The reason for my early morning was a dentist appointment. I don’t dislike dentist appointments in the same way some people do, but, generally, getting my teeth cleaned, poked, scraped, and x-rayed doesn’t rank very high on my “Things to Wake Up Early For” list. But, I dutifully show up at my dentist’s office every six months because that’s the kind of person I like to believe I am. I once went three years without going to the dentist, and this was cause for some embarrassment and a general sense of dismay when I finally got an appointment and had to admit I’d not been to a dentist in three years. But then the hygienist said she couldn’t believe it had been that long since my last cleaning and pronounced my teeth in good shape, and I felt enormously better. My teeth are not particularly attractive (I was one of those kids who didn’t need braces, so now I admire the perfectly straight post-braces teeth of my peers and smile for pictures with my mouth closed), but they are clean. I don’t, however, floss. I feel you should know that, lest you think I’m someone I’m not.

Now that you know my dental history and the condition of my teeth, we can move on. I left the dentist’s office and spent the rest of the morning watching the two-year-old I babysit. We played outside, took a walk, worked on learning the shapes, talked about colors (“What color is this?” “Boo.” “Yes! Blue! Very good! Blue!”), and read a stack of library books about ducks and numbers and heavy machinery. When I came home, I poked around online looking for information about education for two-year-olds because I want to make sure I’m maximizing the time I spend with him. If I could be nanny-and-teacher, that would be a win-win for everyone—the parents would get more for their money; the little boy would learn things and become a prodigy and star in a YouTube video where he names all the states and their capitals in the order they joined the union; and I would feel productive and useful. Today I felt we did a good amount of educational play, and I do think it’s important to have times of objective-free play, but I’d like to learn more.

The rest of the day was a chiropractor appointment and a variety of errands and chores. For dinner, I made vegetable soup, cleaning out my veggie drawer. Basically, if it was in my fridge or freezer and was some variety of edible plant, it went in the soup. Oh, plus macaroni. Super easy, super tasty, and it made the house smell great. Tomorrow, my friend Beth and her mom will be in town, and that means tomorrow morning will be another early one for me. But this time, I’ll spend those pre-dawn moments cleaning my house and setting up the futon and buying a pork loin and some good balsamic vinegar for dinner. Much better—sorry, Dr. L—than a visit to the dentist.

Also, The Great Calendar Hunt of Twenty-Ten. I thought I’d be clever and wait until after New Year’s to get my calendar. Thought I’d get a good deal. Ha. Apparently, in a recession, everyone waits until January for their new wall calendars. The selection at Barnes and Nobel consisted of Betty Boop, Playboy, and Twilight. None of which I want on my kitchen wall. So, after a day of searching in what apparently were all the wrong places, I went home calendar-less. Which, for me, means: disoriented and slightly panicked, with no idea what she’s supposed to be doing the next day.

After much lament, I decided to give my computer’s calendar program another whirl. In the past, I just haven’t warmed to the digital calendar. But this year might be different. Twenty-ten, you know, it’s the future. Right? And of course, since deciding this and taking the time to set up my recurring appointments and obligations, I found plenty of calendars, all half-off, just lying around waiting to be bought by me. But I still want to give the (free) iCal a chance, a really fair shake this time. And paying six bucks for a wall calendar when January is practically over (okay, fine, almost half over) makes me feel I just won’t be getting my money’s worth. You don’t just get those two weeks back.

And there’s the Pampered Chef party I’m having next Friday. (If you’re in town, come over. If not, order kitchen stuff here: http://www.pamperedchef.biz/amydegler — just put in “Erin Bond” and buy stuff! I want free kitchen accessories! I’m poor!) Sending postcards and setting up online invites and realizing I really have to have my house cleaned up by then. Just tonight I finally did the last load of laundry from the holidays. Said load is still in the dryer and must be put away, but I’m nearly there…

Tonight was nice—easy, calming, a late dinner of bone-in chicken breasts roasted in garlic butter, and one or our favorites, corn maque choux, a creamy, buttery, tangy mess of deliciousness. Corn maque choux is comfort food at its ideal—even making it is comforting. Chopping the onion and the red pepper, slicing the kernels off the corncobs, stirring in the cream. While the chicken roasted, I prepped everything on the enormous butcher block that came home with me over the holidays. It’s so nice and big that I could push each veggie off to the side while I chopped the next one. When it was time to make the dish, I just scooped each new ingredient into my hands and dumped it into the waiting pan. Like a cooking-show host, just without the cool glass bowls.

The slow evening was the perfect follow up to a blissfully productive day. I had a meeting with Sue, who has agreed to mentor me in leadership, and she’s just a brilliant woman. Girl knows her stuff. I’m doing this for the pod, because I want it to be incredible, because I want us all to grow, because I want twenty-ten to be transformative, to have an unstoppable momentum. And Sue was perfect; I left her place charged up and ready to go. We talked about vision, about leading with the end in mind, about scheduling, about communication, about flowers. (More on that later.) I came home and made a master task list and got to work, not allowing myself to get on Facebook until this evening. Tonight, before bed I’ll make my “six things” list for tomorrow, the six things that must get done (and no more, so I won’t get frustrated if I don’t finish the list).

Until today, twenty-ten has felt busy without being particularly productive, freezing cold with no snow, time passing both quickly and slowly. Is January not over yet? Memories of a rough January last year. But it’s supposed to be sixty-four on Friday, and tomorrow I’ll have six things that will get done, and disappointments will eventually fade into memories, and there’s a whole year of changes still in this story.

Lately, I’ve felt this drive to learn. Maybe it’s being out of school for the longest time, well, ever. A year and four months now since the MFA was finished. I’ve embarked on a personal quest to study the book of Luke forward and backward, and that’s part of my morning study. I also want to learn more about philosophy, about physics, math, history. It’s an almost frantic drive, like there’s something I’ve got to catch up to, but it’s the exact opposite of unpleasant.

Have you heard of iTunes U? I just found it today, and I am beyond thrilled. Tons and tons of courses from a variety of universities and colleges, all for download on iTunes, free! Well, I don’t know if they’re all free, but the ones I was looking at were. I downloaded a seminary course on the Gospels and Acts this morning—forty-some lectures about forty-five minutes to an hour each. And on them, you can hear the professor writing on the white board! I just about died with happiness.

Now I’m listening to the Beatles, Elton John, and Simon and Garfunkel on Pandora, getting ready to make a sandwich for lunch and maybe crack open one of my new library books or keep browsing iTunes U for more “classes” I can take. Oh, what a lovely Friday.