Circadian Rhythm?

Dr. E and I recently celebrated our 5th anniversary. Overall, we have a happy marriage. It's had its fair share of adventures (PhD and first child for starters!) but it's rare that I'm not excited at the thought of him coming home at the end of the day. In light of that, it's come as somewhat of a surprise that I've really enjoyed my time alone with little E during the last three business trips he's taken.
Beforehand, I've been quite nervous, but while he's gone, I've been generally able to get out more *and* have the house cleaner by the time he gets back than I am while he's here - well, except for those pesky Olympics keeping me up till 1am this last time!
This time I realized part of the dynamic: I just don't have a daily rhythm. I think that Dr. E probably could have the exact same routine 90% of the time as long as he had quality interactions and projects to fill their appointed slots. I just don't work that way. I actually function much better on a weekly timetable - load the front of the week with activities outside of the house, then slowly tone it down to get things back in order; ignore the cleaning, etc, for the first half of the week and rein it in with heaps of laundry and grocery shopping in the later half. By Saturday everything that didn't get done has piled up a little so it's time for some family togetherness and joint errands, enjoy church on Sunday, then back out into the slush fund of time that makes up my week. (Thanks to Po Bronson, via hedra for that very useful metaphor!) When I try to make my plans fit into a daily routine to coincide perfectly with Dr. E's, I often don't attempt as much for fear of being cut off in the middle.
Now, this seems simple, but it's been a really useful discussion point for us. I tend to look at anything that doesn't have a firm deadline as flexible... on the weekly scale I use to measure my time. My to-do list is a loose daily one drawn off a weekly pool of things that need to be done. If it doesn't get done this week, there's always next week! For Dr. E to fit my mold, he'd be being borderline irresponsible; for me to fit into his compromises my efficiency and delight. It's funny how it took 5 years for us to really *get* that the other was different in this way. Even more surprising is how refreshing the mini-separations are for each of us to own our time. Now that we know, we're on the lookout for how to mesh our two styles. I'm looking forward to seeing where that leads us!