It used to be . . . . 35 minutes from start to finish. it’s a bi-weekly ritual. Pan, water, eggs, timer, tray of ice cubes and 30 minutes to that finishing ice water bath.

So why was today different? All because of that new black appliance. That new black appliance has different settings. Large pot for the front burners? Setting for large pot? What shall I use?

It used to be a “6” on the double side.

Today I’m facing uncertainty because instead of the usual 20 eggs, it’s 6 dozen for the annual Greubel Easter Egg dyeing. 6 dozen. Two pots x two batches. All on the first use of the burners on the new stove. (And yes, it was St. Patrick’s Day, but the kids won’t be back for Easter.)

Make a guess. Try a “5” at the mid-point and take a bit longer.

It used to be 4 minutes to a gentle rolling boil.

Today it took six minutes. Already feeling the pressure of having the eggs boiled before half the kids woke up and the other kids arrived. Schedule already awry.

Timer set. 20 minutes to cook.

I perused “slices” and responded while the timer slowly ticked away. I tried to avoid looking at the clock. It felt so incredibly slow. How could a two minute change seem so enormous? It was the two minutes times two batches and who knew what other difficulties still were on the horizon.

The timer dinged as I pulled out a stack of hot pads ready for the next part. Perfect. One cracked egg so I can legitimately check to make sure they are done without spoiling the count. Yes, done. Yes, hot. And one more extra minute added to the process. Water poured out. Cool water covering. Ice cubes dumped on.

It used to be that I would only need to remove the eggs and refrigerate them at this stage.

But today I had to cool the eggs and then refill the pans. I had just passed the one hour mark because I let the eggs cook for two extra minutes . . . because of all my worries about the new settings and simmering eggs. Off schedule. Feeling frazzled. Caught between the known and the unknown.

So batch two prep. A repeat of almost everything from the first time. With one extra caution, carefully drying off the bottom of the pans before they were returned to the glass top.

Ten minutes less than two hours and the eggs were ready. My major cooking task for the day complete. Success in the form of 6 dozen hard-boiled eggs ready for kids and dye cups.

What happens when you have to REVISE your timing for a familiar process? How do you adjust? What is your response? How do you celebrate the changes?

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Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for this daily forum during the month of March. Check out the writers and readers here.