We made it to Friday! For those tracking time this week as part of the Time Tracking Challenge, it might be helpful to identify a few spots over the next few days when you will check in with your log. Weekend time can slip through our fingers, but this is real time and it really counts — not in the sense of needing to do something “productive,” but I want people to enjoy their time! If you don’t want to spend two straight days of whatever discretionary time you have on puttering, half-hearted housework, and unintentional screen time… then a little thought is the way to go.
Last night after posting this I went to pick up my 16-year-old at his technology club practice. He drove us home (successfully). I did a last email check, then cooked dinner (breakfast for dinner) and ate with the kids to 6:30. I got ready, folded some clothes in my closet, then drove to my church choir practice.
This ran from 7-9 and was fairly normal, albeit with a new director. We rehearsed music for the next few weeks, and then I was back in the car at 9 p.m. to drive home. B had stayed to cover rehearsal (my husband was still away) and so she left then. The 6-year-old was playing in his room but wasn’t asleep. I went up, read to him (from this kids’ “Would You Rather?” book) and then sat with him as he fell asleep.
Meanwhile the 11-year-old was doing a lot of homework that was due today and hadn’t gotten done (“I work well under pressure” — hmmm…). I checked in on him at 9:30 and it was still going. So I decided to execute on my secondary Golden Hours intention (choir was the primary one): working on my puzzle. The branches/sky part was less complicated than I thought (the upside of it being only 500 pieces) and I managed to finish right around 9:55 p.m. The 11-year-old was still doing homework but promised he had less than 10 minutes. So I got ready for bed, made sure he got to his room, and then I read in bed for about 15 minutes before falling asleep around 10:45.
I woke up at 4:45 but went back to sleep until my 6:20 alarm. As with every other day this week I showered, dressed, and got the middle schoolers up. We were in the van to the bus stop at 7:12. I came back, got the high schooler up, and then the 6-year-old woke up and found me as I’d drifted into my office. He was holding the “Would You Rather?” book and looking very cute, so we spent the next 25 minutes reading through questions like whether you’d rather work in Santa’s workshop or help him deliver presents. Then the two of us drove the 16-year-old to school. We came back, I got him dressed and got him breakfast and he watched videos for about 30 minutes.
During this time I wound up reading some of my old sonnets. I’ve been writing two lines in iambic pentameter every day since January 1, 2023, so I now have more than 150 sonnets. Most are eh. But a few I really like. I have a goal for the year of creating a “best of” collection so I read through some old ones and noted favorites.
Then it was time to bring the 6-year-old to school. I drove him (8:55 in the car) and was home 9:10, got another cup of coffee, and worked straight through to 1 p.m. I did a bunch of different things — a lot of email catch-up and following up on things, but also reading for ideas and generally doing stuff in this “open” time (except for one 10:30 call). I like to leave Fridays relatively open to give myself space for the randomness.
At 1:00 I stopped to walk around outside, collect the trash cans and put stuff away, and get some fresh air. At 1:30 or so I came back in the house, got ready, and then drove to Massage Envy.
Yep, this was one of my big treats for the week — my monthly massage. This ran from 2-2:50 and I am tense but so it goes. I’m less tense now. Then I put in a Starbucks order and went to pick that up for me + 4 kids.
And then I went home — which was different from what I planned on doing originally. I’d set everything up for my middle schoolers to let themselves in the house, and then for my daughter to get the 6-year-old off the bus at 4. I would drive downtown to pick up my college kid from the train station (he’s home for the long weekend!). But my husband confirmed in the morning that he’d gotten on an earlier flight from California, so he landed at 3 p.m. and was able to get him at the train station. So I was home by 3:20 and was able to give my daughter the happy news that not only did she not need to go wait for her brother (as I would do it) but I had brought her Starbucks. Good mommy. We chatted for a bit and now I am posting this.
Tonight will be the 11-year-old’s family birthday dinner and we’ll do presents. I plan to read my book for a while and hand off bedtime duties (I hope) to my husband who definitely needs the opportunity to have that fun after 4 nights away.
Here’s my log:
5 go get S, he drives home
5:30 work, make dinner
6 cook, eat w/kids
6:30 ready, to church
7 church choir rehearsal
7:30 church choir rehearsal
8 church choir rehearsal
8:30 church choir rehearsal
9 home, H story, sit w/H
9:30 puzzle – finish! A homework
10 ready bed, A, read
10:30 read, sleep by 10:45
4:30 4:45 bathroom, awake, sleep
6 6:20 up, shower
6:30 dress, kids, dishes, cook
7 eat-bfast, bus, S up
7:30 H, would/rather, drive S
8 drop s, home, H ready
8:30 work (poetry), drive H
9 H, home, work
9:30 work
10 work
10:30 work
11 work
11:30 work/lunch at desk
12 work
12:30 work
1 walk outside (+cans/clean)
1:30 in, ready, drive
2 massage
2:30 massage, to car
3 Starbucks, home, chat
