ask grandma j

Busy Mornings of Yesterday

Every once in a while someone asks me what I do all day. Yeah, like what.....I have to be doing something every minute? Of course, in my book on living, if you're still sucking in air, technically, you ARE doing something.

Sure, now that I'm retired I have the luxury of sleeping past five in the morning.....finally! Of course ever since we set our clocks ahead last Sunday, it stays dark here in Texas until 8:30 in the morning.

My mornings are almost the same as when I used to work. The only difference is that I basically stay home and do the same exact things I used to do at work. Here's what a typical morning was like:

7:00 Arrive at work, take my smokes out of my purse, placing them next to my computer for easy access. Put purse away in locked drawer.

7:05 Mosey over to the kitchen and make a pot of coffee, because the men are lurking in the wings, waiting for one of the women to make the coffee.

7:10 Go back to my cubicle, get my cigarettes, take the elevator to the fifth floor balcony and have a smoke while the coffee brews. Chat with all the other smokers and when someone starts to tell an interesting tidbit of gossip, sit down and light a second cigarette.

7:30 Head on back to my cubicle, put my cigarettes back by my PC, walk over to the kitchen only to find an empty coffee pot. Make a second pot...this time I stay in the kitchen until it's ready.

7:40 Sit down at my desk, with my first cup of coffee. Check my emails. Delete the ones from my boss, and forward the jokes to my friends.

7:50 Check my phone messages, taking notes on calls with urgent agency issues upcoming social events.

8:00 Take down "out of office" sign from outside cubicle, as I leave to go check my mail slot. Wave "hello" to boss as I pass by.

8:10 Return to cubicle to find three staff members wanting stuff....just random stuff or questions. This can be extremely annoying.

8:20 The Fed Ex guy shows up, and I sign for the delivery, breaking a nail in the process.

8:25 Go to bosses office to see if I can borrow a nail file. Sit in bosses office and chew the fat go over the day's agenda while filing all my nails so they match the broken one.

9:00 Break time! Change my shoes, then call a few friends around the building to meet me in the lobby to walk to Starbucks.

9:15 Arrive at Starbucks, order coffee, then sit outside on the patio.

9:20 Break Officially Starts! Chit chat with friends and catch up on office gossip.

9:35 Fifteen minute break, mandated by law, is officially over.

9:45 Walk back to office, return to desk only to find my inbox full to the gills. The work never ends! Sort through paperwork, glancing over the ones marked URGENT.

10:00 Check phone message again, then my emails. Life never slows down, giving new meaning to the phrase: The faster I go the behinder I get.

10:15 Grab some work and walk it over to a co-worker's cubicle, who is filling out an Avon order. Ask her if she would mind taking some of the burden off my plate...teamwork is my middle name!

10:30 Sort through some invoices, and decide to hand carry them up to the Accounting Office....saving time on waiting for the mail room to pick then up and deliver them. Remember...."time is taxpayers' money".

10:35 I grab my smokes on the way out the door because I pass the fifth floor balcony on the way to the Accounting Office. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone.

10:50 Return to my desk, straighten up my morning work, organizing my notes in preparation for an afternoon meeting.

11:00 The lunch truck pulls up to the curb and blows it's horn, so I grab my purse out of the locked drawer, and go down to the lunch truck. I place my order, then walk a safe distance away to have a smoke with some of my friends from the building next door while I wait for my food.

11:15 I return to my cubicle, and eat at my desk while I work. Not even hunger can keep my from my responsibilities.

11:50 I call a friend to see if she wants to go to the mall at lunch time.

12:00 LUNCH TIME!

12:00 - 1:00 SHOPPING IN THE MALL.

So there you have a typical morning at work. As a retiree, my day is similar except I don't smoke anymore....I will be smoke free three years next month! Just don't ask me how much weight I've gained.

How was your work day?