Weekend time tracking — how did it go?

If you tracked time as part of the September Reset over the last week, I hope it went well! My weekly time logs officially end at 5 a.m. Monday morning. What this means for me is that when I sit down at my desk Monday morning, I fill out the last part of Sunday — and often, most of Sunday. I generally turn my computer on once during the day on Sunday to do a little time logging and then shut it down, so I’m recalling a fair amount of time. But that does get easier with practice.

One reason it gets easier? As you start thinking about time, and what you’d like to do with your time, you start having stuff that is more easily recalled. For instance, this weekend I convinced my daughter to go apple picking with me. This took about 2.75 hours on Saturday afternoon. I’m pretty sure if we hadn’t gone, that time would have been hard to describe. But for those 2.75 hours at least I knew what I was doing (and there was a fair amount of hangout, etc. around it).

Anyway, here’s how my weekend went, both in narrative form and log form. On Saturday, I started drifting up between 7:30/8 and was up at 8. I spent the next 45 minutes drinking coffee and working on my puzzle (a fall scene — I always like to do some of those in early fall!). Then I got ready and at 9 a.m. was out running. I ran for about 50 minutes, came home, showered, got breakfast, got some kids breakfast, and then was back in the car around 11.

My daughter and I had arranged a deal. I would take her to a store of her choice, and she would go apple picking with me. So we drove to Brandy Melville (less than 10 minutes from my house!) and shopped for about 30 minutes. We got Starbucks, and came home. There was a fair amount of amorphous hanging out time here, including some more puzzle-doing. But then she and I got in the car at 2 and drove to Solebury Orchards, about an hour away. I had seen a cute photo pop up on my phone from when I took four kids there in 2019. I recalled it being less of a zoo than some other places. You had to make a reservation for weekend pick-your-own visits, but this wound up being a good thing.

Anyway, we got there at 3, and spent about 40 minutes picking Honeycrisp apples and then hauling our loot to the store where we also bought apple cider donuts and apple cider. Apple picking can be dangerous business — the weight adds up fast! But the damage wasn’t too bad, partly because there were only two of us and there’s only so much you can carry. The trees were full and not picked over, and honeycrisps are my favorite, so I was really happy I made this happen.

We drove home 3:45-4:45, and then I quick made a list, turned around, and went to the grocery store. I got home 5:30, unloaded everything by 5:45, and sat outside on the hammock waiting for the 5-year-old’s Saturday sitter to bring him home (an arrangement we have partly so we can do things with the older kids…my husband had been supervising an epic playdate that the 10-year-old had with a friend, plus doing his long run).

Over the next 2 hours or so I made guacamole, which was all eaten, we did a brief fire pit for making s’mores (before dinner!) and we started watching the Texas A&M football game. I watched the first part of this, then brought the 5-year-old up to bed around 8:45. My husband finished putting him to bed while I did my puzzle. I wound up crashing around 10:30/10:45.

The next morning I woke up on my own around 6. I had my coffee, went outside to see the sunrise, then came in and dealt with the 5-year-old, who got up around 7. I got him breakfast, showered, got ready, and then hung out until 8:40, when I drove to church (solo). I had choir rehearsal from 9-9:35. On many a Sunday I would then drive home, grab some number of kids, and drive back for the 10:00 service, but the 8th grade confirmation class was having its kick-off, and it looked like a parent was supposed to be there. So my husband rallied himself and brought the three younger kids to church. They met me in the narthex at 9:58. I sat with the two little boys in the service until the children’s sermon (which was a baptism this week) then they went up for that and off to their classes and I went to the choir loft. The service ran until about 11:15.

At that point I met everyone over at the Sunday school building, and I drove the 5-year-old over to a playdate. (My husband took the other kids home). I dropped him off 11:30, and came back to the house. At this point (noon) I made myself a cheese-less pizza for lunch, cleaned up, and practiced music for my choir that meets on Mondays. Then I waited for the 5-year-old to come home (while supervising the 10-year-old’s trombone practice), hung out with him for a bit, then drove him to another playdate starting at 2:30. I dropped him off, then drove over to Chanticleer Gardens.

I always love botanical gardens, and this one is only 20 minutes from my house. It’s a nice little adventure. So I was there at 3, walked around until 3:40 or so, then drove back to the playdate to pick my son up.

Then it was back to the house and a lot of watching the Eagles for the next few hours, interspersed with apple pie making and making dinner. We ate salmon that my husband and 15-year-old caught in Alaska a few weeks ago. Between that and the apples we’d picked and the tomato salad with tomatoes from the garden, it was a real procure-your-own kind of dinner!

I watched until 7:30/8 (my 15-year-old also went to Boy Scouts in here) and then brought the 5-year-old up to his room and read him stories. I was also doing laundry simultaneously. I left the room by 9 and then read in my room for an hour. I managed to read a whole book because it was really short — The English Understand Wool. I felt very accomplished! Then I made the older kids go to bed and chatted with my husband for a bit and was asleep by 10:45.

So that was Saturday/Sunday. How was your weekend? Were you able to track your time? Any observations from doing so?

Saturday

7:30 drifting up
8 up, coffee/puzzle
8:30 coffee/puzzle, ready
9 run outside
9:30 run (4.2), home
10 shower, breakfast, etc.
10:30 kids, ready, drive
11 park, Brandy Melville (R)
11:30 shop w/R, Starbucks
12 home, log
12:30 hangout, etc.
1 puzzle
1:30 puzzle, ready, in car
2 drive
2:30 drive
3 park, pick apples w/R
3:30 Solebury, in car, drive
4 drive
4:30 drive, make list
5 shop McCaffreys
5:30 unload, relax/read
6 in, kids, make guac
6:30 guac, fire pit
7 start dinner
7:30 eat w/kids
8 football
8:30 football, H up
9 puzzle
9:30 puzzle, watch football
10 up to room, ready bed
10:30 relax, sleep

Sunday

6 up, puzzle/coffee
6:30 outside
7 in, H, H eats, shower
7:30 ready, b-fast
8 hangout, ready
8:30 ready, puzzle, drive
9 choir rehearsal
9:30 donuts, wait
10 church (kids), loft
10:30 church in loft
11 church, meet, to play date
11:30 drop H, home, etc.
12 make pizza, cook
12:30 read/eat, clean up
1 music practice, log
1:30 wait for H, (A trombone) H home
2 hangout, drive H
2:30 home, to Chanticleer
3 walk Chanticleer
3:30 in car, drive, get H
4 home, puzzle
4:30 watch Eagles
5 watch Eagles
5:30 make pie, dinner
6 cook, eat dinner
6:30 eat, S goes scouts
7 watch Eagles
7:30 watch Eagles
8 they win, kids, read
8:30 H to room, read H
9 read (novel) in room
9:30 read (novel), kids
10 hangout, chat M
10:30 chat M, sleep