Welcome to a week in my life! This is a yearly project that I haven’t done in two years (oops) and I’m excited to bring back. This is a fairly normal week for our family with a good mix of things going on. I am personally fascinated by other people’s day-to-day lives, so I hope you enjoy this peek into mine!
5:10 AM // I wanted to get up by myself, but Liam is awake too. We went to bed early last night because we had an exhausting weekend and the time just changed, so I’m not surprised that he’s up. We go sit in my chair and I begin my Bible reading. Since June I have been following a plan where I will read the Bible and the Catechism in a year, and I haven’t missed a day yet. Meanwhile Liam is cuddling with me and twisting my hair.
5:35 AM // Liam is starting to annoy me so I set him up in his high chair (we call it his “baby seat” which he still likes even though he is pretty much too big for it) with some cereal and I turn on Lego Spider-Man for him to watch. I finish my Bible reading.
5:50 AM // I make my breakfast, scrambled eggs with cheese, and coffee.
6:00 AM // Liam wants to color so I set him up at the table. I sit down with him and eat, while I read my daily recovery literature (from Courage to Change and The Language of Letting Go.)
6:10 AM // I leave Liam coloring and go back to my chair where I drink my coffee and start reading a canto from Dante’s Inferno which I am slowly working through.
6:25 AM // Meredith wakes up and both kids come climb on me. I can’t handle that for long so I set them up on the couch and get Meredith some cereal. She wants to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I finish reading.
6:35 AM // I get Meredith’s papers signed for school and then get myself ready for the day. I listen to the pray-as-you-go podcast.
6:50 AM // I get the kids dressed. Liam has begun to cry because they have swim lessons later and he is scared. He gets so mad at me about this that he hits me pretty hard on the back, and I have to put him in time out for awhile. While he is out of the way I pack Meredith’s and my lunches and load the car.
7:10 AM // We say goodbye to David, who is still sleeping, and the kids and I leave. On the way to school we talk about our plans for the afternoon and evening, and I try to convince Liam that he always has fun at swim lessons and he shouldn’t be scared.
7:20 AM // Despite being sad, Liam is calm at daycare dropoff. Meredith is happy. I brush her hair and she sits down to second breakfast. She takes a bus from daycare to school each morning. On my drive to work, I chat on Voxer. Today I talk to a group of Catholic friends, and my best friend Maggie who I usually check in with daily.
7:35 AM // I pull up at the hospital for work and head in. Today I’m working with Susan, and we don’t have a very busy day – only four patients planned. Since the clinic opens at 8, we chat and check email and set up.
8:00 AM // Our first two patients are here, so we bring them back and each take one. Mine is an easy maintenance chemo, so I spend about ten minutes checking vitals, getting the patient settled, accessing a port, and drawing blood. Then I go to the computer and document what I did, as well as check lab results and answer phone calls and handle some other admin tasks.
9:10 AM // Another patient arrives, so I get him settled as I did with the first. Finally my chemo is ready to be hung on my first patient, so I do that. Then I go back to document on my second patient and check for lab results. I also take a phone call and work on adding another patient to our schedule for today.
9:50 AM // My first patient is finished, so I discharge her. Then I go and administer premedications to my second patient.
10:10 AM // I have a small headache so I make coffee and have a snack.
10:35 AM // I hang chemo on my second patient. I take the rest of my break and drink coffee and read blogs.
12:10 PM // Quite a bit of time passes with not much to do. We are having a lot of slow days lately because of a change in doctors, and we are hoping that we will get busier again in January when our new doctor starts. Anyway, I pace around the unit some. Chat with Susan and an old coworker who stops by. A high school student comes to observe for an hour and I just give her materials to read over. Finally another patient arrives, who Susan takes care of. But I go to the blood bank to pick up a bag of platelets for her.
12:25 PM // Another patient is here, so I bring him back. We are prepping him for a blood transfusion for tomorrow, so I just draw a lab, go over instructions, and have him sign a consent form.
12:40 PM // My second patient’s first chemo is finished, so I switch him to his second bag. Then I clean rooms and document.
12:55 PM // Eat lunch. Today I just brought a Lean Cuisine and had a banana with it. I have a rule for myself that while I eat I only read, no checking my phone, so I read my book.
1:15 PM // Done eating, and I do a few tasks around the clinic like filling the coffee pot with water, returning some food trays to the cafeteria, and adding a patient to the schedule for tomorrow. Susan has finished up with her patients and now I’m just waiting for my chemo patient to finish. I take the opportunity to buy tickets to a holiday event I want to go to.
2:25 PM // My last remaining patient finishes, so I discharge him and wrap up my documentation.
2:40 PM // We are finished in clinic for the day, so I clock out. It’s nice to be able to leave early, but on the flip side I don’t get paid for the hours I don’t work. I leave and listen to the Sorta Awesome podcast while I drive. I try to get cash at the bank but the ATM is being serviced.
2:55 PM // I’m home. I change clothes and do the 7-minute workout. I still have a headache so I take Excedrin. I listen to my Voxes and send emails for Meredith’s school fundraiser. I also check out the parent checklist for the GT program at her school, but I decide it probably doesn’t apply to her.
3:45 PM // I pick up Meredith from school, which is only down the street. I can immediately tell she is in a bad mood. She is complaining that her lip hurts, so we stop by the house to get her an ice pack.
4:00 PM // We pick up Liam from daycare. He is grumpy because he doesn’t want to go to swim lessons. Our plans were to go to the library, but they are being so whiny that we almost don’t. But they pull it together.
4:15 PM // At the library the kids are pretty good. I read to Liam, and they pick out books. They get to pick out the same number as their age.
5:00 PM // We head home; it takes about twenty minutes because of school traffic. Meredith fell asleep in the car, and although I really wish we could get started on her homework I don’t feel like fighting that battle today when she is obviously so tired. I move her to the couch and let her nap. Liam and I eat leftovers for dinner. I spend some more time on Voxer while Liam plays around the house.
6:00 PM // I take a quick shower, then put on Liam’s swimsuit. But he is crying so much (and does every week) that I decide it isn’t worth it. I tell him that he doesn’t have to swim and he immediately calms down and happily cuddles with me.
6:30 PM // I wake up Meredith, make her a sandwich, and help her put on her swimsuit. We go to swim lessons and get there a little early. Meredith does great in her lesson and her coach tells me he will evaluate her next week to move her to the next level. While she is swimming I read and Liam plays in the kids’ area. Meredith changes into her PJ’s and gets a lollipop.
7:45 PM // We are back home and David is here. He stayed late after work to go to an AA meeting. The kids cuddle on the couch with him and keep watching Star Wars. I go in my room by myself, do my Write the Word journal and make my to-do list for the next day.
8:15 PM // I round up the kids. Meredith is transitioning to sleeping in her own bed, so I take her to her bunk and sing her songs and rub her back. But then she decides she wants to sleep with me after all.
8:30 PM // We are all in bed and lights out.
P.S. – Monday two years ago and three years ago.