Somehow I'm losing track of the days of the week. I know they're almost the same as when I was in school, and more or less in the same order. I thought I learned them pretty well back in the day. Monday was as much a chore then as it is now. Tuesday was Red's Tamale day. Wednesday was Lost In Space. Thursday was Circus Day, and Friday was hot dog and milk money day. Saturday was for sleeping and Sunday depended on whichever Mass I was serving that week.

Things are a little simpler now that every day is the same. I work or don't work, no matter what day it is. Since I'm home all the time, I mostly don't have to keep to anyone else's schedule. I don't even have to read TV Guide any more, because with TiVo it doesn't matter when a show is on. I watch when it's convenient for me, not the networks.

Still, it gets confusing when the calendar means so little. I wake up every Monday asking, "Is it Friday yet?" And then by Thursday I might be wishing for an extra day or two before Friday arrives, so that I don't end up working Saturday and Sunday. It all gets muddled, but the work gets done. Eventually.

The one constant these last few years (besides the fact that Saturday is still for sleeping) is that on Wednesdays I do payroll. And then I whine to Tim that if he would get me the time cards earlier in the week, I wouldn't have to rearrange my schedule and spend all of Wednesday writing and mailing paychecks.

That's a crock, of course, because my schedule for Wednesday is payroll and nothing else. I had to make that adjustment a long time ago, when I realized nobody was going to go out of their way to make my life easier.

And now, for two weeks in a row, I've had the time cards on Tuesday morning. I could spend Tuesday afternoon writing the checks and doing the payroll accounting at a less than frenzied pace, and they would still get mailed out on Wednesday as Tim prefers. I'm not sure this new routine is going to continue, but I have faith. I always have faith, no matter how many times it's betrayed.

Now that I have this one small thing going my way, I might have to find something new to grumble about. That could be difficult, because there seems to be a shortage of disturbances in the force these days. Life isn't exactly a perfect circle, but some of the sharp edges are getting smoothed over. This free downhill ride is going to take some getting used to.

Actually, Monday was Fun With Music Day, Tuesday was Guest Star Day, Wednesday was Anything Can Happen Day, and Friday was Talent Roundup Day. Thursday, as noted, was Circus Day. (On the original Mickey Mouse Club, of course, which I watched on KCCC-TV, channel 40 in Sacramento.) Hey there, hi there, ho there.