Day in the Life #2- The Golden Day
This week, Wednesday was a very unusual day for me, so I thought I would do ANOTHER DITL post. Wednesdays are my day off from work, but they’re frequently filled with errands and appointments. Last Wednesday I had a doctor’s appointment; next Wednesday I have the dentist. If anything is being fixed or worked on in the house, the service appointment is always on a Wednesday. Usually I pick my daughter up from school at 2:45. I always appreciate a day off from work, but the day isn’t entirely my own. HOWEVER. This Wednesday I had no appointments, no errands, and my daughter’s band went on a trip. They left from school in the morning, and returned at 9 pm. My husband was home for dinner (in between teaching and going to a rehearsal) but there were leftovers in the fridge for him. It took me a while to wrap my head around the fact that I had ABSOLUTELY NO OBLIGATIONS on this day. I’m not sure when this will ever happen again. Maybe when my daughter goes to college? In three years? Anyway, how did I spend this amazing day? Read on to find out! 5:30 am- wake up. My daughter still has to be at school at the usual time. That’s okay! No point wasting a precious moment of this day by sleeping late. I do something I rarely do, which is eat breakfast right away. I have a small bowl of oatmeal- about half of what I normally eat- and tea. I even drink out of a real mug this time! At 6:55 we leave for school, and I continue on to the gym. Because I have time for a longer workout, I do weights AND cardio (including the Cool Bloggers treadmill workout.) After my workout I shower and change at the gym. I eat a peanut butter sandwich in the car. 9:30- Time for my massage!!! I can get a free massage where I work once a month, but sometimes it’s really hard to schedule it. If I don’t get one in the month, I lose it (it’s not like I can save up unused massages.) Because I have such a leisurely day, I pay a little to upgrade my massage to 90 minutes. In addition to the fact that it feels amazing (I ask for extra time on my low back and ankles) getting a massage is a good mental re-set for me. If I give too many massages without getting one, I can get so caught up in what I’m doing, I forget that, oh yes- massage feels GOOD. This is what the client is experiencing! 11:00- Now I’m in a groggy daze. But I head to one of my favorite spots- Barnes and Noble. I spend a long time browsing, reading magazines, and sipping tea in the cafe. Sarah had a post today about being time hyper-aware or time blind- this is a rare instance where I literally have no idea what time it is. There’s no reason to look at my watch at all, and I love it. After Barnes and Noble I go to Whole Foods- the only store where you can spend $129 and walk out with absolutely nothing to make for dinner. Whole Foods is in the same plaza as Barnes and Noble, so they usually go together for me. I buy myself a drink for the ride home, and eat a protein bar (the same kind I had yesterday, which I said I wasn’t going to eat anymore… oops.) What time IS it, anyway? Oh, 3:00. Time for reading on the couch, which morphs into a nap (obviously.) By the time I wake up it’s 5:00. Funny thing- even in the most amazing day, there comes a point where you’re aware that there is a Tomorrow. Well, darn. I throw in a load of laundry and make my dinner. This dinner is a culinary masterpiece! At least, in my mind. It’s a combination of all the dinners I’ve made in the past couple weeks- a baked sweet potato, topped with tofu scramble, spinach, chickpeas, and tahini sauce. After dinner it’s time to move the laundry to the dryer, wash dishes, and feed the animals (we have a small menagerie.) I pick up my daughter, and get in bed to read at 9:30. Was this my “ideal” day? Well… no. My ideal day would probably include a long trail run in 50 degree weather, my son would be home, there might be waffles and maybe even a beer. But this was a truly RELAXING day, the kind of day moms- or, people in general- don’t usually get. Do you ever get a day to yourself like this? What would you do it you had one? Top photo by Sophie Dale on Unsplash