"Amazingly consistent"

I went to the Electric Office to pay my power bill. I like that the local utility has an office in town, so I try paying in person rather than electronic pay or snail mail. I asked the lady to show me my bill history and it was the same throughout the months, even over the year. Almost exactly the same. She looked at me, smiling, and said, "You are amazingly consistent."

"I am amazingly frugal," I said, and we both laughed.

I got to thinking about consistency. I AM consistent. I like routine. It is comforting to know ahead of time what I am going to do and where I'll be. I get up between 6:15 and 6:29am, do the same morning tasks, complete a devotional, and go to work. Each day I arrive home at nearly the same time, have tea, read my bible, and begin research for my blog and for my e-mail newsletter, and I write, write, write. I watch the same two or three television shows (Supernanny, Touched by and Angel, and either Top Chef or Real Estate Intervention), and then I go to bed. On Fridays, I don't go straight home but I stop at the library to get a new slew of books for the weekend and week ahead.

Recognizing that routine can easily veer into a rut, I decided that I would shake myself up. No ruts for me! So I went to the Library on Thursday, I did my dishes on Friday, and on Saturday, I will make cranberry-oatmeal muffins instead of blueberry. Maybe, if  I'm feeling wild, my weekly pot of soup will have a beef base instead of chicken. We'll see how it goes. There's such a thing as going TOO crazy.