Today I’m linking up with Trish at Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity for her A Day in the Life 2nd Annual Blogger Event. Numerous bloggers will all be sharing a Day in Our Lives on March 23, 2016. I think it will be a lot of fun to see how everyone spends their day.
I chose to keep track of my day on Tuesday, March 15, 2016. It was a good example of how my days usually go because I had some time at home and some time away. So, enjoy this look into my little corner of the world in small town Iowa.
6:00 AM ~ My alarm goes off. I just started using the app, Sleep Cycle, to track my sleeping. It also wakes me up a little more gently than a crazy alarm does. I am finding the information about my sleep really interesting and hope that I can find some ways to sleep better or maybe what is keeping me from sleeping. Once I’m awake, I check my phone to make sure I don’t have any texts or missed calls. I’m a substitute teacher and sometimes wake up to texts or messages asking me to sub. No texts or phone calls this morning so I can go on with my original plan for the day.
6:15 – 7:30 ~ Begin waking up Patrick. He has to be at school at 7:00 for Jazz Band. Reagan gets woken up at 6:30 and Bennett at 7:00. Fortunately, my husband and I are both home in the morning to do this process together which helps a lot. Reagan has to leave by 7:30, and Bennett usually leaves at 7:45. So, our mornings are usually a little hectic getting everyone out the door. This morning it’s nice because I don’t have to worry about getting myself ready at the same time. I don’t have to be anywhere until 2:30, so I can hold off on getting ready until later. At 7:30 my husband heads to his office after he drops Reagan at her bus.
7:45 – 8:00 ~ The house is quiet and I’m going to enjoy sipping my coffee and watching a little “Good Morning America” before I start my day. I also have several games of Words with Friends and Scrabble that I am behind on, so I play my words while watching. The above photo is our cat, Stormy. Every morning, when she hears me pour my coffee she comes running. I top my coffee with Reddi-Whip and she needs a squirt of it too. Here she is patiently waiting for her share.
8:00 – 8:45 ~ Checking email and looking for those I have to address immediately such as those from school, committees that I am on the board of, family/personal emails or book review requests. I read the school’s announcements and check out some of my favorite blogs for any new posts.
8:45 – 9:15 ~ Today is like my Monday this week because I was gone all weekend with our show choir attending a competition in Chicago. I didn’t get home until 10:00 on Sunday night and pretty much went straight to bed. Then Monday I was gone all day for a funeral. So, today is really the start of my week and I spent some time reworking my To-Do list and planning ahead for the week. It will be a crazy week with Spring Break and having the kids home. My schedule will revolve around them more than what I need to get done this week.
9:15 – 10:45 ~ One more quick check of email and then I’m diving into a book review I need to write. I think most people are shocked at the amount of time it takes to write a book review. I actually have started keeping track of the amount of time it takes to read and review each book. This current book I reviewed, THE GRATITUDE DIARIES, took me a total of just about five hours to read and review. Plus it took another hour of computer work to promote the review on the day it went live. So, yes, book bloggers spend a lot of time reading and reviewing books. But, we love it, so that’s why we keep doing it.
11:00 – 11:30 ~ I hopped on the treadmill to finish an episode of Downton Abbey. I’m behind and need to finish the final season so I can talk about it with a couple friends! I also finished the previous week’s American Idol. It makes the treadmill so much more enjoyable when I am watching something I enjoy!
11:30 – 1:30 ~ Lunch, unloading and reloading the dishwasher, and chatting with my husband since he came home for lunch, and then showering and getting ready before the kids get home.
1:30 – 2:30 ~ School is out early today to kick off our Spring Break for the rest of the week. Two of the kids are at practice and but Bennett and his girlfriend were here after school to hang out. I worked on picking up the house.
2:30 – 5:00 ~ I joined a ladies bowling league last fall. I wasn’t sure I would like it, but I have had a blast with it and improved my game! I’m the youngest gal in the league, but I have met some ladies I would never have met otherwise and have lots of laughs. Today is my last game for the season because I am subbing at school the rest of the scheduled bowling days. I bowled a 109, 107, and a 99. So, you don’t have to be a good bowler to join a league, clearly those are not good scores! This wasn’t my best game and I was disappointed in my bowling today since I wanted to finish strong. But, that’s how the pins fall sometimes.
5:00 – 7:30 ~ My niece Laura and her two children came over for supper. I don’t get to see them very often. Even though the visit was short, it was fun to play with my adorable Great-Niece and the boys had fun with their cousin.
7:30 – 8:00 ~ Picked up the house, threw in a load of laundry and did one last email check for the day.
8:00 – 10:00 ~ Laying on the couch reading, watching the election results, dozing off, and playing my words.
10:00 ~ In bed. I’ll try to read a bit more, but I am exhausted and doubt I will get through more than a couple pages before I drift off. I’ve been reading A MANUAL FOR CLEANING WOMEN since January 1. It was my 1st Book of 2016. But, it hasn’t been as great as I expected and it is going a little slow for me. Since it is written in short story format, I can read a couple and then come back to it a week later. Tonight, I doubt even the best book would keep me awake.
Even though the general flow of the day was typical some of the pieces of it were not. Actually, if I stop to think about it, none of my days are “typical” because I can get called at any time to run in and sub at the school. So what plans I have for the day, can be totally changed when a sub call comes in. But what was typical about this day is that I didn’t have a single moment of reading until the end of the day. Some days it is really hard to find the time to read. So, this in a lot of ways, was a good example of how my life is hectic, but it’s a wonderful life! Thanks for sharing in it!
A post from today, 7 years ago – Mondays Matter – Week 12
A post from today, 6 years ago – No Worries
A post from today, 4 years ago – Book Review: The Good Wife’s Guide By Darlene Schacht
A post from today, 1 year ago – A Little Monday Inspiration – Winter is Dead
Posted Under A Day in My Life, Bennett, blogging, just for fun, Pat, Patrick, Reagan
I think that sleep cycle thing is very interesting. What have you learned from it? My husband has one on his watch. He hasn't used it yet. Downton Abbey – well, I have finished it so I won't spoil things, but combining the treadmill with it sounds like a plan. Does it make you want to go a little bit further? LOL
Thanks for sharing your day!!
Personally I think those are GREAT bowling scores. When my family goes out, we're lucky if one of us hits 70… 😀
Since you work and have 3 kids, I'm sure your days are never typical! We used to bowl in a league and it was fun!
If I thought about how many hours go into book blogging, I might cry. It is a lot of work! Stormy is so cute!
Don't think I even want to know how many hours it takes me to read a book and then write about it! I'm sure it's more than I would imagine. And I need to investigate that sleep app.
I'm impressed with anyone who can wrangle three kids through a day. I can hardly get myself through a day.
Learned so much about you through this! And I'm glad you included the last paragraph about how this day was typical/atypical from normal. I've considered substitute teaching but that would be tough to plan your days! Can you turn down a job if you already have something scheduled or is that frowned upon?
And 5 hours for a book sounds pretty good to me. I'm a slow reader and like you don't always get a lot of reading in during the day (I also fall asleep at night while reading!).
Thanks for sharing Stacie!
The sleep app sounds interesting. I would be afraid of what it would tell me. I know I don't get enough sleep.
I really enjoyed reading about your day, Stacie. I am not home in the mornings when my daughter has to get up. It's sometimes hard for my husband as they both are not morning people. On the rare occasion I wake her up, she usually does better–but I'm sure that has more to do with the fact that she doesn't often see me in the mornings.
How cool that you joined a ladies' bowling league. My grandmother was a big bowler for many years when she was alive.
Love the photo of Sammy, by the way.