Hit the snooze button twice, then drag out of bed and walk to the bathroom with eyes closed to pee. Return to bedroom and dig blindly in bureau for underwear, bra, socks. Detour into closet to choose pants (black again? so boring) and a long-sleeved top. During shower, kiss husband goodbye by sticking wet head out between the curtains. Wake up marginally more while toweling off and dressing. Exchange long-sleeved top which was TOO BIG for something else. Brush wet hair while walking to kitchen where kids are eating breakfast and brush daughter’s hair as well. Admonish children to speed it up a little.
Return to bathroom to put on make-up, brush teeth and dry hair. Chivvy children to brush teeth and put pajamas away. Ask daughter to feed the fish, and make sure that gym clothes or piano book or homework are collected and placed in backpacks. Fill tupperware with fruit and ricecakes and add to backbpacks. Kiss the kids and shoo them out the door to walk to school. Drive to work up the long hill through Ödarslöv, getting stuck behind a tractor. Arrive at work just after 8 a.m. and walk in, greeting the pregnant receptionist on way through door and up the stairs.
Hang up purse and jacket and turn on computer. Check to-do list, work emails, home emails, more emails, do a quick read-through of news and daily websites. Run downstairs (not literally) with co-workers to eat breakfast. Begin working: revise 2 schematic illustrations, package and zip files for upload, update a product cheat sheet and generate PDFs, work on e-newsletter layout, create web banners, delegate jobs to agencies, have phone conversations with a colleague in France, create layouts for 4 advertisements, create 2-page flyer/advertisement layout for an after-show mailing.
Eat lunch.
Back to work: jazz up a couple of presentations, work on the HTML interface of an event CD, generate 2 event lead forms, chase down some missing information, make requested corrections to a white paper, put together a collage image for a campaign, quick phone call with a fellow AWC board member about some membership issues, fetch a delivery of brochures from the post room and cart them down to storage. Leave early to make it on time to join husband for meeting with son’s teacher, get good report, address concerns about english lessons, leave feeling good about the teacher and her methods.
Drive around the corner to home, where kids have already arrived, having been given the key upon our arrival at school. Sit down and catch up with emails and a quick read-through of blogs. Make dinner for the kids (disney noodles and pork chop leftovers, cucumber sticks, milk) but wait to eat until a bit later. Call a friend for some info and a favor and a quick chat. Send emails, transfer funds, make revisions to directory-in-progress. Say goodbye to husband who is taking daughter to karate lesson. Sing Abba songs at the top of lungs while making dinner. Eat while son does homework in the next seat at the table. Go for a power walk with son where he points out all the wildflowers he picked today (his class is studying Linneaus – 300 years). Point out and name garden flowers for him, wishing you knew them all. Read 3 chapters in good book, help son upload photos so he can post on his livejournal.
Start the bedtime routine by bathing the children in turn, wrapping them like cocooned mummies in the giant soft sage-green towels afterwards and then pushing them toward the door to fetch their pajamas. Read a long chapter of The Long Winter and send the kids to bed with goodnight kisses only to discover that wristwatch was put on upside down when daughter fetched it from the bathroom and it’s only a quarter TO 9 where it had been mistakenly seen as a quarter AFTER. Get the kids back out of bed and read 2 more chapters to them, rejoicing that Almanzo, along with Cap Garland, brought back the wheat for the starving townspeople, thereby saving his future wife and her family.
Read blogs for a while, try to suppress cravings for something unsuitable to eat, listen to some good music and some bad music on musicovery.com, write a blog post…of sorts.
Wish e11en a Fabulously Flower-Filled and Fun Birthday!
Think about going to bed, but look at the clock and decide there’s still time to fit in a few things.
And how was YOUR day?