Week In The Life 2012: Thursday

Wow, I'm getting tired of writing about my own life, I can't imagine what it's like reading these posts. However boring, I have committed to documenting a "Week In The Life" and so I will go on ...


Thursday, April 26
Working Mom Day

12:23am
I wake up to sounds of Tory fussing in the other room. No way, no how little girl! After the battle it was to get her to sleep last night, I'm NOT letting her wake up four hours later. I listen from bed to see if she goes back to sleep. She eventually does just that.

4:03am
Tory's awake again. This time I get up and make her a bottle. I change her diaper, feed her and crawl back in bed 20 minutes later.

5:40am
My alarm sounds and I get out of bed. No snoozing this morning. Since I didn't take a shower yesterday, I REALLY need to today. My hair feels gross. I'm fairly sure someone could slip-n-slide on the grease covering my face. Sick.

6:00am
I stand in front of my closet for what feels like forever and contemplate what to wear to work today. I hate my clothes so I seriously stand here and STARE. In an effort to make my wardrobe more versatile, I buy shirts that are both comfortable (read: glorified Target tees) which I think I'll be able to "dress up" for work with a scarf or cardigan. Except, these clothes lose their shape quickly and never really fit me well in the first place. Lately I've made a few trips to the mall to buy nicer pieces of clothes for work, but the same scenario haunts me. Do I really need to spend $50+ dollars on a shirt / blouse / jacket that I'll only wear 3 days a week? The answer's always no. And THIS is why I have such a hard time finding clothes to wear in the mornings. Definitely not my favorite part of the day.

6:25am
The nanny arrives and I give her the run-down on Tory's last feeding and sleeping schedule. There's not too much to discuss this morning (no packages are set arrive, no fix-it men scheduled to work on anything) so I head off to work fairly quickly. Andi's still downstairs showering and I consider walking downstairs to say good-bye ... but I don't. Isn't that horrible? I'm just too tired and think he'll probably call me in the car on this way into the office (he doesn't). As I'm pulling away I wonder if something will happen to him today and I'll never have had the chance to say good-bye to him and then I kick myself for not walking downstairs to tell him I love him. I feel like a weirdo for having this full-on internal conversation with myself as I drive to work.

6:47am
I pull into work and snag the last parking spot left in the lot. It's by a sign and construction cones that say they'll be resurfacing the area nearby today and to avoid parking there. But it's the last spot ... and I  have to leave in an hour for a meeting across campus anyway so I decide to park there anyway. Parking at the U will make you do crazy things ...

6:58am
Once at my desk, I check my email, personal and work social media sites and update my blog. I waste almost the entire hour before my 9:00am meeting on mindless tasks before realizing I'd wanted to update the survey spreadsheet and send it out to everyone before the meeting. Dang, now I feel like crap for setting myself behind. I scramble to pull together the survey results and my meeting notes before rushing out the door to our main office building.

9:00am
I walk into the main office's conference room for our every-Thursday-morning meeting and only one other person's there. Meetings never start on time around here which is a) good when you're running late b) annoying when you're on time and waiting on everyone else. I use the bathroom, stuff a few papers into people's mailboxes and make chit-chat while everyone else trickles in.

9:10am
The bagels arrive (a meeting ritual) and I decide to have one today because I'm STARVING. Usually, I avoid eating one because it's kind of gross to sit around a conference table and watch everyone else lick the cream cheese off their fingers. I grab extra napkins to ensure I'm not one of these people.

10:30am
Holy geez, I'm dying over here! The meeting's still going on and I'm getting restless. I eat the other half of someone's chocolate donut left in the tray in the center of the table. Now I'm feel guilty for eating an entire bagel and half a donut this morning. I strike a mental note to begin eating better as cabin season is fast approaching. Either that, or buy a one-piece swimming suit which sounds like less work. I'm half-listening as other people finish their weekly updates.

11:10am
Following the meeting, I drive back to my office. There's no parking (dang) so I'm forced to park in the parking ramp which is a 10-minute walk from my office. I hate when this happens.

11:30am 
My co-workers also return from the morning meeting and decide to go to lunch. I skip out from going because I'm still stuffed from breakfast. No surprise, here.

In the meantime, I prepare for my afternoon meeting by printing a million marketing signs and categorizing them into envelopes to be delivered. I finish the survey spreadsheet I've been working on all week and email it out to everyone. I also print copies of the survey results for our staff to review at the meeting and tie up other loose ends on my to-do list.

12:45pm
My co-worker / new boss volunteers to attend my 1:00pm meeting for me (score!) so I can continue tackling projects on my to-do list. This affords me time for lunch so I send an intern to pick me up a Papa John's personal-size cheese pizza and a Diet Coke. After she returns, I eat at my desk while I continue working.

2:45pm
I pack up all the packets of papers I spent the afternoon preparing and start the long trek to my car parked 10 minutes away. I especially despise parking far away when I've got an arm-ful of crap to carry with me. I may curse to myself as I walk the entire way to my car.

3:01pm
As I'm walking up to my car, my Blackberry beeps with a new email. Then as I'm pulling out of the parking garage, my co-worker / new boss calls me with some news that makes me want to HURT SOMEONE. Apparently the email I just received (and she received as well) indicated there was an error in the survey results I'd spent the last two days compiling. STAB. STAB. STAB. Our corporate office said they'd re-send the revised results by end of day tomorrow (Friday - my day off) and directed us to delete all survey results we'd received prior. STAB. STAB. STAB. I nearly scream when I learn the news. As I walk into our main office building, I toss the giant stack of papers I pulled together this afternoon into the recycling bin. GAH.

3:15pm
I sit through another staff meeting and provide my marketing update. I'm counting the minutes until my weekend begins. I'm really missing Tory.

4:30pm
The meeting wraps up and I high-tail it out the door. I call my co-worker / boss and provide an update on my project list as I won't be back to work until Tuesday. Thank goodness it's the weekend!

5:15pm
I'm home! I walk into the house and greet Tory and the nanny. After a quick update, the nanny leaves. I change Tory's diaper (it's always wet when I come home from work; a minor annoyance of mine. If you were a caregiver, wouldn't you make sure the child's diaper was dry when the parent arrives)? I carry Tory to my room and change out of my work clothes.

5:30pm
I feed Tory dinner (tonight she's having peas, brown rice and butternut squash). I give her a plastic spoon to play with as a distraction and play the game where I pick up her sippy cup from the ground a hundred times.

Andi calls and says he's about a half hour out yet and he bought steak for dinner. Nice, I don't have to plan anything for dinner ... because I haven't even thought about it yet.

5:45pm
I clean Tory up and decide to give her a bath. Sometimes on Thursdays especially, I like to take a bath with her after work. We sit in tub and she plays for a while. I take a few deep breaths and relax as she splashes and kicks in the water.

The downside of taking a bath with her, of course, is I stand in the bathroom dripping wet and naked while I towel dry her off, lotion her little body up and dress her in her pajamas. By the time I'm done with all of that, I'm usually dry (and cold) already.

6:15pm
Andi's home and starts dinner while I get Tory ready for bed. We read stories in the rocking chair and she's patiently listening to them tonight. The nanny said she didn't take a very good nap this afternoon so she's pretty tired by now.

6:45pm
Andi brings us in a bottle and I feed Tory. She's tired tonight, but still fighting me. I rock her for a few extra minutes before laying her down in her crib but she springs awake just as she feels the sheets underneath her. Ugh, I hate when this happens. I give her a pat on the tummy and tell her "nite-nite" which almost never works. She starts to cry and I watch her on the monitor for a few minutes. Will she  soothe herself to sleep tonight? I wouldn't bet on it...

7:01pm
I join Andi in the kitchen just as he's plating dinner. He grilled a steak which we're splitting, with green beans and a loaded baked potato.

7:10pm
I eat a chocolate as I wait for him to finish setting our plates. Apparently the writers of Dove chocolate wrappers don't have kids. My wrapper says "Get a good night's sleep." I wish it were that easy.

7:15pm
I see a note flapping on the front door and ask Andi about it. "The landscaper might stop by tonight," he says and I give him the biggest raised eyebrow I can muster. For real? Now Tory will NEVER go to sleep tonight.

She's still fussing in her crib, by the way, (although not totally crying) so I leave my nice, hot dinner and go back to her nursery to rock her back to sleep. As soon as I hold her, she falls back asleep. I know she's so tired but is so stubborn in giving in sometimes. I rock her for a few extra minutes just for good measure before laying her down in her crib once more.

7:30pm
The landscaper does stop by and Andi chats with him in the front yard while I re-heat my dinner. As I sit down to eat, he comes back inside and we fire up another episode of Gossip Girl. Tonight, Blair has enlisted the help of Dan to trick Chuck into sleeping with her. Drama!

8:00pm
I give Chloe some love while Andi pulls up his Google Calendar and we review our summer schedules and dates for the cabin. Like everyone I'm sure, our summer has booked up super quick and we won't be able to spend nearly as many weekends at the cabin as we originally thought. Several more photo shoots and work trips have cropped up for Andi and the conversation turned his mood sour. He goes to take a shower while I clean up dinner and get ready for bed.

9:30pm
Since he's not in the best of moods now, Andi goes to sleep and I read a few blogs and check Facebook before going to bed myself. Now I'm feeling kinda pissy because my husband was being pissy and I go to sleep wishing we wouldn't waste the valuable nights we do have at home together in grumpy moods. Hopefully tomorrow's a better day.