A day in the life of a writer/yoga teacher/army wife/mom …and more!

I haven't done one of these posts in FOREVER and I've been meaning to for so long.  Thankfully, I saw that this happens to be the topic of today's Write or Die Wednesday!  So here you have it.  A "typical" day for me.

6am
Alarm goes off.  Hit snooze. (repeat 4-5 times).
On a good day, I'll get some writing/revising done while the house is still quiet and the coffee is still hot.  My brain isn't completely awake, but sometimes the product is better this way.  Writers are weird.

7am
Make breakfast for the monsters. (It's usually cereal.  I'm just showing off the one day I put real breakfast effort in.)

8am
Put one kiddo on the bus and shuttle the other to Kita (German kindergarten).

9am
Teach a little yoga (or do a little Spin or if I'm feeling super ambitious, go for a little run)

10am
This is usually the start of my "work day."  There are just not enough hours in the day, so if I'm feeling terribly behind on my manuscript, I'll skip the morning workout and get butt in chair by 9am.  This is when I try to cram a profession's worth of work into three hours.  And I'm lucky that I have these three hours, when so many others spend their days at a paycheck-kind of job.  I'm not ignorant of my blessings.

Currently, I'm also committed to a major position at my son's school as the PTA President.  It's been a rewarding and challenging position and one I'm glad I stepped up for.  I believe everyone should at least once in their life, so they understand what goes into these school programs.
So yes, a lot of my "work days" are spent emailing principals, making copies and planning events.  What is this life?

1pm
Pick up my little preschooler and kick back with some quality cartoon time.  Maybe clean if I'm so inclined.
I try to avoid the computer for these few precious hours.  I want my kids to remember me next to them on the couch, not the back of my head staring at a computer screen.

3pm
The big kid comes home which means chores, family time, dinner prep and all that suburban stuff.

6pm
We make it a point to sit down for dinner together every night no matter what.  It's an important part of our daily lives.  Even when it feels like a battle to get the little one to JUST EAT, I still cherish these fleeting moments when we're all just sitting at the same table.  Can't take this stuff for granted.

7pm
Baths // homework // PJ's // A Curious George book or two and it's time to tuck the monsters in.  By this point in the day, it feels like that scene in I Love Lucy where she puts too much flour in the cake and it's exploding out of the oven and she's just trying to cram it back in.  Putting kids to bed after a long, crazy day (every day) can feel like shoving that exploding cake back into the oven.

8pm
I try very hard to use the rest of my evening for relaxation and kicking back with Netflix or the hubby, depending on his location.

Sometimes, like an addict, I can't keep myself from my desk.  As much as I wish my days were always free of commitments, more often than not, this is the first chance I have to be alone with my work-in-progress.  I want to put my writing first.  I want to have a solid 8-hour day to spend writing, writing, writing.  But this is life.  So, there are days that my writing happens from bedtime to midnight.
Sherlock and Downton Abbey can wait.


10pm
My brain turns into a pumpkin around 11pm, so I have to budget in an hour's worth of reading every night.  This is normal behavior, right?


So, that is my day.  It's never the same, and always busy.  But I'm one of those strange beings who loves busy.  I love feeling like I have purpose.  I love the feeling of a day spent well where every minute is filled to capacity with to-do list crossing and encounters with friends.

And if it includes writing a blog post, then it was definitely a GOOD day.


Thanks to Vashelle and Mia for another excellent writing prompt!  Check out more WODW posts here:
Write or Die Wednesdays