Creatures of Habit

Isabella woke me up at 4:00 this morning—apparently starving, as always. She’s a creature of habit, and once she decides it’s time to eat, there’s no convincing her otherwise. So I got up, fed her, and crawled back into bed. I managed another forty-five minutes of sleep before she decided that was quite enough for both of us. I’m not entirely convinced she understands that I need to get up and get ready for work. More likely, she thinks it’s simply time for me to be awake… or perhaps she’s trying to trick me into feeding her again.

Either way, she won.

So, I got up, made a cup of coffee and some toast, and settled in for a quiet start to the morning—writing this post and half-watching the news before I have to get ready for the day. It’s not a bad way to ease into things, even if it came a little earlier than I would have preferred.

The good news is that I’m not dreading work today. In fact, I’m actually looking forward to it. I’ll be the only one there, which means no interruptions, no distractions—just the rare chance to focus. Days like that are a gift.

I’ve been working on a project that falls into that strange category of being both time-consuming and genuinely enjoyable: creating a class. It’s currently just a one- or two-day component within a larger course, but I’m also developing a full semester-long course proposal built around it. It’s the kind of work that requires patience and thought, but it’s also the kind I find most rewarding.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that I’ll decide to take advantage of the quiet in a different way—maybe pull out my Kindle and read for a bit. That’s the beauty of a day like today. I can focus on something meaningful… or, if I need to, nothing at all.

And honestly, sometimes that’s just as important.

Here’s an Isabella pic of the week: clearly exhausted from the demands of her early morning schedule, she’s already curled up and getting on with her very busy day—while I get going with mine.