day or two every 6 weeks or so and we try to go to Texas for at least 5 days every 5 to 6 weeks. We have one daughter for dinner usually once every couple of weeks, and we see two of them pretty routinely since we own the only washer and dryer among the four of us at the moment. We don’t get to see Sarah as much since she’s in Texas, but we have seen and will see her more since she’s now in Sherman, where our house is. We also invite friends over for dinner probably once a month or so, and we go to the Getty or LACMA or MOCA to see art every 2 or 3 months.

One of my favorite activities is to take PCH along the ocean when we head up to Ojai. That is one of my favorite drives in the world, with that beautiful view of the Pacific. I also like to hike, but haven’t gone in a while. I’d like to get back on track with that. I did walk around the neighborhood this morning in search of my cat, Charlie, but to no avail. Though the good news is that I was up and out.

That is my mundane life in a nutshell. I travel a little more than I’ve said since I’ve been to Austin in the past couple of weeks and to Corpus Christi twice over the past four months. I go visit my friend Judy on occasion out in Westlake Hills, and when we’re in Texas we try to entertain so we can see our friends there. I have also been to Salt Lake City three times in the past 6 months since my sister was ailing. Being there makes me happy because I adore my SLC family and seeing them matches my joy at seeing my own children.

So, there it is. Throw in an occasional trip further East or South and you now know how I spend my time. I imagine most people have a circuit of events and friends and activities that occupy them routinely and only a half dozen places they go on any given week. An odd aspect of my life is that we have two houses and live between them. That is a luxury that we will continue until we either can’t afford it or tire of all the travel. Until then, I think I’ll just be grateful to have that option.

I can see I need to add a bit more exercise to the picture and a lot more writing! Some people might say I need to get out of the house more, but I must say I am content. Maybe a yoga class would be nice or bike riding or swimming. Any one of those would add a nice touch to my life. I need to get my friend Jack back into our routine of hiking every day at Griffith Park. That was an absolutely perfect way to start the morning.

Alas, now it’s time to head up to bed. This mundane recounting makes me aware I need more sleep…