Because this is what life is REALLY like… right??

I know it looks from my Facebook feed like life unfolds in one long stream of adventure around here…

…and it kinda does, I guess. Sometimes. We go a lot of neat places. We do a lot of unusual things. We’ve checked a few epic things off of the bucket list. We’re big on learning the hard way, the real way, the messy way, in person.

You should know there’s a whole lot of just “daily life” that happens for us too, on the road, or at “home” we still juggle work, school, community life, and the usual complement of wild cards thrown in. This week that included taking Ez to the local hospital for dental X-rays.

Just for fun, for those of you who are under the happy illusion that my life is postcard-esque, I thought I’d give you a quick run down of my day, today, real time, from 11:44 a.m, in my chair, right now. This is what it’s like to be me, on an absolutely average day (actually, a quiet day, because we’re not out doing anything “interesting” today.)

This is my day:

6:00 a.m. Wake up, notice that it’s not seven yet because there isn’t enough light coming in through the window. Snuggle down under the down comforter because the Bellarine Peninsula is still chilly and The Man is warm. Mentally start through the list in my head… then realize I’m wasting the quietest part of the day. I should get up and write

6:30-7:30 a.m. Write: a piece on visiting Merida for a website called Traveling With Kids, upload it, cuss over their annoying and glitchy geotagging feature, finally sort it out. Upload 9 photos, formatted specifically. One work task off the list before tea.

7:30 a.m.-8:00 a.m. Delete too many spam emails, answer four that matter

8:00-9:00 a.m.– Breakfast with the kids, tea, chatter about the morning news that people are finding through their various sources, hear the update on the friend dramas of various children, answer the same question about the boys’ SCUBA class tomorrow three separate time (to the same child). Start a load of laundry.

9:30 a.m.– Start an article for a new publisher. Get interrupted fifteen times. Most classically when Ez was quizzing me about something irrelevant to the day’s many tasks while I was simultaneously typing and answering him… I typed, “The Great Ocean Road is one of the world’s epic TOAD trips,” instead of road trips. This sent me off onto a mental rabbit trail about whether or not I could get high from licking a toad here (as I once heard) and whether or not it would be a good idea to try it out, and whether or not I could sell an article about that…. all the while I’m not writing… and Ez is giggling…. back on track… Edit Ezra’s writing piece with him. Give Elisha direction on his literature analysis paper. Discuss Piloting, Seamanship & Small Boat Handling by Chapman, with Gabe and our plans to spin that into a high school credit as an elective for him, starting now. Send Elisha into town with money for a corned beef and a two litre of milk. Listen to Ezra grumble about rewashing the plates from last night’s dishes, which he did not do effectively the first time.

10:00 a.m.-Video skype call with my 93 year old Gram, who happens to be visiting my parents, in Canada. This made me a little teary… to see here there, and be so far away. My mom’s new flooring and upholstery looks fantastic. The couch is not, in fact, purple, as my Dad reported last week. The kids showed off their hats, told stories and my Gram sat there looking like the queen of the world. I think she kinda thought it was magic. It certainly is magic for me, every single time. I love the internet. I miss my people.

10:30-11:00 a.m.– Finish the interrupted writing project. Discuss MLA format, thesis development, effective conclusions and how this particular conclusion was a cop out with Gabriel. He chuckled, knowing this fact. Hannah hollers from the other room, “Mom… thanks for telling us when things suck… it matters.” Indeed. My mother self is buoyed by this. I did not expect my teens to articulate that point any time soon. I’m a “tell you the truth” kind of mom, not a “sticky sweet” kind of mom. I’ve been known to quote the book Sh*t My Dad Says: “There’s (fill in the blank with an action… dishwashing, good writing, cleaning a toilet) and then there’s bullish*t! Guess which you’re doing!” It breaks the tension. Kids laugh. They dive back in and do a better job.

11:30 a.m.– Slam one corned beef into a pan then get interrupted by The Man who is laying face down on the kitchen floor, “Will you crack me before you get your hands dirty?” (Newsflash: they are already dirty, Sir.) Wash hands, do not succeed in cracking The Man’s back. He needs to go to a chiropractor, but has not admitted this to himself yet. Slam second corned beef into the pan. Remember that I have laundry (my bed sheets) in the washer… so I go hang them immediately before I forget. Slam third corned beef in the pan. I’m cooking for 19 tonight, did I mention that? Set them to boil. Make another pot of tea.

11:44 a.m. Sit down to write this post, thankful to Lois for sending me my favourite tea.

The remainder of my afternoon’s list includes:

• One more article to write for another editor
• Research related to our upcoming road trip
• Organizing the boys for the SCUBA classes tomorrow
• Finishing the dinner plans (roasted vegetables, a big salad and maybe some biscuits if I can pull it off!)
• My weekly Friday meeting over schooling with Gabe and Elisha (Ezra’s already had his… I forgot to write it in somewhere before 11:30 a.m.)
• Pushups. I have to put them on my to-do list or they just don’t happen. Sad but true.
• Web development. I’m building a new website. Stay tuned.
• Helping Gabe organize his plans for the boating course for the year
• At least one more pot of tea.
• Felting. Yes. This is what I really want to do with my afternoon. I’m working on Christmas presents. Shh. Don’t tell.
• Social Media work and another round of Email work somewhere around 9 o’clock tonight.

So there ya go: Truth in Advertising.

You’ve been wondering what a normal day looks like? That’s it.

So if you find typos in this piece, be gentle, I might be writing it while high on toad slime, with sticky corned beef fingers, a red pen tucked behind my ear and my Grandma on the other line.

What’s the juggling look like in your world?