Day in the Life Fall 2015

To set the scene for this oh-so-thrilling (pause, NOT, thank you Borat) day-in-the-life, I should explain that this semester has been completely insane.  I believe it's the busiest semester I've had since before Jonathan was born.  It's been a mix of extra work responsibilities and crises, and we've  had tons of fun things on the calendar this Fall as well.  Next Saturday, I'm sitting for a specialization exam (just one of the many extra work responsibilities), and I've been trying to study in bits and pieces.  With less than one week until doom's day now, this exam is weighing heavy on my mind.  But in the midst of this craziness, I still wanted to document a day-in-the-life.  Although it's a Saturday, we didn't get to do tons of relaxing family stuff.  But that's life sometimes.

Date:            October 10, 2015

Peeps:          Brian (35)
                     Laura (36)
                     Jonathan (3)
                     Teddy (8)
                     Honey (8)

6:23  Shrieks echo down the hall of "Mama, Mama!  My clock turned green!"  I am startled but see that Brian has already been out of bed for who knows how long.  I slowly start entering consciousness while Brian retrieves the mini-human.

6:30  I head downstairs for our morning rituals -- coffees, babas, and screen time.  As soon as I get down there, I'm greeted by the sweetest offer ... "Mama, you can sit right here by me, ok?"  Heart melt.  Pause to give kisses and hugs before my coffee.  We're out of 1/2 and 1/2, so darn.  I have no choice but to use heavy cream.  I also snap a picture of our fridge, just because I think people's refrigerators are interesting.  So weird, but I do.  I'm intrigued by the organization, cleanliness, types of food, etc.  So fascinating.  Anyway, I get back to the living room with coffee, and I am beyond delighted that my Ina is now on Netflix.  The second I hear her jingle, I immediately feel relaxed -- like some weird Pavlovian creature.  The guys also actually pay attention to her 7-hour lamb recipe, and Brian starts making his food requests for the week.  We discuss Brian's potential new employee.  Something reminds me about the upcoming birthday party we have this morning.  I say something like "oh that reminds me ... we have the birthday party today."  J quickly responds with "oh that reminds me ... I don't want to."  <Foreshadowing>

7:15  We will be giving JW's old lawn mower to this 1 year-old birthday boy today, and I have mixed feelings about it.  I'm so happy to give toys to friends' kids, and I take comfort in knowing the toys will be well loved.  But my heart hurts a little in knowing that J has outgrown yet another stage.  No more "mowing" the lawn.  No more chubby baby legs waddling around with a mower and stumbling about like a drunk person.  But anyway, I start heading outside to find the mower.  On my way through the living room, Teddy lets out one of those horrifying dog yacks.  Out comes a giant pile of puke/slime with 8-10 pieces of unchewed dog food.  Don't you love starting out your day by cleaning up dog puke?  No?  Just me?  Ok.

7:30  Jonathan helps me clean up the mower and wrap some new toys for the birthday boy.  We have cereal.  Brian gets showered and dressed, and he starts a load of laundry.  He then takes Jonathan out to his office to be a "helper" in assembling a new filing cabinet.  I putter around the house with my normal straightening.  Elvie, our cleaning lady, will be coming today.  Brian always gives me a hard time when I clean before the cleaning lady, but this neurotic must do it.  <Insert 3-4 reasonable explanations why it's important to clean before the cleaning lady>  I eventually get myself showered and dressed. 

9:15  It's about time for J and I to leave for the birthday party (we've decided B will enjoy this time catching up on work).  J has been having a blast in B's office, and he is outraged at the idea of leaving this for a birthday party.  Cake?  "I don't like cake!"  Trains?  "I don't like trains!"  Fun time with friends?  "I don't like friends!"  Mama will be there with you?  "I only want to stay with Daddy and build a filing cabinet!!!!!"  Lots of tears, snot, screams, and all that.  He starts wailing that "the kids won't like me, the kids will be mean to me!!"  B and I exchange some concerned, over-protective parental looks.  I can read B's mind, and we're both wondering "Where is this coming from?  Did something happen?  Or is it all a manipulative plea to avoid a delightful birthday party?"  But we must press on.  Somehow we get him convinced that it will be fun, and that he's a brave boy who knows how to handle situations that he doesn't really like.  Sheesh.  We head out the door as Elvie arrives.

10:15  Jonathan and I arrive at the party.  It is truly adorable, and it's obvious that my friend has spent a lot of time preparing for this big event.  The decorations are beautiful, and all the food looks incredible.  Jonathan immediately makes new friends with a group of boys, and they have a blast chasing a kitten around the patio.  Poor cat probably has PTSD now.  I chat with a colleague's wife, and it's fun to get to know her a bit more.  Kristen arrives with 2 of hers, and we spend the rest of the time in a long-overdue chat.  I get to meet Emmy for the first time, and she makes babies look easy with her peaceful sleeping through the whole party.  Baby Guy is extra affectionate toward me, and it's so fun to hold him and see him giggling.  J gets super sweaty with red cheeks from all the running around.  The Thai-Chius even rented a train to take us around the neighborhood, which is a treat!  We pile in and enjoy a cute ride.

12:00  It's about time to leave, and Jonathan declares "I don't want to."  I chuckle, and we talk about how he should remember this day -- he was worried about trying something new, but once he did, he loved it!  "JDub, next time you are worried about something, just remember this party and how it turned out awesome!"  "Ok Mama, that's actually a good idea!"  I laugh and am glad I could actually have a good idea.  We leave, and I make the mistake of noticing my surroundings while driving out.  Papa Murphys!!  Must make detour.  We order our pizzas, and we both enjoy watching the employee prepare them.  When they're ready, J offers to carry them.  The teenage boy employee actually hands the 14-inch double-stacked pizzas to the 3 year-old.  I start laughing as I dash over.  Save the pizzas!!  I guess this guy has not been around many pre-schoolers yet.  Close call.  We hit the road, and land in decent traffic.  I attempt taking pictures while inching along, but the camera doesn't do it justice.  I also notice it's freaking hot on my car's thermometer.  That explains why I was sweating at the party.  What the?  It's mid-October, people!  Anyway, the drive is fairly uneventful.  I do have to put effort into keeping J awake toward the end, and games on my phone perk him right up.

1:15  We arrive home.  B is so excited about the pizza, and so am I.  He gets one in the oven.  We chat with Elvie.  Get J cleaned up a bit.  And head upstairs for books.  A few hundred selfie-stick photos, plus a snapshot of him in his bed.  Precious boy.  Night night sweetheart.  Brian and I head downstairs to our beloved pizza (we're not addicts or anything, nah).  Elvie sits down for lunch with us, and we all chat.

2:00  I have my upcoming exam weighing heavy on my mind.  Studying is the absolute last thing I feel like doing right now (or ever).  But I muster up some self-discipline and head upstairs with my computer.  Brian will also be sitting for a specialist exam in a few weeks, so he decides to listen to my study videos too.  We make it through a fraction of what I should accomplish before J wakes up.

3:15  Jonathan is awake.  He snuggles Brian on the couch, and they play some video games.  I wrap up things with Elvie, who kindly lets me know that I should "double wash the rags to get the dog hair out."  OMG.  I don't know if I should be embarrassed by my animal-infested house?  Or thankful that my cleaning lady is a perfectionist?  I'll go with the latter.  I head back upstairs to the guys.  B and I both text Tony, who will be in town in a couple weeks.  Yay!  I also text Ashley, who informs me I missed the first quarterly consultation group.  Doh!  I cannot believe that!  Total calendaring fail.  J is getting a bit squirrely on the couch, and I'm starting to feel irritated.  I would rather just play with him and have a fun family day, but if I want to pass this exam (fat chance at this point), I really need to study.  The work-family conflict gets to me.  B can tell I'm getting flustered, and he insists that our date tomorrow is a study date.  I resist a little but eventually go with it.  I feel better at least having a plan, although I still need more study time.  Oh well.  I suppose this is what it's like to study with kids?  This is my first time having to juggle this, and I doubt I will sign up for something like this again.  Too stressful.

4:00  We've managed to be study-bug couch potatoes for a while, thanks to Jonathan's headphones and a snack.  But he's done at this point.  Enough sitting quietly, and I can't blame him.  He asks about Brian's upcoming birthday -- "Mama?  What games will we play for Daddy's party?"  Brian jumps in to clarify that all he wants is chocolate cake.  He and J very seriously describe the components of chocolate cake.  "It has gooey frosting on the side," says JDub.  How he knows so much about chocolate cake is quite amazing.  I'm impressed.

4:45  The cake talk eventually leads to shouts of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle songs with some violent martial arts moves thrown in there for added effect.  Brian graciously offers to make a grocery run to Trader Joe's with our little ninja turtle.  They chant the TMNT songs out the door, and there's lots of "love yous!" and "be back soons!"  I sit down in a peaceful house.  Obviously, with all this time and quiet on my hands, I do the responsible thing that will help me feel better about my upcoming exam ... yep, I write up this blog post.

5:30  I'm all caught up on the blog to this point in the day.  As I write, I remember the laundry Brian started earlier.  I head downstairs to switch it over, and I give the beasts some much needed pets and attention.  As I'm switching the laundry, the guys get home with the loot.  J helps me shove the wet clothes into the dryer.  Brian brings in the food.  We get dinner going -- fish and broccoli.  Then we head out to Brian's office to see his new filing cabinet.  It looks great, and his office is nice and tidy.  We have a completely white-people dance party and crack up over B's jumps.  Jonathan runs around the yard, tormenting the dogs.  It's a fun and wild time of day.

6:30  We sit down for a late dinner.  JDub douses his food in ketchup.  J and I fill in Daddy about all the cool things at the party this morning.  B is saying he feels a cold brewing in his sinuses.  Great.  Lovely.  Yay.  Perfect timing for this.  As we wrap up dinner, he decides to fight the cold with raw garlic.  Fine by me!  Eat away!  He downs four or five raw cloves and then exclaims, "oh shit, that's hot!"  JDub immediately asks, "why did you say 'shit' Daddy?"  Oh boy.  B and I try to keep our laughter to a minimum.  JW then runs around the house like a wild child with Teddy, and B has to intervene several times to protect the 100lb beast.  I clean up the kitchen while all this craziness continues.  JW shows us his ninja moves and muscles on the chair, and Brian and I ooo and ahhh.  It's a delight to see him be so proud of himself. Then J and I snuggle on the couch for one last baba.  He is intrigued by my necklace, twisting and playing with it while drinking.  I explain that my daddy gave it to my mama, and then she gave it to me.  But all that geneology is too much, and he simply nods his head.

7:45  We head upstairs for bedtime.  Ninja turtle jammies: check.  Ninja turtle undies: check.  Ninja turtle toothbrush: check.  Ninja turtle tooth paste: check.  Ninja turtle book: check.  Ninja turtle action figures: check.  Ok phew.  That was a close one, people.  But I think we will have a safe night with full coverage of ninja turtle power.  Thank God.  As an aside, I love that he's found this obsession with ninja turtles completely on his own.  It's so cute to see him be passionate about what he truly loves, and I hope we can always foster that drive in him.  But anyway, we snuggle for books in our bed.

8:15  J is in bed.  Sweetheart, melt my heart.  B and I hang out in the loft.  I finish up this blog post.  B deals with some emails and stretches his back.  He sends me some resumes for potential employees, and we discuss them.  He does some online investigation of their backgrounds, and they come back clean.  Then they start ... the garlic farts.  Oh dear.  This could be a long night, but if it prevents sickness, then I'll sacrifice my nose for a night.  God help me.  When I finish the blog post, Brian reads through it, and we enjoy this process once again.

9:30  It's time for us old fogies to call it a night.  As always, I go to bed after a day-in-the-life with a full heart.  I love my family.  And even more -- I like my family!  I don't often need reminders of how much I appreciate my guys, but these blog posts just bring those mundane details to light.  And life happens in those details.  I may or may not pass this upcoming exam, but oh well.  My heart is full.  And life will go on, either way.

Day in the Life Summer 2015

I'm thankful to report that I'm feeling much better since my last installment of DITL.  I suppose time heals, and I'm grateful for that.  I don't imagine I'll ever be happy about all our IVF stuff, but I can honestly say that I freaking love my family.  All 2 of my guys!  I could just squeeze them (and I do everyday)!  So I'm trying to focus on the positive and not stay discouraged about fairness/helplessness/desire issues that easily creep into my mind.  Anyway, life is better.  And this particular day was exceptionally fun because it was ma burfday!  I thought it would be fun to document a birthday, and we had lots of fun on this hot summer day.

Date:                 July 17, 2015

Party People:
                         Brian (a young 35)
                         Laura (36 today)
                         Jonathan (3 years, 2 months)
                         Teddy (old but still larger than life)
                         Honey (old but still sweet as honey)

5:15  Jonathan is whining that he needs to "go pee on the potty!  Daddy Dadddddyyyy!!"  Brian kindly gets up to handle that loveliness.  J is somewhat reluctant to go back to bed, but B eventually convinces him.

5:50  <whack!>  (door flings open)  "Mama! Mama!  My clock turned green!"  Brian is really a saint with all this early morning stuff.  He gets up again with J and lets me snooze.

6:15  I head downstairs to be with my guys.  They both greet me with sweet happy birthday comments.  We chat for a few minutes, and then Brian brings over a gift bag.  I read through a thoughtful card (always the only thing I really want for gifts) with fun gift cards.  So awesome!  And then ... I can't believe he actually got me this ... it is so amazing ... a SELFIE STICK!!!  We all have fun with it and take no less than 40,000 pictures.  We sip on coffee, eat brekkie (shredded wheat with granola and strawberries), and continue taking pictures.  We discuss B's practice.  I spend time scrolling through Facebook -- it really makes birthdays fun!  I exchange a few text messages with friends and neighbors.  Brian heads out to his office, and I head upstairs to get dressed.

8:00  JDub and I get ready to hit the pavement.  He wants my selfie stick so bad.  I let him play with it for a few minutes, but I can totally picture him taking it apart or cracking it on my first day having it.  So I try to trade him for food.  That would be an easy trade for me, but he will have nothing to do with it.  He's also pissy about smiling for selfie stick pics.  But he's fairly quiet through the walk.  I huff and puff my way up the hill.  We stop by the school, where they're having a soccer camp.  He is not exactly thrilled that we can only watch.

9:15  We make it back home, and it's hot as fire outside.  We spend some time checking on the front yard plants and drip lines.  We've spent a lot of time on the yard this year, and I'm so happy to see the results.  All the plants seem happy, and I'm sure the water district is delighted too.

9:30  We go inside for a snack.  I'm obsessed with this dip from Trader Joes.  JDub devours celery but will have nothing to do with "red grapes."  "I only eat greeeeen grapes, Mama!"  He then spends some time on his ipad, loving a new construction game.  I do my daily straightening of the house.  Once the floors are relatively dog-hair-free, I attempt some crunches and amateur core strengthening stuff.  Within seconds, Teddy is predictably trying to join in the fun.  And then JW too.  This why Wanda is not shrinking.  (Long story short -- Wanda Sykes named her gut Esther, I died laughing over that, so I named my gut Wanda.)  Wanda has been demanding a lot of bread and cake lately.  And Wanda doesn't like doing crunches.  She's been a bit unruly these days, but I secretly don't mind.

11:00 Lunchtime.  Open-face PB&J, salt & pepper chips (Wanda's demand), and lots of pickles.  I dare you to try that combo -- peanut butter and pickle.  You're welcome.  I text B to let him know we have food in here, but he must be busy.  I play the piano for a while, and J resumes his construction game.

11:30  Brian comes inside.  We talk about his practice, and he just experimented with some new advertising this morning.  His firm has exploded this year, and it's been awesome.  Of course it's great to see money coming in.  But what's even better is seeing his confidence soar.  It's so rewarding to see his very long term efforts (started law school in 2004) finally paying off.  He's doing great, feeling great, and I love watching him succeed.

12:00  Time for happy nappy.  J wants to read with both Mama and Daddy, so why not.  Not many kids get to read pre-nap books with both parents, so we take full advantage of our work-from-home lifestyle.  And of course, we play with the selfie stick some more.  Love that thing!

12:15  After J is in bed, we head downstairs.  Brian scarfs down some lunch.  We set up our laptops for some lunch work.  We discuss strategy for my upcoming application for promotion.  He starts making jokes and laughs at himself to the point of tears.  I take care of work emails and then decide to start writing up this blog post.  The dogs lay at our feet and snore.  Then come the elderly dog farts.  God in heaven.  What happens to old dogs' intestines?  Sweet baby Jesus I need a gas mask!

1:30  I get in the shower and try to convert myself into a presentable human being for the rest of the day (or what's left of it).  I take a few (ahem, a hundred) selfies.  I am mostly playing with my new selfie stick, tee hee, but I also have a weird existential moment of wanting to document what I look like at exactly 36 years old.  Brian joins in.

2:15  JDub is up and all sweaty.  He and B snuggle/wrestle on the bed while I talk with one of my sisters for a few minutes.  We then scurry around the house, packing up our life to survive away from home for an afternoon.

2:45  We hit the road for the beach!  Actually, we sit in the driveway for a few minutes, making sure the Ortega Highway is open.  It was closed yesterday because of a "small wildfire."  Joy.  Lovely.  Even if it is open today, I don't know how comfortable I am being trapped on that thing.  But we find that it is indeed open today.  We head out, and Jonathan talks the.entire.way.  Nonstop.  No pauses.  None.  Reading this, you might think it's a bit of an exaggeration -- "oh it probably just seemed nonstop."  or "well, I'm sure there were some quiet moments in there somewhere."  Nope.  Not one.  Through all the windy mountain roads: "Mama, do you like lions?"  "Yes I do!"  "Daddy, do you like lions?"  "Yes I do!"  "I like lions.  I like the mama lion.  And the cubs.  And the daddy lion has a mane.  The mama lions are nice, and the daddy lions ROAR!!!  Daddy, do you like sharks?" "Well, I like dolphins more."  "Oh, dolphins smile!  But I like sharks.  They have really really really sharp toofies!!" ... We got a real sneak peak into his mind, which I adore.  People have commented since he was an infant that "he's so verbal!"  I didn't really see what they meant when he was so little, but wowzers do I ever know what they were talking about now.  Although there are times that I would love to hear myself think or wish that B and I could have a 5-minute uninterrupted conversation, I truly love that JW shares his thoughts with us.  I want to do whatever I can to show him that he can always come to us with whatever is on his mind -- no matter what.  We will always listen.  We will always accept and love him.  There is nothing he could ever say to us that would take away our love for him.

4:00  Toward the end of the drive, traffic gets ugly.  We forgot to plan ahead for Friday rush hour.  As soon as we got off the Ortega, the little beach towns are a nightmare.  JDub starts saying "my tummy is giggling, my tummy is giggling.  It giggles when there's no food in there.  That means I'm huuunnngry!"  We are all hungry, so we decide to change plans.  Let's eat!  Yep, always sounds good to me!  We'll get some good food first and then go play in the sand.  We finally arrive at a place in Dana Point with hundreds of rave Yelp reviews.  I jump in the trunk and stealthy change clothes (I was only wearing my swim suit and cover-up during the drive).  We walk in, but they don't serve dinner until 5.  Doh!  We're starving, so we opt for happy hour appetizers.  They're meh. We're a bit confused about all these rave reviews.  But whatever.  We were hungry, and now we're not.   J continues to talk and chatter through the entire meal and then pretends to be mute when the waitress stops by.

5:00  We arrive at Baby Beach, my all-time fave.  There's even parking, which is a small miracle.  We get all set up, and J is happily splashing.  I head over to the rental hut to see what they've got.  I've been wanting to try paddle boarding for a very long time, and I've declared that today will be the day.  Or maybe not.  I'm secretly a bit nervous about it, even though it's no big deal.  But maybe we can rent something that all three of us can do together.  I get to the hut, and it's closed for sunset.  Dang it!  Next time.  But I do stumble upon a hidden restroom.  I check it out, and it's a winner.  Score!  Will definitely be using this one from now on.  Don't you love finding clean public restrooms?  No?  Not something you make special notes of?  Just me.  I head back to the guys, report the news of the closed rental hut, and definitely report the bathroom news.  B is sad about the rental thing because he knows I was looking forward to that, so we decide to do an early morning anniversary date of paddle boarding through the harbor.  I love that.  I splash a little with JDub, but it's mostly an evening of me sitting and them playing.  Luxury.  The truck we brought is a very hot commodity among the other beach boys, and they all take turns stealing it.  J and B find a crab, and J excitedly tells me the story.  I don't follow it, and B has to interpret.

7:30  The sun has hidden behind the cliff of Dana Point mansions, and that beach breeze is getting chilly.  We pack up and get in the car with no fits, complaints, tears, nothing from a certain mini-human.  As we're flinging sand off our feet and haphazardly throwing all our crap in the trunk, there's a millionaire across from us wiping down his Maserati.  The whole time we're packing up, which seems to always take a while, he's over there lovingly massaging his vehicle.  He reeeeaallly loves the car.  It's kind of weird, and B and I exchange glances.  Eventually J asks (quite loudly), "what's he doing to his car, Mama?" He looks over.  Oi.  "Oh, he's taking good care of his car, sweetheart.  Let's get you in your carseat."  We left the millionaire to make out with his car in "private" at the public Baby Beach parking.  As we start the drive, Brian asks me what type of Ben & Jerry's I want for my birthday.  We dream and drool over the possibilities.  But I remind him that we don't have any.  "No problem, we'll stop at Von's on the way home -- J will be asleep by then."  Hee hee, you funny husband.  JDub talks the.entire.way.home.   For no short of 15 minutes, he sings "I'm on my birthday suit!  I'm on my birthday suit!"  No idea where he got that, and Brian and I crack up.  We also join in.  All three of us chanting that through the mountains.  Haha!

8:30  As we're pulling into the neighborhood, B says, "we are so close to rinsing our feet."  I say, "I've been day-dreaming about that for about 30 minutes."  We die laughing.  We get home and rinse our feet outside.  We also find a very sweet birthday present from our neighbor, Anne, on the porch.  It's a bottle of wine, a thoughtful card, and a cute wine glass that says "stay beautiful."  I love it and am wanting to take a picture of this.  But I get distracted ... We open the door.  We are stopped dead in our tracks by a god awful smell.  The choking type of smell.  Like something died.  In a sewer.  OH MY GAWD!!  B bravely walks in and checks on the dogs in their room (the laundry room).  Diarrhea.  Everywhere.  Piles.  Smears.  And of course the dogs are wagging their tails through it.  Disgusting.  Guess I should have paid more attention to those nap-time toots.  Ugh.  Plus it's already past bed time for J, and he's getting more wound up.  B lovingly asks me if I want baby duty or shit duty.  I decide to cash in on my birthday and go with baby duty.  I head upstairs with J.  Teeth.  Jammies.  Blankies.  Book.  White noise.  In bed.  Lots of last-minute chats about the day and how much we love each other.  Success.  Adorable.  I head downstairs to find B with his shirt over his nose and mouth.  He's at the sink with his shoulders all hunched up, trying to wash his hands.  "I almost threw up like 8 times."  He proceeds to describe the clean-up process in great detail, and I'm hysterically cracking up.  We get fans in the windows to blow out the stench of raw sewage.

9:00  We land on the couch with popcorn and cookies.  So healthy.  So good.  One more selfie stick photo opp.  We watch a couple episodes of Jim Gaffigan's new show.  Really funny, and we both lol several times.  He totally nails parenting.

10:00  We climb into bed a bit sun-kissed.  We chat about how great of a day it was and how cute Jonathan is.  We also talk about how we could never live with 5 kids in a 2-bedroom apartment like the Gaffigans. Ahh, time for sleep.  I will save the remainder of this blog write-up for the morning, but I drift off to sleep thinking about it.  As always, I'm so glad I did this day-in-the-life documentation.  It gets me all sappy and thankful every time.  I think of myself as someone who truly (sometimes literally) stops to smell the roses every day, and I am frequently mindful of how grateful I am for my life.  But when I take the time to document the mundane details, it hits me even more.  My husband.  Our son.  Our health.  Our life together.  The beach.  Chats in the car.  Even the nasty dogs.  Sometimes life is shitty (literally).  Sometimes it's not fair, and it downright sucks.  But I love my life.  I might not be able have as big of a family as I want, but I sure adore the one I have.  The end.