Welcome to an average day in the life of me:
6:00am - alarm rings, hit snooze (think I really should get up - I wanted to run this morning when the dawn is crisp and neeee.... *snore*)
6:09am - alarm rings, hit snooze (don't think)
6:18am - alarm rings, hit snooze (don't think)
6:27am - alarm rings, hit snooze (curse in my head, try to peel myself off the sheets)
6:36am - alarm rings... FINALLY get out of bed, get ready for work, have breakfast, brush my teeth...
7:00am - get kids up and ready for school
8:09am - drop off one at daycare, ensure the others are out the door or on the bus
8:34am - arrive (late again) to work
8:40am - 4:20pm - Answer emails, open mail, finish reports, do up a deposit. Run errands, write an article, answer phone calls, return phone calls, distribute mail, receive shipments, put out fires, register for upcoming events, file and try to remain organized... and too many more things to list here...
4:21pm - pick up child from daycare
4:36pm - go to grocery store to pick up odds and ends for dinner.
5:01pm - walk in the door with 7 bags of groceries to put away.
5:02pm - answer 20 questions from 4 children in hyperspeed. Send one out to play, two to finish cleaning rooms and one needs a peptalk after a rough day in junior high.
5:07pm - start dinner, switch laundry over
5:39pm - am reminded about a ball game that starts in 6 minutes across town.
5:42pm - send one off on a bike after woofing down a bowl of cereal to tie them over until their postgame return.
5:58pm - dinner, uneventful
6:12pm - someone wants to go skateboard, wizzes through dishes and dives out the back door.
6:28pm - I need my exercise so I decide to run to my 7:00pm meeting, throw on my runners, leave my little ones with dad and dash out the door.
7:02pm - arrive at meeting location (first I might add) realize I didn't bring my agenda, order an iced tea.
7:05pm - girls arrive, we catch up about the day and week, sounding like chickens in a henhouse. (Laughter really is the best medicine.)
7:11pm - after seeing a car pull up that I recognize, realize I have double booked myself - and that I am to be attending another meeting at 7:30pm - same location. What are the freakin' chances? Make a mental note to be more organized. And to try to use the thirty dollar daytimer I purchased.
9:00pm - wind up meeting #1 regarding magazine issue content calendar planning and head to meeting #2.
10:10pm - wind up meeting #2 and politely beg for a ride home cause I am too exhausted to move.
10:15pm - get home, fold a load of laundry and switch washer to dryer, start another cycle.
10:20pm - have a bath. (I'd like to shave my legs and apply some no-sun tanner so that I quit grossing out the neighbors when I run my white porridge legs through the neighborhood, but I am lucky that I have enough energy to wash my armpits and brush my teeth)
10:42pm - Fall into bed, with great intentions of being a good wife. Only my husband is a GREAT husband and makes me laugh about my day before he falls asleep.
11:46pm - I surface... damnit!!! I was almost asleep. I determine the culprit is black tea with coconut milk on ice from my meeting; while delicious it gives me jittery legs and won't let me rest.
12:45am - My four year old cries out with an earache.
1:45am - I crawl back into bed.
4:19am - She arises again - so I settle her on the couch with eardrops and Tylenol and when she begins to drift off again around 5:30am, I think - should I go for a run or work on the magazine for a while???
Realizing that my brain is telling my 36 year old body that it feels like I got drunk last night and danced on the speakers at the local bar, I decide instead to run a tub and read my fitness magazine until I hear the alarm go off at 6:00am. Here we go again.
Somedays my life feels like it is moving so quickly that I am missing all the wonderful little things. I am trying to outdo myself each day with deadlines and goals and contacts. My patient and loving family watches me cyclone around them asking only for the love I can afford to offer within the time frame of a few minutes after school and at bedtime. It isn't that bad, but my mother guilt has gripped me around the heart; I long to achieve and grow and produce only to recede emotionally at night wishing I had spent my days with richer quality. If I didn't wake up tomorrow, was today all it could've been??? Balance is tough for me.
I feel as though I've lived a good majority of my life on high speed; rushing from moment to moment, trying to get as much done as I possibly can as though it may slip through my fingertips if I wait a moment too long. I am such an 'instant gratification' kind of girl. I feel like I'm the kid in grade 2 art class who wanted to finish the beautiful stained glass picture made of tissue paper for mother's day so quickly that I decided to make the pieces double the size in order to get done and go play somewhere else... We all knew that kid. Remember me?!
I NEED TO SLOW DOWN AND PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT I'M DOING.
I must remind myself that I should take time to stop along the way and enjoy the scenery on this very interesting journey. It sounds cliché but today only comes once.
Slow down and enjoy this very moment.
No matter how hard I try (making myself a nut in the process), I won't get it all done today!
Things pop up. Children need love and time.
Relationships need attention and laughter.
Expect the unexpected and leave room for it.
6:00am - alarm rings, hit snooze (think I really should get up - I wanted to run this morning when the dawn is crisp and neeee.... *snore*)
6:09am - alarm rings, hit snooze (don't think)
6:18am - alarm rings, hit snooze (don't think)
6:27am - alarm rings, hit snooze (curse in my head, try to peel myself off the sheets)
6:36am - alarm rings... FINALLY get out of bed, get ready for work, have breakfast, brush my teeth...
7:00am - get kids up and ready for school
8:09am - drop off one at daycare, ensure the others are out the door or on the bus
8:34am - arrive (late again) to work
8:40am - 4:20pm - Answer emails, open mail, finish reports, do up a deposit. Run errands, write an article, answer phone calls, return phone calls, distribute mail, receive shipments, put out fires, register for upcoming events, file and try to remain organized... and too many more things to list here...
4:21pm - pick up child from daycare
4:36pm - go to grocery store to pick up odds and ends for dinner.
5:01pm - walk in the door with 7 bags of groceries to put away.
5:02pm - answer 20 questions from 4 children in hyperspeed. Send one out to play, two to finish cleaning rooms and one needs a peptalk after a rough day in junior high.
5:07pm - start dinner, switch laundry over
5:39pm - am reminded about a ball game that starts in 6 minutes across town.
5:42pm - send one off on a bike after woofing down a bowl of cereal to tie them over until their postgame return.
5:58pm - dinner, uneventful
6:12pm - someone wants to go skateboard, wizzes through dishes and dives out the back door.
6:28pm - I need my exercise so I decide to run to my 7:00pm meeting, throw on my runners, leave my little ones with dad and dash out the door.
7:02pm - arrive at meeting location (first I might add) realize I didn't bring my agenda, order an iced tea.
7:05pm - girls arrive, we catch up about the day and week, sounding like chickens in a henhouse. (Laughter really is the best medicine.)
7:11pm - after seeing a car pull up that I recognize, realize I have double booked myself - and that I am to be attending another meeting at 7:30pm - same location. What are the freakin' chances? Make a mental note to be more organized. And to try to use the thirty dollar daytimer I purchased.
9:00pm - wind up meeting #1 regarding magazine issue content calendar planning and head to meeting #2.
10:10pm - wind up meeting #2 and politely beg for a ride home cause I am too exhausted to move.
10:15pm - get home, fold a load of laundry and switch washer to dryer, start another cycle.
10:20pm - have a bath. (I'd like to shave my legs and apply some no-sun tanner so that I quit grossing out the neighbors when I run my white porridge legs through the neighborhood, but I am lucky that I have enough energy to wash my armpits and brush my teeth)
10:42pm - Fall into bed, with great intentions of being a good wife. Only my husband is a GREAT husband and makes me laugh about my day before he falls asleep.
11:46pm - I surface... damnit!!! I was almost asleep. I determine the culprit is black tea with coconut milk on ice from my meeting; while delicious it gives me jittery legs and won't let me rest.
12:45am - My four year old cries out with an earache.
1:45am - I crawl back into bed.
4:19am - She arises again - so I settle her on the couch with eardrops and Tylenol and when she begins to drift off again around 5:30am, I think - should I go for a run or work on the magazine for a while???
Realizing that my brain is telling my 36 year old body that it feels like I got drunk last night and danced on the speakers at the local bar, I decide instead to run a tub and read my fitness magazine until I hear the alarm go off at 6:00am. Here we go again.
Somedays my life feels like it is moving so quickly that I am missing all the wonderful little things. I am trying to outdo myself each day with deadlines and goals and contacts. My patient and loving family watches me cyclone around them asking only for the love I can afford to offer within the time frame of a few minutes after school and at bedtime. It isn't that bad, but my mother guilt has gripped me around the heart; I long to achieve and grow and produce only to recede emotionally at night wishing I had spent my days with richer quality. If I didn't wake up tomorrow, was today all it could've been??? Balance is tough for me.
I feel as though I've lived a good majority of my life on high speed; rushing from moment to moment, trying to get as much done as I possibly can as though it may slip through my fingertips if I wait a moment too long. I am such an 'instant gratification' kind of girl. I feel like I'm the kid in grade 2 art class who wanted to finish the beautiful stained glass picture made of tissue paper for mother's day so quickly that I decided to make the pieces double the size in order to get done and go play somewhere else... We all knew that kid. Remember me?!
I NEED TO SLOW DOWN AND PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT I'M DOING.
I must remind myself that I should take time to stop along the way and enjoy the scenery on this very interesting journey. It sounds cliché but today only comes once.
Slow down and enjoy this very moment.
No matter how hard I try (making myself a nut in the process), I won't get it all done today!
Things pop up. Children need love and time.
Relationships need attention and laughter.
Expect the unexpected and leave room for it.