Day in the Life
I always wondered how a "day in the life" post would turn out for me. Rounds of them have circulated through many blogs that I frequently read and I've always loved catching a glimpse into what someone else's "normal" was - stranger or friend. But could mine be nearly as interesting to everyone else? Doubtful, but I'll let you be the judge of that. I did not remember to take many pictures.
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Tuesday, March 27
5:45am: My alarm goes off and jolts me awake. It can't be morning already. I realize that I am freezing, as we had already taken off our down comforter when it got super warm out last week. Note to self to wear more clothing to bed (or maybe actually put another blanket on our bed).
5:47am: Out of bed and head to take a shower. There's no snoozing or wasting time laying in bed for me - I've never been one to do that, weekends or not. Plus I'm terrified I will fall back asleep and be late for work.
5:50am: I hear Jon's alarm go off. He is the exact opposite of me, and sets his alarm 40 minutes before he needs to get up. Some days he hears it and hits the snooze button every 10 minutes. Other days he sleeps right on through it, which makes me happy as I have something to listen to while getting ready. But honestly, it also drives me bonkers - why not just set your alarm 40 minutes later and enjoy peaceful sleep up until then?
5:55am: I'm out of the shower and now trying to figure out what in the world I am going to wear. I hate my clothes. I grab my phone to see what the temperature is, and decide that I would not dress casually as I had the previous several days (thanks to casual stickers I had earned). Dress pants it is. Heck, I even grab a cute necklace to wear, which I rarely do.
6:30am: Make-up is on, hair is dry, and I chowed down a quick bowl of cereal - Peanut Butter Crunch (I know, not healthy at all, but it was an impulse buy last week and I am savoring every bite). I wake up Jon and say goodbye. This is his cue that he really needs to wake up now. I hit the road and tune into Ian and Margery on MyTalk 1071. Ian sometimes bothers me, but overall the show keeps me pretty entertained during my commute. Road construction has started on 94 again, but fortunately it doesn't seem to be affecting traffic this early.
7:20am: I arrive to work, fumble for my access card in my purse for awhile and then decide to hold my purse up to the scanner, rotating it until it meets up with my lost access card inside. I'm lazy. Maybe if my purse wasn't so dang full of junk. I then boot up my computer and check my usual morning reads: Blogger, Facebook, and Gmail. I read that a friend just blogged about her "Day in the Life" and find it ironic that I was doing the same thing that day. Great minds think alike? I think so.
7:30am: Head to the lunchroom to get a cup of coffee. I drink decaf now because I became too dependent on caffeine, which means I am a minority in the office and usually have to make the pot of decaf myself. Today is no exception. We have 4 coffee dispensers for regular and 1 for decaf, so with 2 coffeemakers, wouldn't you think that it would be nice to make the decaf first or second with one regular coffee? Apparently not. But oh well, I'm used to it.
7:35am: Time to get to work! Check email and start dealing with questions from clients. Meeting with my team. Work on a new report for a client (and enjoy it, because I love Excel and I'm a dork like that). Find out that I will very likely be going to Dublin, Ireland for a program in July and am super stoked! My travel opportunities are usually limited to Arkansas (again this May) and the occasional other US city, so this is fabulous news and totally made my day. More email, phone calls with clients, meeting recaps, and other stuff - I won't bore you with the details of my job.
10:30am: I decide that I am starving (PB Crunch doesn't fill you up) and have a Luna bar. Love these bars - they are so tasty and the abundance of vitamins and minerals make me feel good. Stop over at my colleague's desk to chat. After all, my chiropractor said I should get up and away from my computer periodically...
10:40am: Back to work. Blah, I'm feeling the Tuesday blues. It's cloudy out, I have a headache, and no motivation.
11:45am: I tune into email for the nonprofit group I am involved with. Turns out I need to chase after a few people about some missing paperwork, so I get that taken care of and also mail their visa applications. I feel good that I got that taken care of.
11:55am: It's time for lunch - yay. I have to pick up mail for the nonprofit group in Golden Valley, so I head that way and grab Jimmy Johns right next door. Back at the office I devour my sandwich while browsing through Facebook and Blogger again. I notice a few pieces of onion on my sandwich and become annoyed, as I hate hate hate raw onion. It totally ruined my lunch. I head over to my colleague's desk who usually has chocolates and steal a handful of Almond Joy bites to take the onion-taste away. It didn't really work.
1:00pm: Break is over, back to work. I have no meetings scheduled, so I am already dreading a long, boring afternoon. But I find plenty of things to keep me busy. I also find myself daydreaming about Dublin and how I should extend my stay and make Jon come meet me. Our vacation fund was just used in Mexico, but it seems silly to not take advantage since I'll already be there. Hmmm. Ok, back to work.
4:30pm: Finally! I grab my purse and just about run out the door. My headache is still lingering (guess I need a few more sessions at the chiro before they completely go away again), and I can not wait to get home. BUT first, there is my commute. The drive home is exponentially worse than the morning, but not always horrible. I'm sure a part of it is because I just finished a long day in the office and have little patience for nonsense. (People don't know how to merge, how to signal, or how to drive during rush hour traffic). It also seems like more and more people are leaving work earlier. Getting onto 94 from 394 is brutal, and I often cut in near the front of the line because I cannot bring myself to stop in the right lane a whole 2 miles back and inch along. I know, I'm one of those people everyone hates. But I do merge properly and efficiently, so I should get credit for that. On occasion however, like yesterday, there was almost no traffic slowdowns, and I was home by 5:20. Why can't it be like that every day?
5:40pm: Despite the annoying traffic, it doesn't take me terribly long to get home. 40 miles in 70 minutes isn't so bad. I have to stop at the bank and deposit some checks for the nonprofit group that I'm sure were eager to be cashed. The drive-through seems to be taking forever, despite being one of two customers being helped. Then I stop at SA to buy a lottery ticket, because I promised my husband I would as it's reached an unfathomable amount of money and he has faith that we could actually win. Can't win if you don't play. I buy 5 tickets and say goodbye to that $5 that could have been my lunch money tomorrow.
5:55pm: I'm home, at last. Jon immediately notes my sour mood and knows it must have been a bad traffic day. He greets me with a huge hug. Love this guy.
6:05pm: I immediately hit the treadmill, because if I sit down and relax a little I will never, ever get up to work out. It's a given. I flip on an episode of The Little Couple and hope that it keeps me entertained. It doesn't, which is not surprising, so I watch Frozen Planet. This show is awesome! It is so incredible the footage they have captured.
6:45pm: Jon starts dinner while I quickly shower. We make Orange Chicken, rice, and potstickers from Trader Joe's. Yum.
7:00pm: Eat dinner (on our coffee table - classy) and watch Biggest Loser. Veg out for the rest of the evening watching TV. We are lazy bums. We don't even do the dishes - just leave them in the sink for the next day.
10:00pm: Time for bed for this lady. I am exhausted at this point, practically falling asleep on the couch. I go to bed - hubby stays up for another hour and gets his fill of news and sports shows.
The end.
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Tuesday, March 27
5:45am: My alarm goes off and jolts me awake. It can't be morning already. I realize that I am freezing, as we had already taken off our down comforter when it got super warm out last week. Note to self to wear more clothing to bed (or maybe actually put another blanket on our bed).
5:47am: Out of bed and head to take a shower. There's no snoozing or wasting time laying in bed for me - I've never been one to do that, weekends or not. Plus I'm terrified I will fall back asleep and be late for work.
5:50am: I hear Jon's alarm go off. He is the exact opposite of me, and sets his alarm 40 minutes before he needs to get up. Some days he hears it and hits the snooze button every 10 minutes. Other days he sleeps right on through it, which makes me happy as I have something to listen to while getting ready. But honestly, it also drives me bonkers - why not just set your alarm 40 minutes later and enjoy peaceful sleep up until then?
5:55am: I'm out of the shower and now trying to figure out what in the world I am going to wear. I hate my clothes. I grab my phone to see what the temperature is, and decide that I would not dress casually as I had the previous several days (thanks to casual stickers I had earned). Dress pants it is. Heck, I even grab a cute necklace to wear, which I rarely do.
6:30am: Make-up is on, hair is dry, and I chowed down a quick bowl of cereal - Peanut Butter Crunch (I know, not healthy at all, but it was an impulse buy last week and I am savoring every bite). I wake up Jon and say goodbye. This is his cue that he really needs to wake up now. I hit the road and tune into Ian and Margery on MyTalk 1071. Ian sometimes bothers me, but overall the show keeps me pretty entertained during my commute. Road construction has started on 94 again, but fortunately it doesn't seem to be affecting traffic this early.
7:20am: I arrive to work, fumble for my access card in my purse for awhile and then decide to hold my purse up to the scanner, rotating it until it meets up with my lost access card inside. I'm lazy. Maybe if my purse wasn't so dang full of junk. I then boot up my computer and check my usual morning reads: Blogger, Facebook, and Gmail. I read that a friend just blogged about her "Day in the Life" and find it ironic that I was doing the same thing that day. Great minds think alike? I think so.
7:30am: Head to the lunchroom to get a cup of coffee. I drink decaf now because I became too dependent on caffeine, which means I am a minority in the office and usually have to make the pot of decaf myself. Today is no exception. We have 4 coffee dispensers for regular and 1 for decaf, so with 2 coffeemakers, wouldn't you think that it would be nice to make the decaf first or second with one regular coffee? Apparently not. But oh well, I'm used to it.
7:35am: Time to get to work! Check email and start dealing with questions from clients. Meeting with my team. Work on a new report for a client (and enjoy it, because I love Excel and I'm a dork like that). Find out that I will very likely be going to Dublin, Ireland for a program in July and am super stoked! My travel opportunities are usually limited to Arkansas (again this May) and the occasional other US city, so this is fabulous news and totally made my day. More email, phone calls with clients, meeting recaps, and other stuff - I won't bore you with the details of my job.
10:30am: I decide that I am starving (PB Crunch doesn't fill you up) and have a Luna bar. Love these bars - they are so tasty and the abundance of vitamins and minerals make me feel good. Stop over at my colleague's desk to chat. After all, my chiropractor said I should get up and away from my computer periodically...
10:40am: Back to work. Blah, I'm feeling the Tuesday blues. It's cloudy out, I have a headache, and no motivation.
11:45am: I tune into email for the nonprofit group I am involved with. Turns out I need to chase after a few people about some missing paperwork, so I get that taken care of and also mail their visa applications. I feel good that I got that taken care of.
11:55am: It's time for lunch - yay. I have to pick up mail for the nonprofit group in Golden Valley, so I head that way and grab Jimmy Johns right next door. Back at the office I devour my sandwich while browsing through Facebook and Blogger again. I notice a few pieces of onion on my sandwich and become annoyed, as I hate hate hate raw onion. It totally ruined my lunch. I head over to my colleague's desk who usually has chocolates and steal a handful of Almond Joy bites to take the onion-taste away. It didn't really work.
1:00pm: Break is over, back to work. I have no meetings scheduled, so I am already dreading a long, boring afternoon. But I find plenty of things to keep me busy. I also find myself daydreaming about Dublin and how I should extend my stay and make Jon come meet me. Our vacation fund was just used in Mexico, but it seems silly to not take advantage since I'll already be there. Hmmm. Ok, back to work.
4:30pm: Finally! I grab my purse and just about run out the door. My headache is still lingering (guess I need a few more sessions at the chiro before they completely go away again), and I can not wait to get home. BUT first, there is my commute. The drive home is exponentially worse than the morning, but not always horrible. I'm sure a part of it is because I just finished a long day in the office and have little patience for nonsense. (People don't know how to merge, how to signal, or how to drive during rush hour traffic). It also seems like more and more people are leaving work earlier. Getting onto 94 from 394 is brutal, and I often cut in near the front of the line because I cannot bring myself to stop in the right lane a whole 2 miles back and inch along. I know, I'm one of those people everyone hates. But I do merge properly and efficiently, so I should get credit for that. On occasion however, like yesterday, there was almost no traffic slowdowns, and I was home by 5:20. Why can't it be like that every day?
5:40pm: Despite the annoying traffic, it doesn't take me terribly long to get home. 40 miles in 70 minutes isn't so bad. I have to stop at the bank and deposit some checks for the nonprofit group that I'm sure were eager to be cashed. The drive-through seems to be taking forever, despite being one of two customers being helped. Then I stop at SA to buy a lottery ticket, because I promised my husband I would as it's reached an unfathomable amount of money and he has faith that we could actually win. Can't win if you don't play. I buy 5 tickets and say goodbye to that $5 that could have been my lunch money tomorrow.
5:55pm: I'm home, at last. Jon immediately notes my sour mood and knows it must have been a bad traffic day. He greets me with a huge hug. Love this guy.
6:05pm: I immediately hit the treadmill, because if I sit down and relax a little I will never, ever get up to work out. It's a given. I flip on an episode of The Little Couple and hope that it keeps me entertained. It doesn't, which is not surprising, so I watch Frozen Planet. This show is awesome! It is so incredible the footage they have captured.
6:45pm: Jon starts dinner while I quickly shower. We make Orange Chicken, rice, and potstickers from Trader Joe's. Yum.
7:00pm: Eat dinner (on our coffee table - classy) and watch Biggest Loser. Veg out for the rest of the evening watching TV. We are lazy bums. We don't even do the dishes - just leave them in the sink for the next day.
10:00pm: Time for bed for this lady. I am exhausted at this point, practically falling asleep on the couch. I go to bed - hubby stays up for another hour and gets his fill of news and sports shows.
The end.
Lisa I LOVE your "Day in the life"!
ReplyDeleteI have been meaning to check out the Trader Joe's dinners, have you guys had a lot of luck with them? We need some easy stuff to make on weeknights. I've heard they're quite tasty and I don't feel as guilty about them as I would with something like a Stouffer's meal. :)
Thank goodness one of us is on the ball with our work for the nameless non-profit board we are on. If it was me, it would have taken weeks, if not months to get those checks deposited.
Also, impressed and jealous of your treadmill workout. I want to start running again so bad but it's so hard to start. I'm scared of how out of shape I am, so I just keep doing NOTHING. Thank god for breastfeeding or I'd be a monster with my lack of work-outs and inability to control my snacking.
You are going to Dublin??? That's awesome! You should definitely have Jon meet you there, but make sure to save some vacation money for Brazil! :-) I love Trader Joes food too. The orange chicken is one of our favorites. Pot stickers are also really good. The Palek Paneer (spinach and cheese chunks) is AMAZING too (if you like Indian food). It sounds funny, but it's sooo good.
ReplyDeleteHum... We have never tried Trader Joes. I think we'll have to. This was quite entertaining Lisa, and I love how the first few things I was like, "Yep, that's me too!". I'll have to do a post like this sometime. And Dublin? Way cool! I wish teaching took me on trips like that! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful post! Good for you for getting up right after your alarm goes off! I'm like Jon, but not quite as bad. I usually set it for 20 to 30 minutes before I need to wake up...and I don't envy your awful commute. Uck. My commute sucks, but not nearly as bad as yours. Hope your lottery ticket got you some extra spending cash for this weekend :)
ReplyDeleteLove this post! I have been thinking about doing one of these but my work days are so boring.... oh well, might have to give it a shot anyways! And Dublin, that is awesome!!! I am very jealous. As for the commute, I don't know how you do it... mine takes me about 35 minutes now and that drives me crazy most days. Thanks for sharing a day in your life, these are fun!
ReplyDeleteI love it! Funny how different our days are! :) I got stressed out the minute you mentioned 94 and traffic. Yuck. I hated my commute from 94 & Marion in St. Paul...I can't imagine your drive. I so wish I could get up when my alarm goes off...I don't know how you do it! Oh, and I totally admire your workout dedication. There is no way I would ever go right to the treadmil when I got home from work. I am so freaking lazy.
ReplyDelete