A Day in the Life - Blogger Event

Trish at Love, Laughter, Insanity put together A Day in the Life Blogger Event and I decided to participate rather at the last minute. Actually, as I lay in bed last night unable to fall asleep I was looking forward to reading about my fellow blogger friends' days and I decided I'd put together my own. I did this once before years ago when my children were small and still at home but I can't find that post. It's somewhere. Things have definitely changed for me since then. Edited to add: I found the A Day in the Life post that I wrote in March 2010--I still had three little kids at home. My day was much different.

Wednesdays tend to be my craziest busy days so I figured I'd focus first on one of those.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

6:30 am - My alarm goes off. I get up. Go to the bathroom. Take my thyroid medicine. Grab a towel and go wake up Neal. He gets in the shower and I go back to bed.

7:00 am - My second alarm goes off. I get up. I wake up Thomas and pick out his clothes.  I knock on the bathroom door to remind Neal to get out of the shower. Yes, he's still in there. I wake up the girls. I pick out Lilly's clothes. I go back to my room and check email on my phone.

7:10 am - I help Lilly do her hair. I yell at Amberly to get out of bed. I iron Neal's shirt (the downside of his new wardrobe choice of button-up shirts--though I still like it better than the gym shorts and t-shirts he wore for three years). I help Neal get his hair just so. I help Thomas comb his hair.

7:25 am - I yell at Amberly to get out of bed. The rest of us go downstairs for breakfast. I make Neal his favorite omelet. Neal, Lilly and Molly request cinnamon toast.

7:35 am - Amberly wanders downstairs and gets herself a bowl of cereal.

7:45 am - We have family prayers. Neal leaves to catch his bus to the junior high. Amberly, Thomas and Lilly walk to school.

8:00 am - I've been craving Indian food for days and I discovered a slow cooker recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala. We put together the Garam Masala using this recipe. Rand and I went to the store the night before to get all the ingredients and the spices. We prep the chicken. Sautee the onions, garlic, ginger. Get it in the crock pot. This is a big deal for us. We're excited.

8:45 am - I get Molly dressed and comb her hair.

9:00 am - I walk Molly to kindergarten. Yes, I'm still wearing  my pajamas. The school is just two blocks away. Less than a thousand steps there and back. I love that I get to say hello to all the neighborhood kids walking to school.

9:15 am - I finish processing the pictures of the Primary children and send them to Costco to print.

10:10 am - I fold the laundry that has been sitting in baskets since Monday while watching an episode of Gilmore Girls on the iPad. I've never watched Gilmore Girls before and I'm only on Season 3. My friends and I text each other.

11:00 am - I take a shower. Get dressed. Get ready.

11:40 am - UPS delivers some book mail.

11:45 am - My alarm goes off to remind me to pick up Molly from Kindergarten. I walk back to the school.  We've had a lovely winter with warmish weather and I've been able to walk every day. Several of my friends also walk to school and we visit while we wait for the kids to get out of class. There are over a dozen kids from our neighborhood/ward in morning kindergarten this year (more in all-day and afternoon). Molly and her friends run home. My friends and I walk home slowly enjoying the time we get to talk with each other.

12:15 pm - I need to go to Costco to pick up the pictures. Rand is on his lunch break so he decides to come with me. The closest Costco is 14 miles away and it takes us at least a half an hour to drive there. We haven't been there since December so we spend some time eating samples and loading up our favorite Costco staples (frozen meatballs, bacon crumbles, Rhodes rolls, etc.) The strawberries look amazing and I get some muffins and danishes for the brunch I'm hosting with some friends later in the week.

2:20 pm - We pull in the driveway just as Amberly, Thomas and Lilly walk home from school. Perfect timing. The kids help unload and put away the groceries.

2:40 pm - The kids get busy on their homework and chores.

3:30 pm - Neal gets home from school. His favorite girl is moving soon so he lingers at the bus stop talking to her before walking home.

4:00 pm - I walk back to the school for the School Community Council meeting. Some local boy scouts have joined us to fulfill part of their Communication merit badge requirements. We discuss amending some of our goals for the 2015-2016 school year; the budget and the upcoming school events. We will support the PTA on the Family Art Night, the Battle of the Books and we need to attend the Collaboration Presentations coming up.

5:10 pm - I run home. Rand has finished prepping the Chicken Tikka Masala and made the rice. I shovel the amazing food into my mouth. It's missing a little kick but it turned out pretty good.

5:30 pm - My friend picks me up and we go the church to set up for Pack Meeting. I get an additional 3000 steps as I set up chairs.

6:00 pm - Pack meeting starts. Rand has dropped of Thomas just in time. I help with a station where the kids put socks over their hands and try to button shirts. We are discussing disability awareness. The evening goes pretty well and the craziness is 60% less than usual.

7:00 pm - Neal goes to his Scout activity. Rand, Thomas and I go home. We get the little girls ready for bed. We read scriptures together and have family prayer.

8:00 pm - I go to Primary Presidency Meeting. As usual, we discuss our staffing needs. Trying to get enough teachers for the 150 kids is an endless struggle. We plan dessert for the Priesthood Preview coming up and plan to go to the church the next morning to complete the bulletin board now that the pictures have been printed.

9:30 pm - I get home. Change immediately into my pajamas. Send Neal and Amberly to bed. Climb into bed. Rand and I watch an episode of Parenthood together on his computer.

10:20 pm - I read Mercy Snow by Tiffany Baker until I can't keep my eyes open for another minute.

12:00 am - Turn out the lights and fall immediately asleep.

That was a particularly busy day. Yesterday was the very opposite.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

6:30 am - 7:45 am - See above. It's the same routine every day. Except that Neal put all his jeans in the washer the night before and forgot to move them to the dryer. Neal waits for dry pants and Rand gives him a ride to school.

7:45 am - I feel lousy. Horrible headache. Cancel my scheduled walk with a friend. Cancel my meeting with the other Primary counselor to finish the bulletin board.

8:00 am - Give Molly a bath and get her ready for school.

9:00 am - Walk Molly to school.

9:15 am - Load the dishwasher. Put a load of towels in the washer.

9:45 am - Write a book review and schedule the post for the day of the release.

10:30 am - Watch an episode of Gilmore Girls while I fold laundry.

11:10 am - Take a shower and get dressed.

11:45 am - Walk to the school with some friends to pick up the kindergarteners.

12:15 pm - Make Molly lunch. She has nachos. I have a strawberry, banana, and spinach smoothie.

12:45 pm - Lay down and read The Tiger Wife by Tea Obreht. It's our book club book this month.

2:25 pm - Kids get home from school. Finish homework. Chores. My friends text each other about dinner ideas. I realize I haven't even thought about it. I put some chicken quarters in the microwave to thaw and find some red potatoes in the pantry.

3:30 pm - Neal gets home from school. Amberly cuts up the potatoes.

4:00 pm - The chicken and potatoes go into the oven. A sudden and surprising burst of energy. I play Just Dance 2 with Lilly on the Wii. I am dripping with sweat.

5:30 pm - We eat dinner.

6:00 pm - The kids play outside. Rand and I watch another episode of Parenthood. I discover that Lauren Graham and Peter Krause (actors who play siblings on the show) are a real life couple and text my friends. We're a bit freaked out by that. We're in season 5 now.

7:00 pm - The kids stink after playing outside. Amberly, Thomas and Lilly take showers.

7:45 pm - We read scriptures and have family prayer.

8:00 pm - The little girls go to bed. Thomas goes to bed to read Harry Potter. He's obsessed. It's so cute. Rand studies for the SPHR that he's scheduled to take in May. After listening to the online lectures, I think I could pass the exam. I read The Tiger Wife.

9:30 pm - Neal and Amberly go to bed. My eyes will not stay open for one more minute. I fall asleep with my book on my chest.

10:20 pm - Rand finished studying. I get up to take out my contacts and wash my face. Now I'm awake so we watch another episode of Parenthood.

11:30 pm - We're excited to actually turn out the lights before midnight. Rand uses his new CPAP machine. I can't sleep. My neck hurts and my pillows are horrible. And it's way too hot in the room.

2:30 am - Rand wakes up and takes off his CPAP mask. I'm still awake so we talk for a minute.

Sometime around 3:00 am - I fall asleep.


Most of my days fall somewhere in between those two examples. Good times.

Be sure to check out all the other blogger posts on the "Day in the Life" link-up at Love, Laughter, Insanity. It's kind of a fun project. You might even want to do your own.