A Morning in the Life
It’s 8:30am. I’ve been up since 5am and I’m two cups of coffee in.
Please note the majorly overflowing container of scraps. They are now in the compost bin, thankfully!
I was supposed to go into the office today, but Jack is fighting a nasty cold, and knowing I wouldn’t want another kid coughing and snotting all over him, I’ve decided to do the right thing - keep him home & work remotely. Of course, as I do my screening for work this morning, I identified a patient in the hospital that meets the requirements for one of my clinical trials. I sent a text to the PI, or principal investigator, around 6am to let him know that there is someone we may be able to enroll in the trial, and at 6:30am I’m on the phone with one of my coworkers letting them know I may need help today since I’m working remote. I’ve already fed Jack breakfast, and we’ve already switched from Mickey’s Roadster Racers to Paw Patrol and pulled out play doh. It’s only 8:30am.
Of course, since I am home, I also want to get things done around the house. I’ve already put our sheets in the washer, and there are blueberries about to go bad, so between answering emails and texts and prepping for meetings and catching up on data entry, I’m mixing up a batch of mini blueberry muffins. I’ve also made a mental note that I’ve got to dump all the scraps in the overflowing container in the kitchen into the compost bin. While making muffins, I remembered that I want to bake cookies for the neighbor who shoveled our driveway when it snowed the other week, but I need more flour and sugar, so I’ve placed a drive up Target order and have to figure out when I can get out of the house for 30 minutes to pick up the order. Don’t forget, it’s only 8:30am.
I have a meeting at 9am, and I’m waiting for a coworker to get into the office to scan & send me some documents I need for data entry that is due. Between coffee, (caffeine-free) tea, and my water bottle, I’m already halfway to my goal of a gallon of water for the day. I’m contemplating when I’ll be able to fit my workout in; I would have done it when I woke up at 5, but knowing Jack was staying home, I got work done instead. I run upstairs to put my contacts in, and I open the blinds on my plant window to give the plants some light - I just re-potted and gave new soil to all my house plants, so I want to make sure they’re getting what they need. While upstairs I grab some boxes that need to go in the recycling and bring them down, noticing the bin I just bought for clothes Jack has outgrown and making a mental note to throw the piles of clothes scattered throughout the house in at some point.
It’s now 9am and I hopped on the meeting, and I remembered that this is the “optional” meeting for the week. I’m glad I hopped on, though, because I remind my coworker I need those documents scanned. The muffins are in the oven, and I’m waiting for the washer to finish so I can switch the sheets over. There’s still more muffin batter, so I’ll have to put another tray in later, and there’s still a TON of blueberries left, so I make a mental note to make another batch when I have a chance. Now I have to screen for another one of my studies, and I’ll have to do my data entry once I get my documents.
I finish my cup of tea. In three and a half hours I have accomplished more than many people accomplish in an entire day. It’s only 9am, and I still have the entire day ahead of me. I walk into the kitchen to throw away a tissue and see that the litter box needs to be emptied. I take a deep breath, I remind myself I have a massage on Saturday, and I’m taking a whole week off in 3 weeks.
The grill pan and air fryer basket are still sitting in the sink from dinner last night. I inwardly groan every time I walk past my chalk wall calendar because it’s still set to December. I wanted to steam clean the living room floor this weekend because regular mopping doesn’t seem to get up the milk stains, but I never got around to it. I remember I want to make roasted pepper sauce because I’ve been using that as a veggie dip. Yet another task added to my mental list.
I take another deep breath. There truly are not enough hours in a day. But I do what I can, and I just keep moving forward. Jack comes over - he wants a cookie but we don’t have any (yet), so I give him a graham cracker. He wants to snuggle, so I take a little break from work and cherish the moment. I’m starting to get hungry. I’ll have to figure out when I can squeeze in a meal.
