A Day in the Life project

I am alive, kids. Sorry for the absence.



An Update:

-Work is crazy right now. With New York looking like it might turn into rubble any day now, the stock market dropping rapidly on an hourly basis, banks folding and small businesses getting crushed, I have been on office lock-down. Someone's got to make sure we stay up and running! We're losing clients and aren't getting paid by others. We had a few clients high up on the food chain over at Lehman Brothers (and the like). Needless to say, they're holding onto every penny they've got right now. I can't say I blame them.

-Family is good and bad all at once. Dad was doing great, then doing horrible, then making progress, then at a standstill. I'm constantly on the phone with a few doctors, exchanging e-mails with others, and meeting in person with a select few. Yikes.

-Job #2 is getting "scared" of the financial situation right and is cutting hours left and right due to high payroll demands and such. So I am getting less and less hours there. (Which I'm alright with. I only work there to keep my insomniac mind busy and to keep from going crazy in the long, lonely, late night hours in which I should be sleeping if I could.)

-Side work is piling up. While no one is running to sign up for a custom mural (which I charge a pretty penny for) I have been committed to a few already (that have already paid me or partially paid me) and are looking to get the work completed. But with family life taking up most of my free time and attempting to keep a small social life alive, I'm finding it difficult to set aside the time to complete such tasks.

-The book. For those that are unaware, I am leaving for Atlanta in 8 days to meet with a publishing company about a novel I (nearly) completed a few months back. They've already read 98% percent of the book, are awaiting my arrival to discuss it in person, and anxiously looking to receive the final two chapters (which I have NOT yet finished, not to MY satisfaction anyway).

-To sign or not to sign? The lease is up on my apartment in less than two months. It's a very nice place (some pictures have been posted here in the past) and it's huge. Which is nice. But I intend to travel more in the near future, and make some rather large purchases (keeping the details of those a secret for now) and am looking to save money when and where I can. Thinking about not resigning the lease and getting a newer, smaller place more fit for Doc and I. Someplace about half the size (thus half the price) to put some money away for future endeavors. Apartment hunting? Yea... I got time for that.

Taking deep breaths.
One at a time.
And trying not to drown in the greatest city in the world... New York.

Cloning is not on the market for everyday people, is it?
(Though, I don't think the world is ready for TWO Deans.)

As I wake up, I don't remember thinking anything in particular, but feeling (warm inside, cold outside). It's difficult to take the decision to get up: through years I've learned you don't have to pause to think, but just do it. Which I do after like ten minutes of pre-suffering. I've put my clothes nearby, so that I can start dressing from the bed.
The first deviation from routine comes in the form of my brother in law taking a shower when I need to use the toilet before going out. I turn on the pc and work on something for some minutes (well, that was specific!), so I get out later than usual. In my office my boss reminds me of a task I had completely forgotten. Which is rare, as I don't have much to do lately. I'm kept busy for the whole four hours, stopping to read mails (did I have any?) and my feeds. In the end I read Avanoo comments and reply them, but I still don't read the new posts.
It's a nice day outside, not so cold as these past days. I miss the bus and I'm really hungry.
As soon as I reach home, Berni phones asking me to pick up his father (on foot!) to the bus station near by. He is coming from Valdense because he has an appointment with a doctor. I wonder what we are going to talk about, me and my father in law. I've never spent much time with him. After a while Berni arrives and they leave. I try to finish what I'm doing at the pc, every now and then looking at avanoo, commenting on rob and cygnet's posts. I don't get so distracted as yesterday, when I read the whole sexually explicit comic "Anders loves Maria" =P
I do my Italian homework five minutes before leaving. When I enter my dungeon-classroom Victoria tells me she is about to change her marital status for worse. Her boyfriend, with whom she's been living for years, has told her he wants to end their relationship. On the other hand, Rosmary says she's pregnant. She's not wearing her glasses, but her contact lenses. Victoria is wearing her glasses because she didn't feel like putting her lenses on. I don't know what to say.
Ernesto takes me home. He tells me about his siblings, nephews and mother. Entering my building are my brother in law and his father. They mention something about having made a copy of the keys. The treatment he'll undergo lasts 5 weeks. He'll be living with us during that time. I don't get it at first. There's amazement all inside me. I hadn't expected this. I don't think I'm prepared.
Television is loud with war, and my feet are cold. I'm still working on the pc, but would rather go to sleep. With my socks on.

I took a good look at my teeth yesterday and decided I had to start flossing. Good thing I still had this baby sitting in the toothbrush cup from the last time I tried to start flossing. All I had to do was snap on a new head and I was bleeding my way to better dental health!

:D

I really am happy. I only had one or two places where I bled and I'd be surprised if I didn't bleed at all. And my teeth really do look cleaner. :D See? :P

So, last night, I brushed, flossed and swished, and this afternoon I slapped on some Crest Whitestrips. Hello, pearly whites.

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My legs are sore and again, I am happy. I was on the treadmill for just over half an hour yesterday and another good part of an hour today. After which I did a few (albeit girly) pushups, crunches and squats. There was sweat and it was good.

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I looked through the flyers for the various ranch markets and made a list of fruits that I considered within my tastes. My mom has it now and will be using it to plan her fruit-buying escapades. I am excited by the prospect of fresh papaya.

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I was planning to start drinking sixteen glasses of water a day. I'm at about ten right now and my bladder has not been very happy. I think I'll move up in smaller increments. I'll do nine a day for a week then ten for a week until I get to sixteen.

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Do I sound crazy?

- what happened with the alarm? (no breakfast or toilet before going out)

- How come it's so cold? (I wish I was not using sandals. Let me find a single woman wearing some, so I won´t feel alone in this. Done!)

- I finally have my identity back (lost my identity card like 2 months ago! And the photo didn´t come out as awful as it could have been)

- As I reached my desk I noticed my trousers were unzipped. (Really?)

This pretty much describes my average day...substitute piano for cello, cat for guinea pig, and wash behind ears for change underwear, and add the odd cuss word for dramatic measure ~ otherwise, it could be me.

6:00am Monday is not my favorite time. but I got up and went through my normal routine of all the normal stuff and i head up for breakfast of peach crisp from last night. I finish and pack a lunch. I have lots of time so I go downstairs and solder a broken pair of ear buds to an external speaker. it is an extra portable docking station for my Sham-pod (i-pod knock off) I wait 10 minutes longer than usual for my bus. it was a 'sub' I get on rather crankily cause it is only 2 degrees F out.

at school I am a god with my new invention until my Sham-pod runs out of juice and the first bell rings. I have math over at the other middle school maybe an eight of a mile away. I failed my assignment as usual, I'm sort of a paradox I'm bad at the Highest math that I'm in cause I'm good at math. on the way back another one of the kids, peter proves that time warps outside their door, another random discovery. I that We make nearly daily. the last period we are swimming and I forgot my suit so I skipped it to go to future cities, which is an after school thing in which you create a city and do tons of stuff with it. today we spray painted it and it was addictive. in more ways than one. after that I went home with a silver ear. (Don't ask) and equally silver hands. then there was home work. I had to read an entire book and do a project on it for tomorrow. whoops I'm the king of procrastinators. the book took my from 2:30 to 8 after which I spent the better part of the hour doing math X P yuck. any way by the time I got on avanoo the stupid filter on the computer said that I couldn't be online any more, so I finished this and I'm thankful Firefox lets me save drafts of stuff on avanoo. I think I'll go and try to make a housing for my external sham-pod speaker

I set my alarm for 6:30... i can't wake up to a normal alarm clock or my nerves are shot for the whole day and i am C-R-A-N-K-Y, so I have a Zen Alarm clock. It has a chime that rings softly, and then again a little louder, and louder until it finally is one right after another. There's no snooze button so I have to get up when I turn it off. As soon as I begin to stir, open my eyes and search for my glasses, the dog is standing above me giving me kisses and the whole bed shakes with her wagging behind. These days it seems to be closer to 7 before I can actually get out of bed.

I get up, find something warm to put on, go immediately to the bathroom cuz I always have to go, trudge out to the kitchen and put on a pot of water. I have to have tea immediately or there is no hope. I drink Tazo Awake with a little half and half and honey. I usually take my tea and computer, and find my way outside to watch the sunrise, accompanied by Satya, my dog. sometimes i smoke a cigarette. this lasts about 10 minutes. As soon as I walk inside, Satya starts "talking" to me about breakfast so I cannot waste time! I feed her and the go plug my laptop into the stereo for morning music - I have certain morning mixes that I play to help me move a little faster. I'm starting to wake up by this time - it's about 7:15

As I head toward the bathroom, I stop in Mina's room to sing her good morning, encouraging her to get out of bed, squeeze her toes slightly. I find my way to the bathroom, turn on the shower, put in my contacts, shower, brush my teeth, moisturize, find something appropriate to wear, dry & straighten my hair and head to the kitchen by no later than 7:45.

Make Mina's lunch, find something to call mine, make some sort of breakfast for the two of us, find my shoes that the dog has strewn through separate areas of the house, grab my puter and we head out the door. it's 8:05.

We get to school at 8:15, just as the bell rings. I head to my office, checking my mailbox as I go, put my junk down, and get settled in. I spend a few minutes getting settled in before I figure out what I have to do for the day. At 8:45, I get my first child. We go on our morning walk and do some type of remedial work. He's back in the classroom at 9:10. I run back to my office, grab my tea and pencil box and head upstairs to either 3rd or 4th grade, depending on the day, to work with my kids in those classes. I'm done at 10:15. Again, depending on the day, between 10:15 and 10:45, I will either take a short break, go to recess duty, or go grab a bite, or a combination of them all. sometimes i will see if the boy is online to have a little chat with. at 10:50, the revolving door of children starts until 12:15, when they and I go to lunch.

I walk out the door at 12:15, run home, let out the dog, make more tea, put something either in the oven or the stove, sit on the deck and have a smoke while my food cooks, come back in and put my food in a container and go back to school by about 1:05.

At 1:15 the revolving door starts again, except on wednesdays when I only work until 1. Sometimes I have paperwork time or meetings so the children stay in class. This lasts till 2:35 when they get ready to go home for the day. If it's M,Tu, or Thursday, I tutor until 3:15 and then am usually out the door between 3:30 and 4. If it's Friday, I am done around 3. And if it's Tuesday, I have a guitar lesson in my office until 4.

Mina and load up all our crap and head home, where I collapse. I usually go out the the "lounge" and sit in the sun, read emails, posts, have a smoke, answer phone calls. Often, after I sit for about a half hour, I come back inside and have a nap on the couch for a half hour. I'm whooped. I get up in time to watch the sunset and then start thinking about dinner around 6. the dog is talking again so she gets fed as I start to make dinner.

Mina and I almost always have dinner together. Inevitably there is one day, often Thursdays, where I will go get some kind of take-out or we'll go out. During dinner we will play a game or catch up on the latest 5th grade gossip. Clean up dinner, settle down to catch up on any other work that needs to be done, Mina does her homework, I might have a phone call or two, work on whatever I might be knitting, etc. Every once in a while if we are all caught up, we might watch a movie, but that's a rarity.

By 9, I'm encouraging her toward the bed. I start winding down too and get in bed to read or write. The goal is to have the lights off my 10:30 but lately that has been more like 12:30 or later, which has made it hard for that 6 am wake-up.

This week I am starting to shake it up a little and go back to yoga on Mondays and Thursdays, with the hope it will settle me out a little and help my body feel a little better.

That's about the size of it all... The weekends are very different and the only thing that is a definite on Saturday and Sunday is that I sleep in!

The alarm clock goes off at 6:15am. Usually blarring some tunes or the local morning show trying to be funny. Has to be loud otherwise I will sleep thru it. I have done that on many occasions. There is no snooze button for that very reason. I will lounge in bed, fight the urge to fall back asleep... and make a few attempts to get out of bed by 6:30am.

I will fight the dead weights on my legs and feet called CATS... untangle myself from the heap of blankets... and drag my ass to the washroom. When my warm body hits the cold hardwood floor - my bladder gets really angry with me. She MUST to be appeased. And pronto.

Turn on the shower. I have very little hot water in the upstairs shower. So I have to let it run for a while in order to get any semblance of warm water. At best - I get luke warm water... at best. (That is about to change soon though... not really working for me!)

Once done ... I drag my half asleep butt to the office and check overnight emails and say my good mornings to those online that I want to talk with. Still really not awake - not quick on my feet but the conversations are short and sweet or semi sweet depending on which side of the bed I woke up on. Quickly read emails... quickie chats... and by then its about 6:45am.. if not later.

Quick. Jump in the shower. It's still rather cold so I don't waste time. My hair takes the longest to wash & get untangled so I get right to it. By then - I'm almost awake from the cool water. Still slightly grumpy... but my mind is ALMOST functioning.

Between 6:45am - 7:30am I am getting ready... putting on what I call 'a face' nowadays, find something decent to wear... make a lunch of sorts, feed the cats, argue with Chandler (my feline oh so loveable but pain in the ass cat) and get to my car to hit the road.

7:30-8:00 am I argue with drivers, pedal to metal on the highway to make it to work. OK - usually its a pretty good drive... but with terrible drivers, transport trucks and elderly drivers - it can make for a pain in the ass drive to work. So I listen to tunes. That is most important while I'm driving. MUST HAVE THE TUNES ON. Forget the talk shows or new or anything. GIVE ME MUSIC!!!

Swip in at work... tell myself I LOVE MY JOB and settle in for a days pay. Usually it entails meetings, endless phone calls, scheduling, emails, headaches and a few moments of laughter.

Now this is the part that confuses my coworkers. I am not a coffee drinker - I know - blasphemy!!! I have my morning breakfast bagel sandwich & chocolate milk or green tea. The green tea will last me all morning - I like it cold as well as hot. I drink lotsa water throughout the day. So... since I don't get the typical caffeine boost others get - I am not really fully awake and functioning till about 10:00-1030am. I am not the best morning person on the block. My coworkers understand that ... and it has become somewhat of a joke.

Lunch is 12:00-12:30pm. Only a half hour. So I eat and read the news/post on Avanoo. Only if I don't have a quick errand to run.

13:00-16:30 - more meetings, phone calls, emails, schedules, putting out fires and another Advil where necessary. Unless I have an important proposal that MUST go out... I'm out of there by 16:30. I've had enough. I wanna go home. Usually mentally exhausted, emotionally unfullfilled... wanting more and simply bidding my time for that day to come. It's coming.

Lately - I go to the Tan Factory right after work. For no more than 15 mins at a time. I burn easily so I want to establish a base for Cancun so I don't spend my holidays in pain from the first day sun burn. I am now up to 10 mins at a time. It is also something I only do in the winter time to help ease the Seasonal Depression that creeps in this time of year.

If I have to stop & pick something up for diner - this is where I do it. But lately - my dad has that under control. So.. 20-30 min ride home ... getting me in anywhere between 17:30-18:00.

Say my hellos, how was your day... a few laughs and back upstairs to read emails. That is my unwind time. I have about 20 mins to unwind before my dad is yelling - Diner's ready and its getting cold.

Sometimes we eat at the dining room table and others while watching Holmes on Homes. My father's favorite show. We exchange ideas about the house... give our commentary about the designs and what not. We watch a few of his shows... and then switch it over to mine - the mindless ones that doesn't require too much thinking.

My head still hurts from work. I want something mindless. Entertainment tonight or some trashy entertainment TV show will appease the monster within. For only a half hour. After that... I need to get the creative juices flowing to make my day worth while. So I come upstairs and do a series of different activities... whatever I feel like doing:

Working on a baby blanket (cross stitching), cuddling with the kitties or reading but mostly writting. Something. Anything that involves making my heart happy. I have great ideas during those times. So I capitalize on then. Sometimes they are seen on Avanoo. But mostly ... remain unpublished - at often times, unsaved.

I get a few phone calls. Answer text messages. Put diner away and if I feel like it - do the dishes and maybe a load of laundry.

I make time for my nightly bedtime routine. Wash my face, brush my teeth, tweeze the brows... and new to the routine is White Strips and neti pot - nasal irrigation. Both aren't the most entertaining things in the world but the White Strips are temporary... while the nasal irrigation - is definately needed but not the most comfortable thing in the world. But so far - making the world of difference.

By then the night has flown by and it is now 21:00 - 21:30 - and the dream gods are beckoning me. Off to la la land I go... with dead weights on my legs and feet, purring to their hearts content that momma is somewhat still... not so restless... and home.

REPEAT Mon-Fri.
Sat-Sun - a whole different ball game... and an even longer post!!!

With more and more daylight coming our way I'm hoping for an earlier wake-up time. Yawn..!

I usually set the alarm for 6.30, but depending on when I go to bed I sometimes push it forward. You see, I know that I can stay in bed until 7.30 and still make it, kinda..., hrmmm...for 8.30. I'm hopeless :)

The official office hours are 8.30 to 5. But as I'm 1 hour behind my colleagues in Sweden (and most of our customers), me and my boss have kinda agreed that I should be at work for 8... But it is safe to say that I hardly ever make it in time. More often than not I shoot around the corner about 25 past 8. If I'm lucky, and the traffic hasn't been too mad, I might make it until 8.15.

I have tried to train myself to have breakfast at home. But I prefer to stay in bed as long as I can, hence I'm always late and end up having breakfast in the office most days. If breakfast at home -- fruit smoothie. If in the office -- a nice cup of tea and Ryvita.

Checking my private mails and Avanoo while I wait for the VPN connection and my work mail to open (..slow laptop. Don't ever get a IBM T42!!). Replying to messages, or just reading what has been going on while I've been sleeping.

Working away until 11 when I go for a walk and grab something to eat on the way. This country love their sandwiches which means most days I get a sandwich for lunch and of course a coffee. During my stay in India I have been toying with the idea of giving up coffee but I don't know... Hmmm... The jury is still out on this one.

Depending on my schedule and workload I post stuff on Avanoo during my sometimes 2 hour lunch break. I try to leave the office around 5 as I have paid my dues working overtime in previous jobs. It is not worth it.

More often than not I do the shopping on my way home. I get home around 6-ish.

A couple of nights a week I go to my Pilates class and a few times a month I meet up with my healing buddies for spiritual development or healing sessions.

Doing housework and cleaning is extremely boring. Something my mother cannot understand as she enjoys cleaning. Something I have never been able to understand on the other hand. I have hired a lady who comes in to do it. For me, that frees up time I can spend on other things.

When I have an evening free I write a lot and work on my spiritual development. Might sound boring, but that's an illusion :) It is loads of fun! I used to watch quite a lot of telly to "wind down" after work but then I just got stuck there all evening and whole evenings would be lost and wasted as a result of that. These days I hardly ever watch telly. I read a lot. I prefer to write. Sometimes my blog, often on Avanoo and in my private journal.

I seldom go to bed before 11.30. And more often than not I end up going to bed way after midnight. That is not practical as I need my beauty sleep. At least 7 hours for my mind and body to work properly the next day.

Weekends look slightly different. I usually set the alarm for 8, just so that I can stay in bed for an hour or so. A walk in the park with a coffee is almost always on the agenda. Meeting up with friends for a chat. Some of my friends live about an hours drive away and we all lead busy lives so when we get a chance to meet it will be a whole weekend thing. I don't go out drinking much these days so not many late night in bars, and not many hangovers thankfully. I feel really old saying this but I prefer not to wake up with a massive hangover as it ruins the day.

AM:
7.15/7.30
I wake up usually at that time, then brush my teeth, decide what to wear and depending on the weather, I use my motorbike or the tube to get to work

8.00/09.00
It’s when my office day starts, I am a system administrator and work for the national broadcasting company as a consultant... I usually have a quick breakfast here, just a "pan au chocolat" and an espresso (because if I say "coffe" you understand something else...)


PM:
13.00
Lunch break. I usually have 1 hour to do what I want (not that I work in a cage anyway) and so since my office is in the centre of Turin it’s nice to take a walk and have something to eat with some colleague or on my own. Sometimes, when the weather is fine, I take a quick tour on my motorbike, just to relax and take a look around while the city is living during daytime.

14.00
Back in office, a place where I spend most of my time for obvious reasons. I can use MSN, private email, have private phone calls... I mean I am quite free... it’s a job, not a prison.
I write most of my things on the Avanoo or on my blog in the afternoon.

17.00/18.00
If the sun shines and smiles (that is what I mean by "having a good day") between 5 or 6 PM I can take my bike or tube and get back home. This is the time when all the things I "have to do" are done, buy food, clean the apartment and so on...

20.00 circa
Dinner with Vale, my partner. It’s now almost 5 years together and 4,5 years of living together. Then there could be whatever... something not suitable to write here (ha!) or maybe rehearsal with my band... a movie on the sofa with her, out with friends for a couple of beers somewhere or things like that...

AM:
1.30/2.00
Time to get to bed... the wheel makes a whole turn and the alarm clock is set to 7.15/7.30 again.

On weekends things are different... I sleep some more and maybe spend the afternoon (on Saturdays) doing something with my partner.

Pretty boring uh?
I get often fed up with this...

R