Time Keeps On Slippin'

Did everyone fall back?


I've been out of sync all day, partly due to the time change and partly due to this mornings schedule.  We're still settling on the church we want to make our church home.  So this morning, we went to Sunday school first, and then to the late service.  I've never been a late service person.  I prefer going early, so that we still have most of the day left to rest.  The later we get home, the harder it is to finish the errands and such, and still find time to sit still and recharge.  More time before church also means more time for the boys to get worked up, greatly diminishing their ability to sit still in the service.  It was nice to cross a few to-do's off my list before church, but going to Sunday school first, then church, and then getting home later than usual just messed with me today. 

Time in general has been puzzling me since we've moved home to the Central Time Zone. I've been asked many times, "How does it feel to be home?"  One of my common answers is that there is more time here.  The time is slower.  Days are longer.  And because there is more time, the days can--and are--filled with more.

Here, my commute to work is a dream.  No highways to take, no bridges to cross.  The length of my commute might vary by 30 seconds or so depending on how I hit the traffic lights.

In DC, you never knew.  It could take 20 minutes, or it could take an hour and a half.  Motorcades, accidents, suspicious packages, Metro problems, rain, snow, or the slightest threat of rain or snow could tangle up traffic for hours.


With the commute easy and predictable, I have more time with the boys in the evenings.  With traffic in general being easier and more predictable, we can do more on the weekends.  We live close to school, close to church, close to work, close to my folks.  It's easier to do more.  Days are longer and less hectic because there isn't really the same stress of traffic and distance to muck up enjoyment of the days plans.

Yet, I'm finding it difficult to keep up with of the things that were easy (easier) for me to keep up with in DC. 

Read that magazine, or flip through the latest Pottery Barn catalogue?  Nope.  Do the crossword puzzle? Oh how I wish.  Read a book for pleasure?  Please.

Current events?  News? Political scuttlebutt?  If its not on the morning news for the 6 minutes or so I get to watch before the BoBo's take over with Jake and the Neverland Pirates, forget about it.

I had a television in my office in DC.  Because I need to have some background noise on while I'm at my desk to keep me from losing my mind, I would usually have cable news or C-SPAN on throughout the day.  As a result, it was easy to keep up with current happenings.  Now, I don't have a tv in my office.  It's quiet.  Really quiet. Radio helps, but isn't quite the same sanity-saver.  Plus, the reception for KMOX in my office is awful.  Con-I'm finding it harder to easily stay current with what's going on in the world...and I don't like to not know what's going on.  Pro--there is less stress, irritation, and annoyance at what and how the media covers the news when you don't watch it much.

I'm finding I see less tv overall since moving home.  Again, not really a bad thing.  The Central Time Zone is great--shows come on at a reasonable time (for us early to bed types).  So while I might actually make it to halftime of Monday night football now, I'm really not watching much evening tv anymore.  If I do, it's on the DVR.  Evenings are filled with dinner, cleaning up dinner, bathtime and bedtime for the boys, and anything that needs to be done around the house--and there is always something that needs to be done.  By the time I get through that race, I'm whipped.  Off to bed.

While there is more time here, I'm still finding it to be a precious commodity.

So, now that I'm running out of daylight time to rake leaves, it's out to the yard I go.