Day in the Life

An old tradition at The Mrs blog was to keep track of our day in an effort to quench a voyeuristic thirst remember where the vanished hours go. Every once in a while I revisit the theme. Hence, this post...

April 1 2014

6:20 - alarm. Hit snooze. Turn lamp on low and stare at the ceiling.

6:25 - alarm. Hit snooze. Turn lamp on medium. Stare at ceiling more. Plan day.

6:30 - alarm. Shut off. Get out of bed.

6:30 - 7am - Change. Wash face. Brush hair. Brush teeth. Get dressed. Open bedroom curtains. Pick up dirty laundry in bedroom and master bath. Strip bed—time to put the duvet away and pull out summer quilt (nights are hovering around the freezing mark and we’re sleeping too hot). Bring all laundry downstairs.

7:05 - Feed cat. Because Minette. Turn on laptop.

7:06 - Start kettle for tea. Open Bean (word processor). Start this list.

7:10 - Sort laundry. Toss summer quilt in washer to freshen. Start bleach bucket for white napkin cloths. Decide it’s the opening day for the clothesline (high of 10c/50F, with 60% chance of showers in the afternoon—good a day as any. Worst case scenario I toss it all in the dryer anyway, right?).

7:15ish - Daycare kids get dropped off. Chat with client. Feed fish. Get back to laundry.

7:30 - Empty dishwasher. Prep teapot and pour in hot water. Make kids’ school lunches. Wrap every container, packaged granola bar, utensil, and even the banana in blue painter’s tape. Scrawl “Happy April Fools” in Sharpie on the sandwich container’s tape.

8am - Call four kids for breakfast (their choice: oatmeal in various flavours, cold cereal in various flavours, toast with various jams, waffles with/without syrup, fruit, or any combination of the previous as long as they eat what they take). Referee the insanity (my boys - if you’re going to fight over one particular spot at the table NEITHER ONE OF YOU WILL SIT THERE. There’s seven spots for four kids—plenty of choice—so no arguments!).

8:15 - Open laptop. Arrange playlist for new MP3 player (yes, we’re aware we’re behind the times, shhh, you!), load MP3s. Head to laundry room and flip laundry loads. Pour tea.

8:30 - Sit down and update this list on laptop. Eat my own breakfast—a waffle (I didn’t listen well to the orders, so there was an extra. Usually I have apple cinnamon oatmeal. I dislike waffles. I dislike food waste more).

8:30-8:45 - Check bank account (mortgage out? Check. Deposit arrive? Check.). Send email reminder of upcoming holidays to clients (JordanCon—woohoo!). Head to Lego Shop online to look up the new Mixels as per R’s request (good idea for our prize bucket for his Mathathon work).

8:45 - Realize that if I’m putting stuff on the line, I’d better put stuff on the line... move winter boots to back door and take wet sheets out and hang on line. Realize it’s twisted that I’m wearing winter boots to hang laundry (it’s 2c/36F already! YAY!), and also realize that snow makes for less clearance between line and ground. Hm.

8:55 - Tell kids to tidy up Lego. (Yesterday they began watching Darkwing Duck for the first time. Today they’ve opted for no TV and all Lego time, and they’ve got a spread of bricks to show it, too.)

9am - Haul single extra pair of splash pants out of closet for R (8 y/o), and spring coat for him. L (almost 7 y/o) gets snow pants and spring coat until Auntie J’s package of the splash pants we left at her place on the weekend arrives in the mail (oops).

9:05 - Tell kidlets to pack their lunches in their backpacks and get ready to bug out.

9:07 - Help kidlets get ready (L still hasn’t put lunch in his backpack—got waylaid by snowpants. And chatting). Send everyone who’s ready outside. Put on my own coat and boots, grab purse, water bottle, and gym bag and head out. Load kids into van.

9:13 - Fire up van. Everyone’s buckled, head to school.

9:17 - 9:38 - Unload kidlets, walk them to school yard. Send them off with high fives for a good day. Meet friend (hi, Becky!) with littles, buckle them into boosters and drive Becky and her two to her house. Gab for a few minutes, then head to Mr Lannis’ company gym.

9:40 - 10:45 - Park at gym (yes, it’s stupidly close to our house), swipe in, change into runners, hit treadmill for 30 minutes. Wipe down machine. Change out of runners. Chat with a woman in the locker room who is there via mandate, working out on company time (yes, really—there’s a whole group of them who’ve been shuffled after years of driving tow motors and they’re not used to being on their feet to work so the company is paying them to get fit. Seriously. And each one feels the need to explain this to me the first time they encounter me, since I’m the only person any of them have met who’s there on a spousal membership—I’m unsure if they assume Mr Lannis doesn’t hear of such company gossip or if they assume our marriage is conversationless... but yay for special, I guess?).  Head home to shower (again: stupidly close).

10:50 - 11:30 - Arrive home. Pull load of jeans from washer. Add new load. Hang jeans load on line (not holding my breath that they won’t need to be dryer tumbled later). Slip on ice (maybe there’s another reason other than COLD that people don’t hang laundry in April—but it’s 4c/39F, whee!). Change fish filter, and actually empty filter of sludge (instead of just switching cartridges). Find many scales (ew). Head upstairs and shower. Partially blow dry hair. Examine skin (a breakout NOW?! I fly out for JordanCon in ten days!). Open curtains and blinds in boys’ rooms, return to main floor.

11:30 - Remember I haven’t planned anything for dinner. Pull out slowcooker. Grab loaf of crusty bread and leftover turkey bits from freezer. Take bread from bag and wrap in tea towel to thaw on counter. Toss brick of turkey bits into slowcooker. Chop carrots and onion, add. Pour in 4c of water, a couple packets of chicken boullion, and two bay leaves. Tidy kitchen. Load dishwasher.

11:45 - noon - Start lower oven’s self-cleaning cycle (it was smoking yesterday when making dinner). Make salad for lunch (iceberg lettuce, baby spinach, shredded cheese, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, balsamic dressing, and leftover chicken fingers warmed in microwave). Pour tea. Set oven timer for 45 minutes (lunch break).

Noon - 1pm - Dick around on the internet while eating salad (including updating this list). Read this post by Mogatos in regards to her prophylactic mastectomy journey (poor girl’s had a rough go, but she’s still in the game. She’s got a fabulous blog about her trials, and one of the many reasons I find her take interesting is that she’s coming at it from an American standpoint—having to traverse the gamut of insurance companies to have her girls replaced thanks to her BRCA mutation. She’s even got a breakdown of cost that blows my government-healthcare-covered mind).

1pm - Flip laundry. Resign myself to only having 3 loads on the triple lines (considering the weather, I figure we’re good). Make more tea. Turn on radio. Putter and tidy kitchen. Open windows to help oven-cleaning fumes dissipate (it’s 5c/41F!). Water plants on top of cupboard (missed them the other day and then needed to wait for the water to have the chemicals evaporate off before using).

1:15 - 1:36 - Decide to clean out fridge. Get water ready. Tidy kitchen sink to make space to wash bins.

1:36 - Dance to Inner Ninja (heh).

1:40 - Scrub kitchen sink. Because ew.

1:40 - 3pm - Clean out fridge, then scrub sink again. Because ew.

3pm - Sit down for a snack. Go online before getting ready to get kidlets (4) from school.

3:12 - Rest time’s over. Oven timer went off (I set it to make sure I keep track of time). Time to get ready to get kids from school. Change into jeans and head out.

3:17 - 4:20 - Run into neighbour while walking to Becky’s. Chat. Meet Becky, walk to school. Wait for kids to get out, walk home. Check mail, walk home to find Mr Lannis is home.

4:20 - 5:40 - Take laundry off the line, toss in dryer to warm up. Change from jeans back into yoga pants. Wipe kitchen table. Unpack boys’ lunches. Add rice and can of corn to slowcooker and turn on high. Fold laundry. Go over a page of math with R (subtraction with regrouping). Have boys put their folded laundry away. Watch fish tank for a few minutes, looking for three cherry shrimp—a twisted version of Where’s Waldo. Go Google Cherry Shrimp, discover they’re big hiders (cool cool). Wash hands. Dish out six bowls of turkey stew to cool. Set timer for 5 minutes and cut bread for dinner.

5:40 - Timer goes off. Have kids all wash hands and sit down for dinner. Eat.

6pm - Have kids clear table and tidy toy area.

6:15 - Daycare kids are picked up. Chat with client.

6:30 - 7:45 - Go online. Check Facebook. Update this list. Go over R’s spelling words (14/15 on the first go!). Watch YouTube videos with the family. Help Mr Lannis tidy kitchen. Start grocery list. Chat with Mr Lannis.

7:45 - 8:15 - Head upstairs with clean bedding and laundry. Make bed. Put summer quilt on. Put laundry away. Wash face. Say goodnight to boys (Mr Lannis is overseeing the bedtime routine). Go back downstairs to find another basket of folded laundry. Decide it won’t bite anyone if left in the living room until tomorrow. Go online and dick around on the internet until Mr Lannis comes back downstairs.

8:15 - 9:10 - Chat with Mr Lannis while he readies his bednight snack. Watch an episode of The Following. Lock doors, turn off lights. Go upstairs.

9:10 - 9:30 - Brush teeth, change into PJs. Check to ensure alarm is set for tomorrow. Read two chapters of Maggie Stievfater’s The Dream Thieves.

9:30 - Lights out.

Day in the Life

Recently a friend of mine (who shall remain nameless—she knows who she is and can forever live in private shame for her actions, heh) asked me what I do all day.

What I do all day?

What I DO all day?

Yes.

No, I'm not insulted. I can get defensive as much as the next non-stop housewife, except, well, I had a hard time answering this question. At all.

It's true.

At the time I could only blink blink blink in response, because my initial thought was, "well, you've finished the ginormous refinishing project. You're almost finished painting the living space. You're not exactly writing... she's right... what do you do...?"

And I understand the question was directed less at the finite tasks and more at the repetitive must-happen-every-day bullshit of housewifery (that's a technical term, by the way). And regardless of the fact that clearly it all gets done eventually (usually immediately before it's time to happen again... ugh), I found myself wondering in mild am-I-suffering-some-kind-of-amnesia horror... what do I do all day?

Must be time for another Day in the Life post!

This time I didn't do the careful selection of a "good" day to write this post. Usually when it comes to DitL posts I gravitate to days that look like any other—they are filled with those perpetual chores and could pass for any given day, thus representing the whole at large, despite some weekly discrepancies.

Nope, this time I woke up, decided to keep the log, and away I went.

Willy-nilly fly by the seat of my pants! WhooOOOOooo!

Exciting, right?

I suppose what I'm saying is that this particular day is yes, a typical could-be-any-day day, but at the same time it's not one of the days when I get much done around the house. I barely sit down (except during my appointment or driving, it would seem) but there is barely any housework happening. Um... so I guess I'm saying it could be worse? Yeah...


Day In The Life - November 18, 2013

6:07 - Wake. Look at clock. Remember alarm goes off at 6:20 and berate myself for waking one minute earlier.

6:20 - Shut off alarm. Get out of bed. Wash, brush teeth, whip greasy hair into a braid to pretend it’s not wash day and I don’t get my shower until later.

6:36 - Chase Minette around in the dark because Mr Lannis is sleeping and she’s snuck into our bedroom when I opened the door—she’s used to not having him around after the week he was gone hunting.

6:40 - Turn on lights and unlock front door. Sort laundry (two loads). Boil kettle. Turn on laptop. Start tea.

7am - 7:50 - Feed cat. Dick around on Pinterest for 20 minutes (seriously, I’m never on there that early), then realize I’ve dicked around on Pinterest for 20 minutes and get to work. Empty dishwasher. Make kid lunches. Put away clean dishes from sink. Switch laundry loads.

7:50 - Remind cat I've fed her. Microwave rice heat bag. Pour tea. Grab banana. Give Lego Magazine subscription renewal card to R [almost 8 y/o], and have him put it by the door where we won’t shouldn’t forget to mail it today.

7:55 - Sit down on chair. Begin this list. Eat banana. Start writing grocery list, meal plan for the next week, and Mr Lannis’ Honey Do list (swag kitchen table’s light fixture; put up Christmas lights; drill new screws into two kitchen chair seats).

8am - Check email. RSVP to a birthday party for L [6.5 y/o]. Begin emailing auntie about the quandary of sewing project fabric accumulating. (Her organizational guess is as good as mine: I'm of the mind that it breeds on its own in the dark of the closet.)

8:20 - Daycare charge arrives. Boil kettle for oatmeal for three kids. Remind cat I've feed her (seriously, Minette! My swirling a finger in your food dish doesn't make it any fresher, but you seem to think so... WTF?).

8:25 - Get back to emailing my auntie on my lack of fabric organizing skills.

8:28 - Pour milk onto L’s cereal. Fill empty oatmeal bowls to soak. Pour more tea. Nuke rice bag again. Stare aggressively at a strange dude parked across the street—he’s just staring at our house, and I have too many kids kicking around to feel comfortable with some weirdo casing the joint and thinking he’s unnoticed. He drives away.

8:32 - Add to this list. Remember to hit send on email to auntie, as I’ve walked away from it three times. Send this link to Sandi at The Mrs as I’ve discovered we can’t even use the excuse of crappy Canadian climate to not grow veggies in the winter (some over-achieving Ontarian ruined that for us. Effing peachy).

8:38 - Import photos from camera (Mr Lannis’ hunting trip) and cell phone (our recent jaunt with Auntie Princess to Reptilia). Upload some pics to the photo processing website for pickup later today (R is going to do a mini-project about Mya the mango sprout, seeing how we already have the pics and dates, and his class is focusing on plants right now).

8:40 - Get sucked into Facebook (suck... face... heh). Upload pics. Tell kids to tidy up the toy area.

8:59 - 9:45 - Realize what time it is. Turn off heat. Hustle kids into outdoor gear, change into jeans. Dig through winter gear drawer to find the “perfect” toque for L (where is the toque? Why can’t they stay where they’re put? WTF is wrong with toques in this house?!). Put on my own coat/neck warmer/toque/boots/mitts combo, as well as L’s backpack. Hustle three kids outside and walk to school. Remember to mail Lego magazine subscription renewal card (it’s free! Check their website!). Meet my friend Miss B’s group walking to school and head there in a big group (seriously, nine kids and two adults kind of big). Drop off kids at school; check Lost and Found with Miss B (seriously, WTF is going on with the toques and how can they disappear?!), walk home.

9:45 - 10am - Put on kettle for mocha. Put away oatmeal, honey, tea, etc, and get out mocha fixings. Wash last night’s dinner pan left to soak. Put breakfast dishes into dishwasher and wipe table (how three kids manage to spread crumbs across six places is beyond me). Eat last of banana bread (forgot to feed myself oatmeal this morning with the kids). Lament that Mr Lannis is still sleeping, because I want to shower. Get out red vinyl tablecloth with white snowflakes (not exactly Christmas-y, but wintry decor, for sure). Mix mocha. Sit down and update this list, and check on pics uploaded to Facebook.

10:08 - 10:45 - Mr Lannis is up! Chat.

10:30 - Receive call from L’s teacher, re: volunteering tomorrow.

10:45 - Log into Blogger, realize I’ve scheduled that post for tomorrow, not today, and it doesn’t need to be posted to Facebook. Cool.

10:48 - Remember to tell Mr Lannis that his mom wants us to go to her place for dinner on Saturday. Dick around online some more.

10:55 - 12:20 - Shower. Wash hair. Blow dry hair (it’s winter weather in Canada, even without snow).  Dress. Rotate laundry loads. Grab materials, get in van, and head to an appointment. Discuss bidness. Text findings of meeting to Auntie Princess.

12:20 - 2pm - Run through Tim Horton’s drive thru for a muffin and a mocha because I’ve forgotten my lunch. Go shopping; grab a few items we need to tide us over until grocery day (Thursdays); and some items for R’s upcoming birthday party sleepover. Pick up developed photos at another place. Then get back into the van.

2pm - 2:15 - Drive to the post office to pick up a parcel. Wait in line. Wait... wait... wait... (Yay. They’re training someone. It’s my lucky day).

2:25 - 3:15 - Come home, unload van. Discuss appointment’s findings with Mr Lannis. Chat until it’s time to head to the school to get the kids. Call family doctor’s office, sit on hold for fifteen minutes while putting away shopping, eventually arrange appointment for next week. Get winter gear on (coat, neck warmer, toque, boots, mitts, sunglasses—yes, sunglasses) to walk to school.

3:15 - 4:15 - Meet Miss B and walk to the school together to pick up kids. Check lost and found again. Chat with parents in school yard. Pick up five kids and head home. Get mail (another parcel pick up notification).

4:15 - Turn on heat. Boil kettle for hot chocolate. Unpack kids’ lunches. Have kids put away their snow gear. Help R begin his plant project on our mango sprout. Fold laundry.

4:30 - First after school care charge is picked up. Chat with parent. Continue folding laundry and directing R in his schoolwork.

4:45 - Referee kidlets downstairs. Tears, aggressive behaviour, and a time out.

4:53 - Other parent arrives to pick up last two kids (uh, except mine). Discuss behaviour of one in time out. Purchase charity lottery ticket.

5pm - Start dinner. Pasta, sauce, and carrot sticks (Mr Lannis is on afternoon shift). Write out spelling word practice for two kidlets. Fill out paperwork for school. Listen to L ramble about books he wants from the Scholastic book order catalogue (no dice, dude).

5:30 - Cut onion and brown ground beef for slow cooker chili for tomorrow—I’ll be volunteering in L’s classroom and will appreciate dinner waiting for me. Eat standing up while prepping tomorrow’s dinner. Rinse dishes and load dishwasher. Partially prep school lunches for tomorrow (crackers in tubs; refillable drinking boxes filled and ready to go).

6pm - Help L [6.5 y/o] open a Playdoh container. Have the boys show me what they’ve made. Nuke rice heat bag. Fill my glass of water. Send boys upstairs to put away their laundry, then have them practice their spelling words. Check email. Debate buying this Lego Play Book from Book Depository. Reply to a friend on Goodreads. Pay gas bill. Fill out benefits reimbursement for Mr Lannis’ recent appointment.

6:40 - Have R tell me there’s cat puke upstairs. Whee...

6:44 - Ignore cat puke. Dick around online instead... online banking, checking blog stats (hey! New Google Salad entry: Kijiji troll bots), begin to transfer this post to blog (it begins life as a word processor document).

7:15 - Remind boys it’s almost time for bed, give the ten minute warning that tidy up time is approaching. Gather rice heat bags to nuke and put as warmers in their beds.

7:20 - Tell boys to settle down as they’re beginning to get rambunctious (read: annoying).

7:30 - Send boys up to put on PJs, brush teeth, and floss. Go upstairs, clean up cat puke. (Whee...). Wash my face, and brush hair and teeth. Set out boys’ clothes for school tomorrow. Set my own clothes in the second bedroom (Mr Lannis will be sleeping in. I hate afternoon shift). Remind Minette that I don’t want her sleeping on my clothes. Water upstairs plants.

7:45 - Story time. The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson.

8pm - Say goodnight to boys, return downstairs. Nuke my own rice heat bag (I perpetually sit on it all winter). Clear up any accumulated mess in the kitchen. Feed cat (yes, again). Dick around playing games on Facebook (Candy Crush and Farm Heroes Saga... yes, I have issues).

8:30 - Turn on TV (yes, first time today). Watch three episodes of The Mindy Project while hand sewing L’s monkey hat (the fleece lining has come apart again—the kid is so hard on things).

 9:45 - 10pm - Turn off TV, turn off lights. Shut down computer. Lock doors. Head upstairs. Brush teeth again with super-flouride-mega-ultra paste. Read a few pages of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Set alarm, and turn off light.

G'night.

A Day in the Life

Once upon a time back at The Mrs blog, we used to do this thing every once in a while where we'd document our day just because.

Okay, maybe not just because so much as we're total sickos who get off on a weird voyeuristic level by analysing the pieces that make up someone else's whole when it comes to filling their day. Whatever. Own it, I say.

And let's face it, when you're a stay at home mom, it's nice to document your hours just to remember you actually do something with them...

So here's my donation up for perusal...


May 9th 2013

6:42 - Wake up, shower, wash hair (this only happens twice a week, so yes, it’s notable. Uh... showers happen more often, though).

6:55 - Dress, wash face, brush teeth, make bed, open windows in master bedroom and bathroom. Lament that it’s rained, as there’s a perfectly decent load of laundry (the only one for today!) sitting in the washer ready to hang on the (newly rebuilt) triple clotheslines...

7:10 - Open windows in R’s (7.5 y/o) room, grab clothes for him for school. Head downstairs (he’s already playing Lego). Put water on for tea, make R’s lunch, set out juice for boys, make toast for R and myself.

7:20 - L (6 y/o) comes downstairs, begins talking about how the cats have sucked out all the heat from the air while we’re asleep because that’s what cats do. Um. Sure, kid. Send him upstairs for his housecoat (as clearly he’s finding it rather crisp this morning—it’s 18c/64F in here, but the sliding door is open in the hopes that the cats use their catdoor and it’s 13c/55F outside and creeping in...)

7:25 - Find grocery list and begin adding to it. Eat toast.

7:30 - Get online. Start writing this list. Check weather. It’s supposed to rain for the next three days?! ::headdesk:: Decide to wait until after groceries to see how the day is going and then maybe put laundry on the line...

7:39 - Gather L’s clothes for the day, tell him to get dressed. Get tea. Bargain with L as to what Wii games he is allowed to play today if it’s raining (Mario Party 9, MarioKart, and Just Dance are his options, though he’s currently addicted to Lego Batman—it makes me motion sick, so no, not when I’m kicking around). Remind L he’s getting dressed.

7:44 - Check email and blog. Remind L he’s to be getting dressed. Lament the number of blog posts begun and abandoned...

7:51 - Wander online. Discover favourite snobby sweater is now back in stock in the colour I was coveting. Oops, it fell into the virtual cart. (For the record, it’s a joint birthday/Mother’s Day gift already discussed with Mr Lannis.) Ooh... that book looks good. Uh ho, it jumped into the virtual cart, too! (No pre-purchase discussion here... heh. Hiding books is one of my superpowers. Shh...)

7:54 - Remind L he’s getting dressed. Celebrate Moghedien’s decision to finally use the cat door I installed in the screen two days earlier. Check Facebook news feed.

8:08  - Oh! Look! L’s finally dressed!

8:10 - Referee kidlets. Drink tea. Pin interesting shit on Pinterest. Dick around on FB (HOLY STUFF, BATMAN! Lego’s coming out with a Steampunk line! Steampunk Lego?! ::dies::)

8:15 - Watch CNN videos (specifically Charles Ramsey on CNN with Anderson Cooper. Wow.). Drink lots of tea. Be interrupted to clean up random cat puke (Minetters...)

8:30 - Referee kidlets. (Regardless of what you say, yes, your brother is allowed to use more than just the blue Legos. Stop making arbitrary rules to piss each other off!) Remind boys they’ll have to tidy up soon. Browse Twitter. Fall down a link hole and wander through the clickity-clicks...

8:40 - More tea. Read blogs. (This is my “relaxing” morning time, where I've finished a handful of kid-management chores and am waiting to take them to school.)

8:42 - Prompt kidlets to empty dishwasher. Referee kidlets (Stop arguing over which racks you're unloading! Just doooo eeeet!).

8:50 - Tell kidlets to tidy up. Remember to post the link to the blog post that went live almost an hour ago (whoops?).

8:55 - Interrupt kidlets tidying up to talk about the new Steampunk Lego. BECAUSE STEAMPUNK LEGO, YOU GUYS!

8:58 - Start mental To Do list. Have ADD kick in. Open document from last night and Google which phase is the resting phase of mitosis, because while my university biology has gotten me as far as remembering the terms for the different stages, I can't remembered what each phase does. That course was, what, $900? Clearly well spent. (In my defense, it was over ten years ago, and fulfilled the "general education" requirements of my bachelor's degree. Fascinating shit, too, which is probably the only reason my brain retains the word "telophase" at all... um, or that I managed to make even one of the three 9:30am lectures each week for eight months of the year. I think it goes unsaid that that Friday morning class was a joke for everyone. Heh.)

9:02 - Remind L to put marbles in his jar for emptying dishwasher. Remind kidlets to tidy up.

9:10 - Have R put lunch bag and agenda into his backpack and have boys get shoes and sweaters on for school.

9:12 - 9:35 - Get in van. Wait for boys to buckle up. Drive to school, park. Walk R to edge of yard. Drive to Tim Hortons for a mocha. Drive to Walmart (ugh). Park, wait in the van so L can listen to “his new favourite song” as it plays on the radio (who am I to deny the simple joys in life?).

9:35 - 11:27 - Lament spilling mocha on sleeve of current snobby sweater (this is why I can’t have nice things!). Pick up groceries and household items, argue entire time that L looks as if he needs to pee (he insists he doesn’t he’s simply wearing his dancey pants), only to have him exclaim at the checkout that “it’s almost an emergency!” (GAH!) Checkout, park full cart at Customer Service and take L to washroom. Walk to van and load groceries. Drive home. Hold discussion with L on ride home about how Adele’s song Rumour Has It sounds as if background singers are singing, “booger” instead of “rumour”. Reach house, have L pull recycling and green bins back into the garage (for marbles). Unload van. Put away groceries/new items. Make tea. Call two landscaping companies and leave messages to arrange appointment for quote (want front walkway redone). Crumble and switch load in washer to dryer and start it (it’s been light rain all morning). Scrub sleeve of snobby sweater with stain remover. Add sphagnum moss to the mango sprout’s new pot. Turn on laptop. read a bit of Kiss Chronicles while waiting for laptop to boot up. Mess around on FB. Update this list...

11:27 - Read this post by Sandi. Open glue stick for L.

11:33 - Listen to L describe his new craft. Listen to him dictate what he wants for lunch. Make tea. Make lunch for L (blueberry jam sandwich on brown bread, and orange slices). Remember I was supposed to buy orange marmalade because R has switched his morning toast-topper. Oops.

11:45 - Sit down for lunch. Salad: iceberg lettuce and mixed baby greens, shredded mozza cheese, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, peanuts, and crunchy chow mein noodles topped with my second favourite dressing (Renee’s Asian Sesame). Because I forgot to buy my favourite dressing (Renee’s Balsamic) and strawberries (swap the chow mein noodles and peanuts for strawberries and it’s a completely different salad... both are delicious). Orange slices for dessert. Read more online while eating.

I swear it's tastier than it looks.

11:57 - Update this list. Begin composing blog post on Blogger (instead of simply a document file on my desktop). Add pertinent links, etc. Remember to (finally!) donate to Kiss Chronicles.

12:38 - Lunch break is over. Listen to L read.



12:41 - Time to start cleaning out the fridge (yes, if you’re keeping track, I brought home groceries this morning. Not exactly the order I’d recommend for these two activities, but then again, I am a doofus lesson. Learn from me). Put away dishes drying in sink, clear and wipe counter and table, load dishwasher. Scrub sink clean and fill with water for washing fridge shelves.

1:25pm - Fridge clean out is interrupted by phone appointment I’d forgotten about (oops). Toss cheese, milk, eggs, and yogurt back in the fridge, quick! (Erm... possibly late.)

1:52 - Phone appointment over. Start Mario Party 9 for L (there’s a lot of reading involved, it’s actually not bad practice for him, all things considered...) Continue washing the fridge.

2:30 - Finish putting everything away—the fridge is all clean! Whip up a quick post about it. Help L read words in his game.

2:52 - Sneak outside (it’s sunny now, OF COURSE! especially since the laundry is sitting in the dryer, DRY! ::headdesk::) and nail garden decorations back onto the fence—they’d been removed the other day while reorganizing our backyard gardens.

3pm - Recover from ADD and finish writing and scheduling fridge clean out post. Check bank accounts online and make mental notes about bills to be paid on pay day. Tell L to get himself a snack (granola bar) from the cupboard.

3:15 - Begin cutting veggies for dinner. Decided on stir fry. Tell L it’s 15 minutes until we need to leave to pick up kids from school.

3:30 - 4:45 - Walk with L to pick up the kids from school (including after school care charges). Walk home. Get mail. Get kids to pull our neighbours’ recycling and green bins up to their garage. Get in the house, have them wash their hands. Talk to R about the school’s book fair, allow him to access his piggy bank money for a book fair purchase. Toss the kids into the backyard and give them freezies. Eat a cheese string. Update this list. Referee kids with pool noodle light sabers (Not in the face!)

4:45 - Begin making dinner (chicken stir-fry). Referee kids outside. (You can't boss someone into playing with you.)

5pm - Mr Lannis comes home. Have him hand books out to the four kids outside (GAH! Why can’t they occupy themselves?!). Put on rice to go with stir-fry. Have R come in and practice spelling words. Discuss day with Mr Lannis.

5:25 - Sit down and update this list.

5:30 - Call the kids in to wash their hands. Dish out plates of stir-fry and rice for them. Grab plates for Mr Lannis and I. Sit out on the back step in the sunshine to chat and eat, while the kids eat at the table.

6pm - Clean kitchen. Sit down with Mr Lannis to go over property prices online and compare with our own house. Talk about possible upgrades and renovations.

6:30 - Sweep floor. Referee kids (why are we hiding each other’s Lego men?!). Have them tidy up the toy area. Fold laundry from dryer.

7pm - Send four kidlets outside to play in the backyard. Chat with Mr Lannis about how our new hot water tank is set at the hottest possible and is not hot enough. Google Chef Ramsay memes to share with Mr Lannis (he’s not online much and got a kick out of it. My favourite is here.).

7:07 - Plan to fertilize lawn this evening once after school care kids are picked up.

7:10 - Update this list. Read this article and be shocked that a racist tradition is still alive and well in a Georgia small town. (Seriously?! And thanks again for sharing, Uno!)

7:15 - Update the blog post for this list, including links.

7:21 - Go to garage and organize fertilizer gear. Tell kids to tidy up the backyard.

7:25 - After school care kids' parent shows up for pickup.

7:30 - Go to basement to discover Mr Lannis on the phone with the hot water heater company to get to the bottom of the not hot enough problem.

7:35 - Send boys upstairs to put on PJs and begin getting ready for bed. Discover Mr Lannis has set up service appointment for hot water heater for Monday (good).

7:35 - 8:14 - Fertilize lawn while listening to Audible's The Three Musketeers on the Kindle. Come in, change clothes, wash hands, wash face for bedtime. Wash feet (dirty feet on clean sheets makes me bugnuts). Say goodnight to boys—Mr Lannis has handled their bedtime.

8:15 - Join Mr Lannis on main floor. He's turned on season four of The Muppet Show while waiting for me (the Debbie Harry episode).

8:25 - Watch an episode of Game of Thrones.

9:30 - Turn off TV and lights, call Moggie in from outside, lock doors and head upstairs. Brush teeth, put on PJs, read more of Kiss Chronicles.

10:02 - Sleep. ::sigh::