Monday, January 28, 2013

stop being right; start being Love

Thursday, January 17, 2013

a week in the life

January is fast-becoming one of my favourite times of the year. I love the stock-taking, the plan-making, the routine-returning, and the life-ordering. My life can use a lot of ordering in some areas, but in other areas I'm impressed with how routine and organized things are. I find writing out the routines I already have in place helps me to organize where to put anything that doesn't have a spot in my over-crowded life. Here's a quick overview of my week.(boring, I know, but it's the type of thing I find fascinating, so feel free to share yours with me)

Monday - Walk the girls to school. Tidy a bit. Read (right now in Nehemiah and Matthew) and journal. Run errands for work - usually Costco, Dollarama, Bulk Barn or Atlantic Wholesalers. Arrive at work for 1130am. At 6pm, head for home. Make something easy for supper so we can eat without a big wait. At 830, read a chapter to Laurie (right now, we're reading, I Want to Go Home by Gordon Korman). At 900, read a chapter to Marcella (right now, we're reading, Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren). 920ish - have a quick chat with Ashlin and then head back down to work at about 940. Finish up the close at work and head home - usually home by 11pm. Grab about 15 minutes of reading before sleep (right now I'm reading Still Alice by Lisa Genova)

Tuesday - At 715, take Laurie to Violin. Walk the other girls to school at 810. Tidy a bit. Read and journal (and prep for esl - right now in Mark). Run some errands for myself, and maybe for work too. Arrive at work for 1130. At 630, leave work to go to esl. (Lately my class has been as many as 14 students from Chile, Korea, Iran, Germany, and China. But I've had students from Japan, Columbia, Tahiti, Mexico, El Salvadore, Argentina, Brazil, Quebec, and probably more I can't remember.) On Tuesdays, Mom picks up the girls, gives them supper, brings them home and puts them to bed. Then she folds laundry, vaccuums, sweeps, and generally spoils me with a clean house! At 9pm, esl is over and I return to work to help shut things down and pick up Colin. Usually home by 11pm. Read. Sleep

Wednesday - Walk the girls to school and tell them "See you tomorrow morning." :( Tidy up a bit. Read and journal. Plan meals for the week. Around 930, Juaniece picks me up and we head down to the market to get our unhomoginized milk, local vegetables, and grass-fed beef/pork. Arrive at work for about 1130. Colin goes home, taking whatever I've had in the slow-cooker all day to the girls for supper. He spends the evening with them. Arrive home from work about 11pm. Read. Sleep.

Thursday - Walk the girls to school. Tidy. Read and Journal (and prep for Sunday School - right now we're studying the life of Jesus). Sometimes on Thursdays, I go back to bed for 40 minutes or so, but it's always really hard to get up the second time. Errands. Arrive at work 1130. Put something in the slow-cooker. 6pm, Colin heads home to be with the girls. We have live music at work on Thursday nights, so it's a fun evening. Arrive home from work around midnight. Read. Sleep.

Friday - Walk the girls to school. Tidy. Read and journal. Make sure there's something for supper. Errands. Arrive at work 1130. On Fridays, Sarah comes to stay with the girls 330-830. They make supper together, clean up, usually go for a walk, and have fun. They love Sarah! Colin arrives home by 830 (after a long, 12-hour day) and puts the girls to bed. I fall into bed sometime around midnight. Read. Sleep.

Saturday - Arrive at work with Colin sometime between 800 and 830. Wash pans, decorate and cut cakes until about noon (I like this morning time together - we usually put Steven Curtis Chapman or Geoff Moore on to listen to). Swing home and bring Ashlin back down to work for the afternoon (I usually get her a sub or wrap on the way for her lunch). Marcella, Laurie and I spend a bit of time together before I grab a nap - about an hour. Then it's back to work for the evening - Colin takes the girls for supper and spends the evening with them. Arrive home about midnight. Read. Sleep.

Sunday - We soooo look forward to Sundays. It's our family day. We drag ourselves out of bed. Church starts at 930 and we're usually on time (but sans breakfast - terrible mother, I know). 1130 is my Sunday School Class (amazing girls 12 and up). We usually plan to go somewhere for lunch. We eat and chat and catch up on each other's lives. At the first of this year, I really wanted to start a healthy family habit  of hiking on Sundays. So far, we've gone hiking twice, and really enjoyed it each time. I plan to make this a permanent part of our Sunday routine. We usually intend to go to church Sunday nights, but after spending a bit of time together, Colin and I are almost always overcome by sleepiness and succumb to a nap. We do a low-key, late supper, watch some tv together and tuck the girls into bed. Read. Sleep.

And then I do the whole thing again.