Feeling Naked

Every morning I get out of the shower and dress in my seemingly standard khakis and crisply starched shirt with lace up leather shoes. I load up with my standard daily carry items and place my Cross pen and pencil into my shirt pocket - always with the pen to the left side. I finish up my daily preparation routine by strapping one of my three old-fashioned analog watches to my left wrist.

Yes, my routine is another example of my rather rigid, anal-retentive personality. Occasionally, though, something goes awry and my routine is shattered. It might be the distraction of one of the cats popping open the bedroom door and jumping onto the bed; hoping to get a bit of attention, or maybe because Diane has not yet written the pants color onto the inner tag of my new pants so I can tell if I have selected black pants or blue pants.

Whatever the cause; it is a very bad thing when my routine is thrown off.

Wednesday was one of those days. Haley, the cat I have nicknamed Cat Ballou because she is, like the song from the movie said, "mean and evil through and through," burst through the bedroom door and jumped onto the bed next to me as I stood getting ready. One must always keep one eye on Haley when she is nearby because she will try to lull you into a false sense of security by purring loudly - only to go into full attack mode with no warning. The only good thing is that she is declawed so she can only bite me instead of bite and scratch me!

My routine was thrown into a loop by my attempts to protect myself from Haley. I got to work and glanced at my wrist only to realize that I had forgotten to put on my watch! Now that may not seem like a very big deal to you, but trust me, this was very bad! I look at my wrist constantly throughout the day; expecting to see my analog watch riding there so I can monitor the passage of time.

But it wasn't there!!!! It's almost worth driving back home to get my watch because I go bonkers all day when it's not on my wrist where it's supposed to be.

I felt so naked!!!