Thursday, February 27, 2014

A day in the Life

After reading a bunch of these this week, I've decided this is a meme I can really do, so here it is. It got a little long, sorry for that (and I did edit a bunch of boring work stuff out). I was hoping to have some pictures to include, but unfortunately discovered too late that there was no memory card in the camera :(

6:47: Wake up, realize I can still sleep for w bit, doze off

6:58: DH stumbles out of bed, up for the day

7:00: I can hear BR get out of bed, expecting her to come wake me up as she usually does. But instead she heads to the kitchen with Daddy. I quickly contemplate staying in bed for a while longer, but decide to just get up and join everyone in the kitchen.

7:05: Breakfast time in the kitchen. As usual, it's just cereal with milk. Each one of us has a different kind of milk (cow's milk, soy milk and almond milk). From time to time I get up to get a head start on lunch making, which usually happens the night before but last night I skipped it.

7:25: Breakfast is over, time to finish preparing lunches for BR and myself. DH is working from home today, so he can take care of his own lunch at noon.

7:30: Head back to my room to get dressed. I'm usually competing with BR as to who can be dressed first, but she's only missing her socks while I'm still gathering my outfit. She wins hands down, and goes to pack her lunch in her lunchbox.

7:38: Dressed and ready to go, I gather my stuff (laptop and lunch) into my bag. Head to the bathroom for hairdos.

7:43: My hair is done, we're actually running early (huh?) so decide on a fancy hairdo for BR. Two french braids both sides joining together at the back. Inspired by the closing ceremonies of the Olympics we watched the night before :)

7:49: Time for jackets boots, mitts, hats etc. It snowed last night, and the driveway pure ice covered with a fresh coat of snow. Gotta be careful out there!

7:52: Head out to the garage to get in the car. DH is sweet enough to accompany us to the garage, helping to carry the myriad of bags we're bringing (can't forget the piano class this afternoon). Just as we approach the garage I slide on the ice, flailing, slipping, twisting and sliding, but amazingly I manage to remain upright, if terribly ungraceful.

7:54: Off we go. It was a cold night, so the car is freezing, so I am again thankful for seat heaters :)

7:59: We've arrived at BR's daycare. Quick dropoff, say hi to the other kids and teachers, and I am out the door.

8:04: Time for the second part of my commute, daycare to work. Car is now a lot warmer, and I can set my radio to CBC. It's a quick commute, only two traffic lights.

8:14: I'm at work, and it's early, so I get a choice parking spot. Chilly walk through the parking lot and walkway to the building, once inside it's one floor up the stairs and to the end of the floor to my cubicle.

8:20: At my desk, They're still working on the roof, so I get to see all kinds of activity through the window, workers and machinery. Since it snowed, they have to do some snow removal (again!). For the umpteenth time I wonder why they're doing roof work in the winter, always seems like every time they make any progress there's another snow fall and they need to haul snowblowers onto the roof!

8:35: A friend drops by and we head to the coffee room. I just grab a cupful of hot water for my daily mint tea.

8:45: Head back to my desk, to attack the stack of emails that have accumulated since I last checked them at 10:30 last night. Will have no time to prep for my meetings of the morning.

9:30: First meeting.

10:00: Time for the next meeting - luckily in the same room. We have 5 people in the room and 4 on the line from India. I didn't prepare much to talk about, so I'm hoping we can have a quick one. But as usual we get onto some interesting topic and fill the hour.

11:00: Need to have a discussion about a different issue. There's 4 of us in different locations, and it takes us almost a half hour to figure out how to get a phone conversation going. Finally we get a teleconference setup. The meeting is slow and boring, and I am getting hungry.

12:00: Time for lunch, but a few more issues popped up that I want to address first.

12:20: Ok, I'm getting too hungry, going to warm up my lunch the coffee room. Bring it back to my desk and continue working on the myriad of things on the go.

1:00: and 2:00: Two more meetings. Need I say more

3:00: Time to make some progress on my actual work. Need to hurry, as I need to leave early today to make it to BR's piano practice. Aiming for 4:15.

4:15: Someone drops by my desk to alert me to a brand new issue that is coming my way. I should be heading out, but decide to take a quick look to see what is going on (curiosity something something?)

4:36: Get up from my desk in a hurry. Need to run down the hallway, trying to make it to the car as fast as I can.

4:41: Made it to the car, I'm on my way. Meet a deer at the edge of the parking lot, what a cutie!

4:52: Picking up BR. She's dragging her feet, doesn't want to leave her drawing and her friends. Finally get her to put on her jacket and boots, and we get to the car.

4:57: Heading to the piano lesson, there's no way we can make it there for 5, but no need to panic (right?).

5:04: We arrive to the piano lesson, run in and profusely apologize for the lateness.

5:05: I sit down and start writing the summary of my day. In 30 minutes, I've only made it to 10am?

5:35: Lesson over, time to head home. Trying to hurry BR along, but she's still ornery and annoyed at being told what to do. I brainstom with her alternative modes of transportation home...

5:51: We're home. I am exhausted. Luckily we have some leftovers for supper. Spinach, avocado, tomato salad, and coleslaw, as well as egg salad for the grownups. Pancakes for the kid who will not touch salad.

6:01: The doorbell rings. Our neighbour is canvassing for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. We only see her a handful of times during the year, so we have a chat to catch up on things. Her youngest is going to university this year - eek!

6:25: Our neighbour is heading home to prepare dinner for her family. We can finally resume eating and catching up on the days events.

6:45: BR asks whether we still have some Olympics competitions recorded, and since we do, we plop ourselves on the couch to watch some figure skating. I take out my laptop to work on that new issue that popped up before I left work. DH is cleaning up in the kitchen.

7:15: Time's up. BR has a quick cereal snack with Daddy, while I try to wrap up the work stuff.

7:30: Bedtime routine starts: tooth brushing, hair brushing, putting cream on little hands that are getting full of eczema. Quick bedtime story, three songs, and she's asleep by 8.

8:00: I'm back to the couch with the work laptop. Worky, worky, worky...

9:10: Call my Mum for a quick chat. It's a quick one today, we'll be taking a quick trip to Montreal tomorrow and we'll see her then, so we'll get a chance for a longer conversation :)

9:25: Time to finish this blog entry. It's getting so long! I also need to write an entry for BRs blog :)

10:05: Bedtime for the grownups. Another day just flew by.