A is for anglo

I'm pretty sure I scared my friend Alina. The other day I sent what I thought was a harmless email asking if she was going to be around in March. Alina lives in Miami and I wanted to make sure she'd be there if Dave and I booked plane tickets to visit my old tropical stomping grounds over his spring break next year.

Her answer:

I'm processing this at several levels, all of them good, but indeed, your message has filtered through several layers of understanding:

1. I have a very special dear friend Laurie, who's a lot of fun

2. My friend Laurie is Anglo

3. Like all true Anglos, Laurie is organized and plans ahead, for better results.

4. Laurie plans ahead, way ahead

5. Laurie's plans, luckily, sometimes involve me

6. Laurie plans ahead

7. She's coming to Miami, cool!!

8. She's coming to Miami next year.

9. She's planning to come to Miami next year.

10. She's planning.

11. Laurie plans, sometimes like a year in advance.

12. It's really smart to plan ahead, you do get better results.

13. I admire the way that some people plan.

14. If I planned ahead, I'd get much better results.

15. Why do I find it so difficult to plan?

16. Gosh, I have no idea what I'm doing this summer.

17. Do I really have a planning-deficit problem?

18. Probably

19. Laurie...Miami...

20. I guess so, yes, I think so, would love to see you, come to Miami!!

I laughed aloud when I read her email, immediately realizing my mistake. I had sent an email in June 2011 asking a Latina what her schedule was like the third week of March 2012. Obviously I had been away from Miami much too long. I'd forgotten that every meal must end with a cafecito, women's heels should be at least 4 inches high and vacations are supposed to be spontaneous. (Two years ago Alina called me on a Tuesday saying she was leaving for Ireland on Saturday, her husband could get me a discounted ticket and did I want to go?)

I've long known that I'm Type A (also known as "anal," "control freak," "rigid" and "high strung"). Planning is one of my favorite things to do. All those empty days of the calendar just waiting to be filled with lunch dates, movie nights, long weekends away. Years ago I vowed to visit a new country every year. Since then, I've racked up frequent flier miles traveling to the Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, China, Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and yes, Ireland.

I not only make New Years Resolutions, but divide my resolutions into six categories: financial, work, family and friends, health, home projects and fun. Each category gets its own page in my notepad. Under financial you may find things like:

1. Max out 401K
2. Set up monthly automatic deposits from checking account to savings
3. Read 'Smart Women Finish Rich'

Under family and friends:

1. Visit Sarah and her new baby in Colorado
2. Attend Megan's wedding
3. Be in California for Helix's birthday

Under fun:

1. Blog once a week
2. Take a wine tasting class
3. Learn the Charleston

Then I sit down and schedule when I'm going to complete each task, my internal clock ticking loudly, telling me that life goes by fast and if I don't map out my goals, it's going to pass me by. That's why if you casually tell me, "We should do lunch sometime," I'll probably respond with, "How's Thursday at 1 p.m.?"

What this all amounts to is I get a lot of shit done. I also get tight shoulders, tension headaches and impatient in long lines. A psychologist once told me, "If you have one foot in the past and one foot in the future, you are pissing on the present." Many days, I am guilty as charged. At least for some of those days nine months from now, I'll be on a beach in Miami, sitting under a palm tree with my friend, Alina, who taught me the true meaning of Type A.