Snapshot of a Thursday
It occurs to me that in days hence, I may not remember accurately what this week was like. And then I recall that blogs are excellent records for how things were, as well as how things are. So in the name of posterity, I would like to note how yesterday went, just in case my formidable powers of denial take over sometime in the future. I have the sense that my activity level is at some sort of benchmark, so on the off chance that I ever need to compare something to it, Here's Yesterday:
5:00 AM Wake to the dulcet tones of morning talk radio, set to "STUN". Close eyes again and try to remember what day this is, what I'm supposed to do next, and what I'm supposed to wear in order to do it.
5:30 AM Achieve dim awareness that it's a weekday and the day job beckons. Locate and consolidate various items which must be worked upon in stealth mode at day job: Knitting du Jour (including charts, notes and appropriate needles - good luck with that) and design notebook. Assure that tote bag reaches maximum weight limit by including cell phone, car keys, diet soda and frozen space-age polymer lunch. Stagger toward car through freezing rain for exhilarating 20-mile commute to office.
6:00 AM Play Well With Others, in spite of fact that coffee intake will not enhance coping skills for at least an hour. Advise brilliant physician who cannot tie shoes (why do I judge everybody by their ability to manipulate string?) that his voice mail is not an actual cardboard box stored in a closet somewhere. Dude was voted Most Likely To Cure Cancer, but can't manage an outgoing voice mail greeting.
11:00 AM Break for 1/2-hour unpaid lunch, during which I plan to post to the blog, write and lay out an entire knitting pattern, as well as finish somebody's Christmas present knitting. Totally doable. As soon as I take up cocaine. Consume microwaved frozen polymer lunch. If the FDA says it's chicken, then chicken it is.
11:30 AM Return below decks to row with other slaves. Enumerate ways in which my cubicle compares unfavorably to jail cell. Wonder if 19 years of keyboarding will paralyze my wrists on the exact day I finally "get time to knit".
2:30 PM Retreat from cube-farm and drive 20 miles home, in 3/8" intervals allowed by traffic. Remember each of the days last summer when I didn't ride my motorcycle to work and regret every single one, as the rain rolls down my windshield. Stop at store for vital glue stick which stands between me and the evening's pattern production. Get distracted by shiny objects in variety store and wonder why yarn is not sold there, but crochet hooks are.
4:00 PM Greet small children and dog who are happy to see me, even though I have a slightly wild look about me. Begin pattern package assembly in hopes of order fulfillment tomorrow. Wish fervently that it were time for beer.
5:00 PM Coach 8-year old through heating frozen pizza for family dinner, while continuing to stuff pattern envelopes. Feel guilty that we are eating frozen pizza. Feel bad for guilt over frozen pizza when there are people in my very own town who don't even have that for dinner. Resolve not to expend any further energy on negativity. Feel crappy for making the 8-year-old do dinner.
6:00 PM Greet spouse, who is happy about frozen pizza, in that it A: tastes good, and B; requires little in the way of cleanup. Resolve to emulate his optimism. Run out of photo corners crucial to completion of pattern packaging and have small nervous breakdown. Praise spouse for offering to get more photo corners, even if it's just because he wants to get away.
6:30 PM Eat frozen pizza and give thanks for being full. Phillip takes Campbell to Cub Scout meeting, while I take Lindsay to ice skating practice. Locate and procure Christmas presents for 2 Grandmas while at the mall where the ice rink is. Give thanks that my children have Grandmas to get presents for. Watch Lindsay skate and wonder how she does that. Look up to notice that someone is watching me knit, and wondering how I do that.
9:30 PM Arrive home and shoo daughter off to bed. Locate spouse, who is doing Grad School homework now that son is in bed, and thank him for procurement of photo corners after cub scouts. Realize that it could very well be time for beer, except that I might not get the patterns finished once I have one.
10:30 PM Finish pattern package assembly and remind myself for the four millionth time that I have to remember to bring the samples with me when I drop off the patterns tomorrow. Actually locate the samples and put them with the finished patterns. Congratulate myself for uncharacteristic forethought. Walk dog, who has to pee, but lacks enthusiasm due to cold weather. Reward dog with treat and self with beer.
11:30 PM Collapse into bed next to vaguely familiar spouse-shaped blob. Realize that today's blog post never happened. Promise myself to get more done tomorrow. Realize that there are only 5 1/2 hours until tomorrow starts, and try to sleep faster. Wonder if this is what is meant by the expression "fast asleep".