Day in the Life: January 30, 2020

One of my goals for the year is getting back to quarterly DiTL posts, so here we go with my first one of the year!

***************Thursday, January 30, 2020**************

Brent is 39 {40 is in a little more than 3 months!}

Allena is 39 {but significantly younger}

Trent is 10 1/2

Drew is 7

Paige is 3

11:30 PM - The night before...Paige is coughing a lot and I can hear her while I watch Cheer and get the gel polish off my nails. I did it for the first time a few weeks ago, and I'll NEVER do it again ha. She gets up because of her cough, so I give her some more cough medicine and put her back in her bed, and I start this post.

11:45 PM - I worked for a little bit cleaning out my Inbox which is a neverending project. I think she's asleep so I sneak out to finish the last 2 minutes of Cheer and get ready for bed!

12:00 AM - I'm still awake! Happy DiTL Day!

12:02 AM - I go into our room to get ready for bed. Hi Brent! He's asleep with the lights and TV on, ha.

12:10 AM - Get into bed to read for a little bit. I have so many good books coming in from the library right now, so I'm stressed to get them all read before they are due.

12:30 AM - Goodnight!

3:30 AM - Our little friend came in, we snuggled for a bit, and I got her on her pallet.

6:30 AM - Alarm goes off! Hello Paige! I'm sorry but seeing her asleep sucking her thumb is just the cutest thing in the world. And I plan to let her suck her thumb as long as she wants to, so don't start getting onto me about it. {grin} I go into our bathroom and get myself ready {wash face, put in contacts, brush teeth, fix hair a little} and head to the kitchen to make breakfast.

6:45 AM - Paige wakes up and comes into the kitchen. Sometimes she follows me into the bathroom or kitchen and sometimes she stays asleep, and I have to wake her up. 

 She didn't want to look at me, but I got a little smile!

Texting with another mom about Drew's dying bamboo. I noticed a few weeks ago that it was turning brown {Drew got it from her kindergarten teacher as a graduation present.}, and I'm trying to resurrect it. Trent put a bunch of dirt in the container last night, but I clean that out and use DISTILLED water instead of tap water, hoping this helps! [4 days later...it looks the same, eek.]

 6:50 AM - Go to wake-up Trent and Drew. Find Drew's bed empty [HUH?] and realize she must have also come into our room last night. She is super quiet and knows to just get on the couch and go back to sleep. I remind myself regularly that she used to be like Paige, so eventually Paige will get sorted out...I hope!

Paige climbed up to give Bubba a hug! #dead

There's Drew!

7:05 AM - Finally have everybody in the kitchen and eating breakfast!

7:10 AM - We check the weather for outfit selection. Going to be chilly today! Give Paige outfit choices {this has really eliminated fights over clothes} and everyone gets dressed.

7:25 AM - Not sure why Paige wanted to climb on Drew's bed, but she got up there and under a blanket and was 'reading'. Trent got up there with her too, and Drew was NOT happy!

7:30 AM - This one is my slow mover in the morning, but luckily he has the least to do. He loves to read while he eats breakfast which makes him take even LLOONNGGEERR.

7:40 AM - And we're off!

Song game ensues - whoever calls 'First song' gets to choose and we do a round-robin. Trent went first today, followed by Drew, and then Paige {who is always last as she gets solo time in the car after the big 2 are dropped off}.

Drew's choice today

7:50 AM - Drop off Trent and Drew.

8:05 AM - Get to Paige's school. The line is short today, and we still need to put on shoes, jacket and gloves.

8:15 AM - Headed home! Listen to Dragonfly in Amber on the way until Susie calls. We talk during our respective drives home after dropping off kids.

8:30 AM - Stop at Starbucks for a Chai.

8:45 AM - I'm home and set-up working. I have a meeting at 9:00 where I'm presenting, so I need to go over my spreadsheet.

My traditional Chai selfie.

Doesn't this look so beautiful?

9:00 AM - Conference call begins. I'm REAL irritated because we have had low participation on this call, and I have been saying for about a month that this format isn't working. I talk to 2 of the leaders for this call, and they agree with me and promise we'll get it revamped before next week.

9:30 AM - 10:30 AM - Continue to work. At 10:30 I put on a little make-up because I have to go to the dentist. One of my crowns came off the day before, and even though I got it put back on, it needs to be re-cemented.

This is about as good as it gets these days!

11:00 AM - Looking so pretty with my dentist bib.

I took a picture of my tooth nubbin, but I figured I wouldn't gross everyone out in my DiTL post, ha. You're welcome.

11:30 AM - I'm done! Bye Roup Dental!

11:45 AM - Stop to get gas as I know I'll be on the road a lot the next couple of days. Find my [expired] passport that I need to renew for our upcoming trip!

12:00 PM - 2:30 PM - More work! Conference calls, spreadsheets, you know, just a normal day.

Had a nice chat with one of my co-workers.

We used to be on the same team, and we miss each other!

2:30 PM - Time to go get the kidlets. My 1:00 PM call needed to be moved to 2:30, so I have to multi-task with getting the kids AND talking to my team and 2 partners.

I didn't eat lunch because the dentist said to let the cement dry.

Now I'm starving but need to leave so a cheesestick, Starcrunch and some tea it is.

Went through a bad spell here of forgetting to take pictures, oops! But here's how our afternoon roughly went down.

2:45 PM - Pick-up Trent and Drew. I've had to switch my order to get the big 2 first {and I now walk into the school} because Trent's teacher noticed he was having a harder time regulating his emotions during dismissal. Shush the kids for this call.

3:05 PM - Get Paige. She is TICKED because I didn't bring any snacks. I told the kids no more snacks in the car because they are destroying it. One of my partners also has a 3-year-old so she's laughing at how familiar she sounds in the car.

3:20 PM - Arrive home! Switch to taking the call on my laptop and let the kids have some screen time.

3:30 PM - Call ends. I continue to work and the kids watch devices.

4:30 PM - Tell everyone to turn off, Trent has a showcase in his classroom tonight - this means we go up to his class and he gets to show us what he's working on. Drew's was Tuesday. The downside is Brent is working late tonight, so he doesn't make it, boo.

5:00 PM - Leave to head back to T and D's school.

5:15 PM - We are in T's classroom. He was SO excited to show me his lessons. He was annoyed on Tuesday having to go for Drew's showcase, but it was so cute seeing how happy he was in his class!

Trent gave me a lesson this map work, and the girls were helping me.

Trent graded my work, and I got it all correct!

Science lesson! 

We created some chemical compounds...or something like that.

Oops, another spell with no picture taking! Trent was excited to show off his work, but once he was done, he wanted to play outside. All 3 kids went outside and ran around for a little bit, and I stayed in the hall and talked to Trent's principal about how good January went for him, yay!

6:00 PM - Head home! I had texted with Brent a little while in the hall, and he was picking up dinner for him and the kids since I hadn't made anything AND was going to be leaving at soon as I got home.

6:15 PM - We get home, and I promptly kiss Brent and tell all the kids goodbye! Head up to our local movie theater to meet Allison for 1917.

6:30 PM - Meet Allison. We get tickets, get food, chat.

6:45 PM - Movie starts.

8:45 PM - Movie ends. I'm a basketcase at this point! BUT I remember as we are walking outside I need a picture for this post.

9:05 PM - I get home and decide I want to finish Cheer - I need something light - and my nails feel so icky after taking the gel off the night before, so I decide to paint them. Paige comes out of her room {this is early for her}, so I walk her back to her room and sit in her room while she falls back asleep.

10:00 PM - 11:00 PM - Finish up Cheer and my nails!

11:00 PM - Get ready for bed.

11:15 PM - Read until my eyes close. I think it was maybe 30 minutes? Good night!

I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I like to in a DiTL post, but I'm glad to have my first one of 2020 under my belt. 

January 2020 Book Review

Before I get into my review, I wanted to share 2 quotes I found - one in a book {of course} and one on Instagram.

The first one is from The Book-ish Life of Nina Hill. Nina works in a bookstore and is talking about the different types of readers they see. 'Romance readers tended to be fun and have strong opinions.' Nailed it in one, right? Ha!

The other was on the IG account @theconsciouskid. I have no idea if this is true, but it makes total sense and makes me feel so HEARD. 'Hey everyone. Don't let people make you feel bad for mourning a fictional character. I studied neuroscience in undergrad and your brain can't tell the difference between feelings for fiction and feelings for reality. All it knows is that you're feeling really strongly.' I need to show this to everyone who laughed when I cried at a book or movie! And it totally describes why I was so moved at the end of 1917!

Now onto my first book review of 2020! I read 6 books this month and, a bit surprisingly, 2 of them were non-fiction {and the book I'm reading right now is too!} and 1 was a POC book. It was a pretty diverse month of reading.

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo - I don't know where I heard about this book, but it sounded fascinating. It is a non-fiction account of 3 women who have something different/wrong happening with their sexuality - one is a girl who was seduced by a teacher, one is having an affair, and one has a husband who likes to watch her with other people. This book was so well-written and was so interesting, but at times hard, to read. It gave me a lot to think about, especially around how our childhood {and what happens to us during it} really shapes a lot of our norms as adults. Not an easy read but very worthwhile - I also think mothers of daughters would really benefit from it as well!

The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay - Well, this book was JUST a delight! Madeline has inherited her aunt's bookshop after her aunt passes away. This story follows Madeline and the 2 employees who work at the shop. I loved how the women were very complex and different, but they were also very good people who I wanted to be friends with. From the very beginning this book just pulled me in, and I wish I was still reading about these ladies! Having read it at the beginning of the month, it was really closely timed to The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, and both of those books made me wish I worked in a bookstore!

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger - I read When Life Gives You Lululemons last year and had no idea it was about one of the characters in this book until Emily let me know. I've seen the movie, but it was years ago, so I decided to check this out. And it was a great read! I think everyone knows the synopsis, so I won't share that, but it was such a sinfully decadent look into the world of high fashion and it was a hilarious and engaging story. I've already reserved the sequel!

The Last Letter From Your Lover by JoJo Moyes - I've read almost everything JoJo Moyes has written, and while she isn't my favorite writer, she's pretty damn awesome. This story jumps timelines starting in the 1960s where Jennifer wakes up after a car accident with amnesia. She's trying to rebuild her life with her husband when she finds a letter from someone she determines to be her lover asking her to run away with him. In present day, journalist Ellie finds this letter in her newspaper archives and sets about finding out who this couple is and what became of them. GAH! The heartache I experienced reading this book was high! It started out a little slow but once it got going I was sucked in. There were so many twists with this plot that I didn't see coming - although I did figure out one major one! It was a great read AND I found out was just finished filming as a movie coming out in 2020!

Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl - After both Emily and Natasha talked about how delightful this book was, I had to give it a try. Ruth was the Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet magazine, which to be honest, I'd never heard of. I'd never heard of Ruth Reichl either, ha! But she tells part of her life story about becoming the Editor-in-Chief and running a magazine. She is a gifted storyteller, and I really enjoyed this one.

A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Mizra - HOLY EMOTIONS PEOPLE. This book chewed me up and spit me out, and almost a week after finishing it, I still have all these emotions. It follows an Indian-American Muslim family through 3 different timelines, but I'm only going to tell you about 2 of them. It starts with older sister Hadia's wedding where Amar, the youngest sibling, returns after running away 3 years earlier. You then go back in time with stories from the 3 siblings POVs - and their mother Layla's - growing up with their extremely religious and somewhat overbearing father, Rafiq. With these siblings we experience what it is like as first generation Americans blending century old traditions of their homeland with living in modern times and how hard it can be, especially if you don't feel like you fit the mold your parents expect, like Amar. I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3 parts of the book, but not in a happy way, if that makes sense. The 4th part ripped me open and left me wounded in a way I haven't recovered from. It was devastatingly raw and powerful. The writing of this story is amazing, the family dynamics are mesmerizing, this is a book that will stay with me for years to come. If you read it, let's have a mini-discussion on the 4th part, ok?!?!

I also thought it could be fun to share the books I'm currently reading with the kids: 

Trent and I are reading a YA-adapted version of Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson - this has been a really good conversation starter with Trent about racism, white privilege, justice, etc. It's still a little mature for him, so I've had to leave out a few sentences here and there, but I'm so glad we're reading this together. I have cried so many times, and he has looked distraught at some of the facts presented in the book. It has been a fabulous experience for us so far!

Drew and I just started The Babysitters Club series - a favorite of mine from childhood {she got the first 6 books for Christmas} and are on the 2nd book, Claudia and the Phantom Phone Call by Ann M. Martin - These books are just as delightful as they were when I was a kid! I am loving joining these girls again and sharing them with Drew, who is also loving the stories. I'm hoping she enjoys them for years to come!

I don't have this on my 2020 goals, but I decided to set a goal of 100 books for the year, and I'm trying to do a much better job of using Goodreads - I'm not sure this is right, but I think you can find me here, I'd love to be friends! I finished a book on February 1, so I'm currently at 7 books read for the goal, yippee!