Comparison

For your enjoyment and information, here is a comparison of my current daily summer schedule and my typical daily school-year schedule. Just so ya know:

Summer Schedule:
8:00 a.m.: Alarm goes off. It's not one of those annoying buzzer alarms, but one of those alarms with the peaceful ocean waves to lull you into consciousness. Lay in bed for another 15-30 minutes.

8:30 a.m.: Get up, make coffee, enjoy a leisurely breakfast while checking email, news, and other sites of interest.

9:30 a.m.: Turn on the TV and watch any World Cup game that is on.

12:00 p.m.: Game ends, take shower. Spend time fixing hair and using my neglected hair dryer.

12:30 p.m.: Check email again. Delete newsletters and mail from sites I'm too lazy to unsubscribe from.

1:00 p.m.: Decide to be productive and wash some dishes, unload the dishwasher, or clean up the coffee table. ONLY do one of these things. Never all three.

1:30 p.m.: Think about checking the mailbox. This involves going outside and down a flight of stairs. Realize that the mail is usually not here by now and decide to wait. Check email and other websites since it's been almost an hour.

2:00 p.m.: Haven't had lunch yet. Fiddle around in the kitchen and scrounge for food. If I'm lucky, there will be some edible leftovers--eat those. If not, have a large snack. Popcorn, bowl of cereal, or waffles are good ideas.

2:30 p.m.: Think about the mailbox again. It may be here by now. Go check. It's not there. Go back upstairs.

2:35 p.m.: Contemplate checking email and websites again. In order to not feel like a loser, convince myself that nothing will have changed and I will not have gotten any interesting emails.

2:40 p.m.: Realize we forgot to pick up something at Target, the grocery store, or that we need to mail bills. Run out and buy, drop off, or do other errands.

3:30 p.m.: Whoo! I need a break from all this productivity! Take nap or play Age of Empires.

4:30 p.m.: Snack from 2 hours ago is wearing off. Eat something small like chips or fruit.

5:00 p.m.: Start thinking about dinner...then go check email again.

5:30 p.m.: Really start thinking about dinner. Even though I just went to the grocery store, I don't want anything I just bought. Try looking up new recipes.

6:00 p.m.: Getting hungry. Matt gets cranky waiting for me to decide on a dinner I'll want to eat. Settle for something like hot dogs or spaghetti. Fix it fast.

6:30 p.m.: After eating dinner, clean up the kitchen a bit, but not completely. Leave some dishes in the sink and maybe a glass or two on the table.

7:00 p.m.: See if there's anything good on TV. Unless it's Thursday, there's nothing good on. Settle on watching something random on Food Network.

8:00 p.m.: Want dessert. Contemplate the fact that there are no cookies or pre-made dessert available. Think about making something. Look up recipes. Find a bunch of really good-looking recipes, but realize I am missing at least one key ingredient in each.

8:30 p.m.: Start to get sleepy.

9:00 p.m.: Get second wind. Decide to clean something or put something away. Again, only do ONE of these things.

9:30 p.m.: Think about going to bed, but then see that a fun TV show is coming on at 10:00. Stay up late like a grown-up!

10:00 p.m.: Show starts.

10:30-11:00 p.m.: Show ends and we get ready for bed.

11:00 p.m.: Get in bed, but talk for half an hour.

11:45 p.m.: Finally fall asleep.


After reading that, you may think I'm incredibly lazy and unproductive. And you would be right. However, after reading my school-year schedule, you may be a little more forgiving:

School-Year Schedule:
5:30 a.m.: Alarm goes off. Get up immediately and stumble out to kitchen to turn on lights. Walk with eyes closed to bathroom.

5:35 a.m.: Fix breakfast and coffee. Usually a bagel and yogurt or cereal and yogurt.

5:35-5:50 a.m.: Eat breakfast and drink as much coffee as possible while checking email and a handful of websites.

5:50 a.m.: Still have half a mug of coffee and several mouthfuls of breakfast left, but put it in the sink and head to the shower.

5:50-6:10 a.m.: Shower. As fast as possible. Want to dry hair, but no time. Pull wet hair back into bun and secure with huge clip. I'm stylin'.

6:10-6:20 a.m.: Slap on some make-up, brush teeth, get dressed.

6:20-6:25 a.m.: Wake up Matt, say goodbye. Slip on shoes and grab lunch and water bottle from refrigerator.

6:25-7:15 a.m.: Drive to school.

7:15-7:55 a.m.: Prep time in classroom.

7:55-8:25 a.m.: Staff devotions. Half way through, realize there's something important I forgot to do. Try not to think about it.

8:25-11:45 a.m.: Teach some kids. Settle numerous tiffs and put a band-aid on non-existent boo-boos.

11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Take kids to recess and go to lunch room. Let out big sigh as I sink into a grown-up sized chair. Peace and quiet is so lovely.

12:30-1:00 p.m.: T.A. teaches Bible. Prep for afternoon lessons.

1:00-3:00 p.m.: Teach some more. Get on a tangent discussion that takes up 20 minutes. Science experiment takes way longer than I planned. Be okay with that.

3:00-3:25 p.m.: Carpool. Entertain kids with stories from my childhood so they'll sit quietly.

3:25-4:00 p.m.: With kids gone, use time to answer emails, prep for tomorrow, run around.

4:00 p.m.: If I'm lucky, I leave school. Sometimes I stay later (until 4:15 or 4:30). Drive home.

4:45 p.m.: Arrive home and go to the bathroom. First time since 5:30 this morning. I'm a champ.

4:50-5:30 p.m.: Collapse on couch and relax for a bit. Think about dinner.

5:30-6:00 p.m.: Fix dinner.

6:00-6:30 p.m.: Eat dinner and clean up.

6:30-7:00 p.m.: School work time. Answer more parent emails, grade work, or work on lessons.

7:00-8:00 p.m.: More school work or TV.

8:00-9:00 p.m.: Get ready for next day. Fix coffee and lunch. Wash face and change into PJs. Pack bag with school stuff.

9:00 p.m.: Go to bed. Lay there for awhile thinking about e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.

9:45 p.m.: Finally fall asleep.