Back to School and Schedules

After Alec's month long vacation ,
 no this is not the French school system
 (they have two weeks off every six weeks),
Alec returned to school this Monday
morning with frost on the ground, a cold
bite in the air and Christmas lights still
shining on city streets.

We said goodbye to Jeff in a parking garage
 in Bruges, Belguim on Friday;   he has returned
home to Virginia after his 3 1/2 week visit
here and we have returned
to our schedule.

"Gee mum, just pretend that driving me
to school is a dream so when you return
home you can go back to bed, as usual,"
quipped Alec on our way to school today.
Alec thinks his day is much more grueling than
mine and I believe he is right, though I do not
return to bed....okay, once in awhile I have
fallen back into bed for a glorious early
morning siesta, but not today.

I like returning to the rhythm  of a schedule;
back to studying French, writing, walking Piper
in our woods, yoga and today,
going to Rachel's art class and then to my
pottery group.

Alec did ask me to go grocery shopping as
our wee fridge is empty and we are completely
out of Nutella. "It's customary to feed your
children three meals a day," Alec reminds me.
 I drove into town yesterday to shop for groceries,
forgetting that all stores are closed on Sunday.
Today I will have to go before entre midi when all
stores are closed between noon and two.

Schedules, you can detest them, be frustrated by them
or simply flow into the rhythm they offer;  I'm not so sure
about the "three meals a day" schedule.