5:15 am: Alarm goes off. I get up, put on workout clothes, and go out to the living room to chat with Landon who is packing his lunch and getting ready for swim practice. I try not to make eye contact with Maggie because it is too early for her to eat breakfast and she'll forget she ate it when Cora comes out 1.5 hours later.
5:45 am: Leave for Sculpthouse just as Landon's ride (a junior fellow swimmer) pulls up in front of the house.
6:00 am - 7:00 am: Workout! Hate how early it is, love how it makes me feel when I'm done.
7:15 am: Back home. Everyone is up and getting ready for school. I do Cora's hair (two braids that combine in the back; her very favorite and the upper limit of my capabilities) and chat with Claire who always has MUCH to tell me. Contemplate a shower. Decide dry shampoo and a blow dryer will do the trick. Wash face. Get dressed, do makeup, periodically chat with both girls and James who pass through my bathroom throughout.
7:40 am: James takes Cora to school.
8:00 am: Claire gets picked up by a friend for school.
8:05 am: I leave for work, listening to the NRP Up First podcast and whatever songs Claire has recently put on my "liked" list o the drive.
8:17 am: Park in my spot in the garage and head up.
8:20 am: Plug my laptop into its docking station, go make my tea with the fancy tea bags I bring from home because I am a tea snob; pause to admire my pretty office is and how happy and calm it makes me feel. Call out hellos to anyone else already in. Take a picture of my new bootcut jeans, boots, and sweater vest to send my mom and sister because that's a thing I do when I wear new clothes I like.
-Answer emails, be on calls, talk to associates, talk to my partners, read things, write things, etc.
- I have a lunch scheduled almost every day - whether a firm training or meeting, a video CLE, lunch with a contact, lunch with a client, a mentoring lunch with an associate, etc. It's an active and useful hour.
-At some point during the morning I remember to email Becca about certain one-off tasks for this week, like steaming the new black pants I bought on Sunday, dropping off a broken necklace at the jeweler to be fixed, and paying a stack of medical bills I left on the table (she has her own credit card on our account), and to note any unusual aspects to the week that might affect meal planning, like Landon having a swim meet Tuesday night so we'll eat dinner super late and need something that can be served cold or is in the crockpot.
-James picks up the kids from school at their various times (3:10, 3:55, 4:35) and takes Landon to swimming straight from school. Landon has a ride home from a teammate. Cora has a ride to soccer practice from a friend who lives nearby. Claire would normally be at cross country, but her stress fracture means she isn't going right now. Generally, Mondays are crazy.
6:10 pm: Pack up my laptop and whatever papers I think I'll read that night but maybe won't, and head back down to my car to go home.
6:30 pm: Except not really, first I pick up Cora and friend at soccer practice at a nearby elementary school! Drop the friend off.
6:50 pm: Home! Becca has dinner simmering (Sesame Apricot Tofu, Brown Rice, Roasted Vegetables) and is heading out (she arrived later that particular day, usually she leaves before 5).
6:50 pm - 7:15 pm: Catch up with the girls, sign Cora's homework planner, chat with James, pet all the pets, make sure Cora fed Maggie dinner.
7:15 pm: Landon gets home for the first time since 5:45 am! We are all sitting at the dinner table, dished up, and ready. We eat, chat, and call my Grandpa to tell him about our days and hear about his. James started this tradition when my grandma went to memory care and he got worried about my grandpa being lonely.
7:45 pm - 8:00 pm: Finish dinner. James and I usually stay at the table and chat for a bit while Cora clears the table, Landon does the dishes, and Claire wipes the table (she also empties the dishwasher each morning). Cora takes her shower after she clears the table, I usually go take my bath, Claire takes her shower if she didn't that morning, and Landon takes forever doing the dishes because he keeps getting distracted by cats and suddenly needing to tell James or me important things like, "did you know Nike is going to put out a new signature shoe that's worth $1 million dollars?" or "do you think I can get this specific kind of new racing goggles before February?"
8:30 pm: We are herding the smallest child towards bed.
9:00 pm: The smallest child is now in bed. The middle child is now being herded towards the same. (Despite having four bedrooms in this rental house, the girls sleep together in Cora's bed every night. We'll see what happens in the new one.)
9:00 pm - 9:30 pm: Ah, we've arrived at my 30 minutes of me time. If I'm not logged back into work, this is when, Landon, James, and I watch our 30 minutes of Rings of Power, which is the most we can fit in between the girls going to bed and us needing to go to bed. It's going to take us years to finish this series, but we're really enjoying it!
9:30 pm: Bedtime for the big people because we wake up too dang early. I take Maggie out to go potty, James makes sure everything is off and locked. Landon goes to bed and we go to bed, opening the girls door on the way so the cats can go cuddle with them (we have to close it during the show because all bedrooms in the rental house open off the living room). I usually read on my kindle app for another 30 minutes or so.
10:00 pm: I realize I really do need to finish reading a certain document before morning because I have an 8 am client call and won't have time between my 6 am workout and getting to the office to read it.
10:45 pm: Document read, I now officially go to bed.
11-something pm: I fall asleep.
Repeat the next day when my alarm goes off at 5:15 a.m.
Tuesday changes:
- After school: Cora doesn't have soccer, Claire has counseling, Landon has a swim meet. Landon went to the meet straight from school. Cora and James went to the meet at 6:30. I got home in time to take Claire to her appointment, then I dropped her at home because she had a headache before driving myself to the swim meet, just missing Landon's first event. But he got a best time in the 100 fly and I got to see that!
- The four of us get home at 8:45 to eat a late dinner. Claire was feeling better and we all ate together before shuffling everyone off to bed, including ourselves.
- My alarm goes off at 4:30 am to take a 7 a.m. flight to Houston for a day of on-site work for a client; flight home is at 8 pm. I watch the sun rise and set out the airplane windows.
- James has the kids handled (just swim practice and school pick ups today!).
- Becca stays in Fort Worth on Wednesdays and prepared a cold salad for dinner when she was at the rental house on Tuesday.
- I get home at 10 p.m., on calls from the minute I left the airport until I pulled into our driveway, and damn was that a long day.
- I canceled my 6 am workout which made me sad but also felt very necessary.
- James gets up with our swimmer; I get up at 6:30. I work from home until we drive north to sign the papers for our pool project that will start after we move into our forever house. I'm on calls the whole way there and back, which makes for a fun drive for James.
- I go to work and squeeze in a dental appointment in the afternoon. We're finally getting established at the various doctors we need in our new city.
- James picks up the kids; Claire has choir practice after school, but Landon has a ride to and from swimming which helps.
- I have a partner meeting and happy hour at the Dallas office at 5:30, but get home in time for a family dinner. I have calls at 8:30 and 9, and then, despite having a lot still to do, I went to bed at 10 because, tired.
- The kids have off school! Everyone is so excited to sleep in.
- Except me when my alarm goes off at 6:30 because I need to leave the house at 7:30 for the VERY important AlixPartners Chili Challenge. I am V&E's team captain this year and we took it very seriously with recipe R&D, swag, decor, and theme. Which is good because it was an amazing and huge event with 35 teams, 600 guests, live band, and open bars everywhere with giant mugs made out of solid ice.
And that's the week! The kids also have off school next Friday (these are Texas State Fair days, which are a thing, I guess), but it works out well because we get access to our house on Thursday and can do some moving of All The Things from the rental house to the forever one before the movers come to move everything over from storage on Monday. I CANNOT WAIT. We saw the house briefly in July before it was listed, closed on the sale in August, and it's hard to believe we'll actually finally get to live in it soon. Literally counting down the hours... Even looking around at all the boxes and stuff and things we have here after 5 months in the rental house and knowing we have to move it all again, AND knowing how much is in storage that will need to be unpacked and sorted can't dim my joy.
Oy, and that goes waaaaay up to the ceiling
Ah, I missed the chili challenge for a closing. It looks like it was a lot more fun than I was expecting.
ReplyDeleteP2P! Are you in Dallas now? Or were you going to be traveling for it? It was such a great event- hope you can make it next year! (And we can meet up!)
DeleteLong time reader (I found your blog when I was studying for the bar at the same time as you) - I find your writing always so refreshing and relatable. I am also mom of a smart, social, busy 12 year old who is also battling some new, major, anxiety this year. You've commented a couple times on Claire's anxiety and I just want you to know that those little snippets touch me every time. Deep down I know there is nothing "wrong" with talking about it, and I am so proud of my daughter who is not only working very hard at managing it, but is also pretty open about it with her friends and teachers, but I still find it so hard and I so appreciate every time someone else talks about it too.
ReplyDeleteJust in case it helps we've found these journals useful for supporting kids mental health https://happymejournal.com/ And thank you for sharing your life on the blog. I find your adventures and positivity so refreshing.
DeleteWas just coming to say the same thing - it's so comforting to know that there are other families struggling with this too. And thanks for the journal tip, Nina! And LagLiv - LOVE this day in the life!!! I've been feeling like I'm drowning in kid activities and work and it's inspiring to see y'all manage it!
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