I’ve been bombarded, at work mostly, by the question “How do you find time to cook and blog every night?” I usually joke “Some people work out, I cook, take pictures, then blog what I cooked! It’s kind of the exact opposite outcome!”
To be honest, my days are quite full and busy with little to no time during the day to do anything much more than my job. Which, by the way, is a crazy-busy day in itself. I’m not talking “Running errands, going to the gym, throwing together a meal” kind of busy. This is a whole other animal.
So, for those of you who ask, or who have ever wondered, here’s a sample day for you.
Please note, usually after-school activities keep me busy at work until well after 4 p.m, and these activities include everything from running the school newspaper to cupcake club.
5:12 a.m: First alarm goes off
5:25 a.m.: second alarm goes off
5:40 a.m.: OH CRAP alarm goes off (when needed. Today it was.)
5:42 a.m.: Bathroom routine (the obvious, plus face washing, tooth brushing, deodorant-putting-on, etc.)
5:48 a.m.: Get dressed. Clothes generally contain a good amount of Lycra and/or Spandex so they do not require ironing.
5:55 a.m.: Frantically try to fix giant hairball that has formed on my head; today involved water and mousse, some days involve a flat iron
6:00 a.m.: Head downstairs, coax the dogs outside
6:02 a.m.: Figure out breakfast (today was leftover pumpkin cheesecake, some walnuts, and a leftover non-deviled hard boiled egg)
6:05 a.m.: Eat said breakfast
6:15 a.m.: Make-up
6:18 a.m.: Check the weather on the local news; laugh at forecast and dig through the closet for my light jacket
6:25 a.m.: Carpool friend texts that she’s here and by the way it’s pouring
6:55 a.m.: Halfway point of commute; usually a stop at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts for coffee
7:15 a.m.: Pull up at school
7:20 a.m.: Check work mailbox
7:22 a.m.: Distribute leftover pumpkin cheesecake squares from the weekend to interested parties
7:25 a.m.: Students arrive
7:26 a.m.: Respond to parent and staff emails until first hour
7:51 a.m.: Group 1 of sixth graders arrive, teach lesson on Spanish calendars and telling the date
8:41 a.m.: Group 2 of sixth graders arrive, teach same lesson
9:28 a.m.: plan period! Make copies for the next set of classes, brief planning session for cupcake club tomorrow, coordinate lesson plans with my coworker to make sure we’re on the same page
9:56 a.m.: First group of 8th graders arrive, teach lesson on conjugating verbs and writing full sentences
10:46 a.m.: Second group of 8th graders arrive, rework lesson for a significantly more verbal class
11:33 a.m.: Lunch! Meet friends for a brief lunch at Chipotle as they have brown rice now
12:04 p.m.: Back to the building, run more copies, answer parent emails, check in with coworker about the 7th grade lesson
12:37 p.m.: Group 1 of 7th graders arrive. Facilitate lesson on describing characters using Spanish adjectives. Field countless questions and “I don’t get it”s
1:27 p.m.: Group 2 of 7th graders arrive. Facilitate same lesson which, somehow, takes 7 minutes longer than the last class.
2:10 p.m.: All-school announcements
2:14 p.m.: Student dismissal
2:20 p.m.: Planning meeting for cupcake club, create shopping list, game plan, etc.
2:26 p.m.: SURPRISE! Parent-teacher conference all the way on the other side of the building! Discuss student’s successes and anxieties; develop a game-plan for coming weeks.
3:10 p.m.: Meet carpool friend in my classroom, head to my car
3:12 p.m.: Finally leave the building
4:00 p.m.: arrive home!
4:01 p.m.: Am greeted by these smiling faces
4:02 p.m.: Kiss this smiling face
4:03 p.m.: Greet these lazy lumps
4:04 p.m.: Check the mail
4:06 p.m.: Change out of work clothes (hence the no pictures of me in the kitchen. Ever.)
4:15 p.m.: Assess what’s in the fridge.
- A couple chicken breasts
- leftover sundried tomato pesto
- mozzarella cheese
- socca batter
- celery
- carrots
- various salad dressings
- parmesan cheese
4:17 p.m.: Determine that a trip to the grocery store is unnecessary
4:20 p.m.: Begin prepping dinner, chicken is salted and peppered, oven is preheated, other small prep work is done
4:30 p.m.: Adam leaves for class
4:35 p.m.: Begin “day in the life” post, so I don’t forget what happened today while simultaneously getting sucked in to an old episode of No Reservations
5:10 p.m.: Actually cook dinner
5:20 p.m.: Catch up on emails while dinner bakes
5:45 p.m.: Plate and photograph dinner
6:00 p.m.: Eat dinner
6:20 p.m.: Import photos into LightRoom
6:22 p.m.: Realize that dinner, while delicious, was not what one might call “pretty”
6:30 p.m.: Finally choose one photo to share with you here
Oven baked chicken bites with sun dried tomato pesto, fresh mozzarella, and parmesan all wrapped up in fresh socca
6:50 p.m.: Officially “finish” this post, so therefore everything to come is anticipated
6:55 p.m.: Bring dishes to the kitchen, toy with unloading the dishwasher
6:56 p.m.: Remember that i hate unloading the dishwasher
6:57 p.m: Return to the couch, set all our favorite shows to record
6:58 p.m.: Clean up dog vomit. Try to not lose dinner…
7:00 p.m.: Record homework grades in my online grade book, write mid-term comments for most students (There are 165 of them this term)
7:45 p.m.: Return to the kitchen, whip up ricotta with pumpkin, Splenda, and pumpkin pie spice. Pretend this is cheesecake
8:00 p.m.: Pop 2 Advil for brewing headache; without them, sleep won’t happen and I have a longer day tomorrow!
8:05 p.m.: Attempt to tweeze the mess that my eyebrows have become
8:15 p.m.: Likely give up
8:30 p.m.: Adam arrives home from class
8:35 p.m.: Watch one episode of our favorite shows
9:05 p.m.: Head to bed, set up an episode of True Blood or Greys Anatomy on streaming Netflix
10:00 p.m.: Finally asleep
So… it’s really no wonder why I’m tired all the time! Could I, ostensibly, substitute some of my blogging/cooking/photos for walks outside, jaunts at the gym, or super-tough weight room sessions? Sure. Do I want to? Absolutely not. Would I be happy doing so? NO FREAKING WAY! I’m sure at some point, I’ll have to actually be more active than my average day.
But for now, this day in the life is just great with me!
