How Quickly A Day Can Derail You

I have the best of intentions when I roll out of bed in the morning. Today, I will be my best creative self. Granted, I am not a morning person so I don’t expect it to happen instantaneously. I like to get my kids sent on their way to school and my husband sent on his way to work.

The hour between when I get up and when they head out the door tends to be very chaotic. I usually take about 3-5 minutes to check my Fitbit sleep log (it was my Christmas present, so I’m still slightly infatuated with it), jump on the scale and take some measurements, which I do to keep track of my personal fitness goals.

After I show my face outside the bedroom door, I am on duty. On the days that I get up before my husband, I start the coffee. Then somebody may ask me to make their eggs while they shower, or put their toast in while they get dressed. Inevitably, something needs ironed or forgotten papers need to be signed.

When everyone leaves I finish my coffee, make some breakfast, check my emails, read my devotion, and plan my day.

Today was pretty much going that way. The kids had left, my husband was almost ready to leave, and I was picking out what photo to put on Instagram. One of my photography goals for the year is to post pictures that I have taken, preferably one a day– this may be a lofty expectation, but if I can have enough that I would like to showcase then that means that I will have put effort into taking pictures.

While in the midst of this, Lowe’s delivery called. I was having a refrigerator delivered this afternoon. Ours went kablooey the day after we returned home from our winter vacation to Florida. They were asking if they could come this morning because all of their deliveries were in the afternoon. I haven’t had an inside fridge (we have a smaller one in the garage that has kept us going) since January 3rd. I really wanted to accommodate them, but I also go to the gym for a 10:30 class. It’s 8:20. I tell them to come between 8:45 and 9:00. Then I race to get out of my pajamas. My husband is still getting ready, so I move his truck to the bottom of the driveway so there isn’t a chance he’ll get blocked.

I want to use the old door handles from the fridge so I took them off last night. My husband told me this morning that I would probably want the screws also. Now I am in a panic, they can show up any minute and I need the right tool. The right bit is found, but the screwdriver handle thing that it fits into cannot be found (we are in the very beginning stages of the KonMari method, in the future this will not be a problem-fingers crossed). My husband gets the electric drill, puts the bit in, and takes them out for me. Yes!!

The fridge we have is big and the fridge we are getting is big. I have growing kids and they consume a lot of food. The delivery man has to take my door off of the hinges to get it through the front door. I am finishing my Instagram post and am also looking up how to take night photos with my Nikon. I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to pull out the manual and learn how to use it. I actually pulled it out, but the information is limited.

I am doing this when the crisis arrives.

The refrigerator will not fit in the cabinet space. I have picked an LG and the power cord comes from the top instead of the back. This makes the dimensions that were listed inaccurate. They can cut a notch in the cabinet face to have it fit. That is not going to be an option. I will have to pick out a new refrigerator.

They put my door back on and it is 10:00. If I can get out the door in 20 minutes then I can make it to my yoga class. After this nightmare, I really want to make it. I scarf down a granola bar and a banana, jump in the shower to shave my armpits (yes, I’m funny about this), throw my greasy hair in a bun, get dressed, grab my mat and am out the door. I get to class, find the place I like about halfway back on the right side of the room and settle in for my workout.

In my rush, I forgot my Fitbit. It doesn’t give me much credit for the yoga, but I do climb two flights of stairs to get to class. I actually take Les Mills Bodyflow, which is a fusion of tai chi, yoga, and pilates. If you’ve ever taken it, it’s actually mostly yoga and the 10:30 time works best for my day. The yoga and power yoga are earlier in the morning which is when I don’t function or early evening when I’m running kids around. One of my goals is to make it to some of those this year.

Another of my goals this year is to be able to do a chin up or pull up. I’m not picky, either would be awesome. We have a pull-up bar in the basement. After my class today, I go down and make my attempt. I see some empty bottles from our tie-dye project and carry them upstairs. I realize part of the way up, that some have spilled on multiple steps of the carpeted stairs. I scrub them and then I scrub them some more. The carpet is already stained from numerous teenage boys trudging up and down, but I don’t want giant turquoise splatters.

When I throw the rag into the laundry room, I see a giant load of whites staring at me waiting to be folded. I need to call the high school guidance counselor to find out about the dual enrollment test that the boys need to take. I leave a message and then I eat my lunch. I remember that my daughter asked me to wash her jeans. I head upstairs wondering if they will be in the dirty clothes basket. No, there are clothes across the floor of my son and daughter’s bedrooms and the upstairs bathroom. I need to get firm about where the laundry should be and debate whether I should wash them, but I need to wash my own jeans and hate to run a small load. I go to my other son’s room in the basement (I’m getting in my flights of stairs) to get his clothes.

On the way up, I see that two of the stairs still have stains. I rescrub them, start the laundry, stare at the pile of whites staring at me, and then jump in the shower to wash my greasy hair.

Finally, I am able to sit down and write. I was tempted to put off my creative time, to become derailed by my day, but I committed to myself to move forward this year.

There were lots of other little time-consuming moments during the day. I am living by the Confucius quote “It doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”

There are still dishes to be done, laundry that needs to be moved to the dryer and the whites that need to be folded. My kids will be home in about thirty minutes and I will need to run one to the gym and I have a return to do at the library. I will also head back down to pick out a new refrigerator. It took me three trips to pick the last one. I tried to see if I could see the top of my fridge. I’m 5’8” and can see the top on my tiptoes and only if I have on shoes. I usually have to do a little hop and will be doing that tonight as I look at them. So if you see a crazy woman hopping around the refrigerators at Lowe’s, it just might be me.

Let your light shine!
Amy