Half way through another month

It's almost half way through August without a single post? Man, I have really lost the hang of balancing work with everything else. I am definitely feeling like I have a complete lack of free time. I don't remember ever feeling it this bad before. Might have something to do with having an active kid.

What is a typical day like for me?
6-7 am - get up whenever Mikey wakes up. On a great day I wake up myself at 6 feeling refreshed and Mikey sleeps until 7. I never thought an hour by myself in the morning would be so amazing.
7:30-8:30 am - get ready for work
8:30 - 5:30 pm - at work
5:30-6:30 pm - supper time. Most days Mike has supper started when I get home. It's the only part of being a stay-at-home parent he does, other than keeping Mikey alive. Cleaning is the main part he doesn't do. My house looks like a disaster zone all the time, and while I hate it, I haven't the energy or time to fix it. It's supposed to be his job. Right?
6:30-9 pm - play with Mikey. All outings and stuff are also done during this time.
9 pm - bedtime for Mikey. We are finally getting a regular routine with 2 stories, and snuggling. If I got him a twin bed and removed the rocking chair, I think bedtime would be even easier.
9:30-10 pm - come back downstairs because Mikey is out. Some nights take longer, and sometimes I fall asleep in the rocking chair. Very bad for your neck.
10-11 pm - read, blog, whatever I feel like in my hour of free time a day.
11 pm - bedtime for me.
11-6 pm - hopefully sleep. Usually have one wake from Mikey that lasts 15-60 min. I love when he just climbs in beside me, drinks and falls asleep without me needing to get up. Then when he is sideways and kicking me, I move him back to bed. Easiest wake ups ever.

That is my usual weekday. Weekends are usually lazy days spent lounging and playing.

Getting back to normal

Things should be getting back to normal soon. I got a full-time job! That starts July 11. I am so exciting. I filled out my new employee paperwork today. Woohoo!

I know there will be an adjustment period for all of us. It's been a full 3 months since I was working. I think the biggest change for me will be getting up and dress and functioning early. I have gotten so bad at napping off and on all morning while Mikey plays around me.

I know Mikey will have to transition back to not having me around 24/7.

But I am so excited!

Daily routine

Speaking of routine... I was trying to catch up reading the blogs I follow (too busy for a day or two and the list becomes 118 posts!) and one was about the routine of a stay-at-home-mom over at Bored Mommy. In that spirit, I though I'd post my daily routine. Because it's basically the same every day too.

6 am - get up for my screaming son. Stumble to the kitchen and try to convince him to eat food, and not just drink milk. Turn the tv on and doze for a few minutes trying to wake up. Or sometimes I try to shower quickly.

6:20 - Get dressed. Wrangle socks and a sweater/coat on my son.

6:30 - Leave to get my husband from work.

7:10 - Get home. Eat breakfast. Make lunch. Get ready for work. This last step also involves brushing my son's teeth as I don't get any time alone in the bathroom.

7:45 - Leave for work.

Dum dum dum...

5:00 - Leave work for home.

5:30-6:00 - Get home, depending on traffic.

6:00-6:30 - Eat supper. Attempt to feed my son (doesn't usually succeed.)

6:30-7:30 - Play with my son. Bath if I think of it.

7:30 - Wrangle socks and a sweater/coat on my son.

7:50 - Leave to take my husband to work.

8:15 - Get home and put son to bed. If I'm lucky, he fell asleep in the car and doesn't wake up. Otherwise, put screaming son to bed.

8:15-10:00 - Me time? Mostly involves cleaning up, dishes, vacuuming if needed, sometimes a few moments to myself to play on the computer when I really should be doing schoolwork. Shower if I didn't get to it in the morning.

10:00 - Bedtime.

11:00 - Get screaming son. Drink and back to bed.

4:00-5:00 - Get screaming son. Try to convince him to go back to sleep. Usually he will fall asleep on me but wakes up when I try to put him down. Repeat until I am ready to lose my mind. Then fall back into bed to get that last hour of sleep.

And I wonder why I always feel tired, am behind in my schoolwork, and don't feel like I get any time to myself. The joys of motherhood.

Oh hello there

It would appear that it's hard to remember to write when I don't have a list I am following every day. That and everything seems to be super crazy lately. I guess I need to add blogging to my daily to-do list. Maybe then I'll remember. If only because because I love checking things off my to-do list. Makes me feel so important.

-eat breakfast ... check
-get dressed ... check
-brush teeth ... check ... wait that was my son's teeth ... now check
- go to work ... check

See all the important things on my list already?

Milestone that proves I'm a geek

I'm a geek. I admit it. You just have to look at my list of favourite websites to know that. My original time wasting activity at work is wikiHow. It is a website that bills itself as "the how to manual that you can edit". I joined back in May 2008, and have been a faithful contributor every since. I have even become a volunteer administrator. Sounds fancy, but it really just means I can help out even more in the behind-the-scenes areas.

So I bring it up because not only do I love it and spend obscene amounts of time there, but I just reached an amazing milestone today. At least, I think it's amazing. I have patrolled over 50,000 edits! I know you're thinking gee, that's a big number, but what does it mean? Well, every edit that is made on the site is reviewed by someone else. They check that the edit helps improve the site, and either approve or revert it. It is a great opportunity to give feedback to other editors. And really satisifies my love of editting.

So I am very excited about it, and wonder if it will take another 2 years until I reach 100,000 edits patrolled. If you want to see for yourself, head over to my user page and check it out. If you're already an editor, or end up joining, leave me a message!

What I do

To expand on my first post, what do I expect to write here? I don't have a list of random ramblings. It will likely be miscellaneous adventures of my son, books I am reading or listening to, and other such exciting things as are happening in my ordinary life.

My day usually has a set routine:
Wake up anywhere between 6 and 7. My son is my alarm clock. On the rare days he sleeps past 7 it throws everything off because then I am running late.
Get ready and out the door at 7:50.
Depending on traffic I get to work around 8:30. I usually listen to audio books during my commute. It makes the time go faster, and I love books.
I eat lunch every day from 12-1 while reading my book.
My actual work day is full of work, reading the online newspaper and surfing my usual websites. It ends at 5.
Then it is commute home, which takes anywhere from 20-45 minutes, depending on the craziness of the roads.
Then eat, put my son to bed, clean up the toys and do the dishes. Relax for an hour or two, then off to bed for it all to repeat the next day.