a day in my life

*** I am of the belief that there are no “typical” days. Sometimes life swirls in fast, chaotic motion and other times slow, methodical and restful. God never promised our days, or for that matter our lives, to be ‘just what we prefer.’ He promised His presence in the midst of real life. Only in Him do we have hope for the moment and long term for He orders our days. His plan for our lives is with our best at heart, even through the bumpy times.
~Jeremiah 29:11-14

*** My day began at zero dark thirty when I let the cat outside. We lock the kitty door at night so he won’t venture out and bring back morsels with vermin DNA. At 5am I woke to find him taking a vigorous bath on the bed, stopping to stare and mouth a silent meow. A silent meow for I suppose an audible meow would take effort. It was then I realized he was roughed up by the neighborhood Tom, a brutish feline that roams to and fro, his aim to devour whatever other feline or even canine venturing in his path. The brute-cat wears brass knuckles on his paws and sports a leather jacket to enhance his steroid enhanced physique. He has tattoos (none of which lend affection to his mom) and his teeth sport grills. He’s a brute to the core. Tiger has a few cuts on his ear so out come the hydrogen peroxide and cotton balls. More tired than what is expected of kitties since they sleep 29 hours of a 24-hour day, or so it would seem.

*** After seeing to Tiger’s health I scuff down the hall toward the kitchen to make my first morning cup of liquid gold. Settling into in my favorite chair at the kitchen table I sip the stuff that revives my senses, relishing the taste and welcome effect. I open the Word and quietly read a few verses until Rocky comes into the kitchen and puts together his breakfast which almost always consists of cereal. It’s his thing. We even have a recipe card with the proper procedure for making a bowl of cereal. He wrote it. I kid you not. By 6:15 he was on his way to “his place of employ.” Throughout the day I continued reading snippets of scripture and keeping the prayer chain open. For me it’s not an only in the morning kind of thing. The Lord is infused into every aspect of my life and as such, I try to seek Him in like fashion.

*** Lizzie woke at 8:15 and readied up for her day at the local ‘institution of learning.’ She had a morning running class then a mid-term exam today so a bit of nervous energy was in the air. Her mrDarcy arrived at 8:45 to have coffee with her then began some vehicle maintenance to prepare for his trip to South Dakota to pick up the last of his belongings from his college days there.

*** After bathing (thank the Lord for soap and hot water!) I got busy on work for the school. I’m an area administrator for a private school devoted to home education, more commonly known as an umbrella school or private study program. Whatever it is, it’s a lot of words in one breath for an asthmatic woman. My five-hours of concentrated focus consisted of phone calls, completing a couple unofficial transcripts for students to take classes while in high school but at the local ‘institution of learning’, processing a few registrations, faxing important docs to a school director, failing miserably, fixing the fax machine, attempting to fax once again (success!), installing new ink cartridges into my printer, more calls, checking and answering school emails, mailing student ID cards, processing work permits, etc. All from home, the place I like best.

*** At 1:20 I realized my stomach was growling! To look at me you’d never think I’d miss a meal but golly gee willikers sometimes I do just that. Since mrDarcy was still here I offered up some grub to him as well. To not offer would be rude. Our gourmet lunch included PBJ’s on pasty white bread. And water. Almost prison food.

*** By 1:25 I was out the door with my pasty white PBJ in hand to complete a couple errands and head to the grocery store. With my phone ear piece thing in place, I was able to do a couple more school calls while driving. My list was secure in my purse along with my pen to check off each completed task and item. I like lists. I like to check things off. Sometimes I mess up my list and write it all over again. I admit to being a bit CDO (alphabetical as it should be) about certain things. I made an extra stop to purchase a Razzleberry Pie from Marie Callenders, knowing it would be a nice celebratory dessert for Lizzie’s assumed success on her mid-term. After the fact, I added that stop to my list then checked it off.

*** I arrived back at home by 2:45 and had enough time to freshen up and do prep work for supper, tidy the kitchen, do a quick once over of the house and finally shift the load of laundry to the dryer before my hubby returned home. Sometimes everyday housework doesn’t quite get done. At times, other things take priority. As there are seasons in life, there are seasonal moments in the seasons in the life of a homemaker. There's also occasional laziness but I refuse to admit my role in that dratted character trait. *wink*

*** Lizzie returned by 4:00 looking terribly forlorn. Oh no! She rested her head on my shoulder and I held her in a gentle embrace asking if her mid-term went all right. She lifted her head and shared that no, it hadn’t. My heart dropped. Then ... she smiled a cheshire grin and said, “Kidding! I passed!” That girl! She had me going, that’s for sure. smile. She’s on cloud nine and so happy to take an evening off from studying.

*** Rocky returned home by 4:15 and Lizzie asked if I could please greet him outside with the ‘bad’ news to keep the joke going. I did. He had much the same reaction as me, poor guy. For about 30 seconds I covered up my smile by biting my bottom lip. I couldn’t hold back any longer and burst out laughing. Lizzie greeted him inside and even she couldn’t follow her original plan, instead ending up in a puddle of giggles. Silly girl. She’s swell.

*** Lizzie and I made supper: steak fajitas, tortillas, chipotle cream, quacamole and chips, roasted corn, fried potatoes, hot salsa and giant grapes. Mmm. The steak and potatoes were from the night before, a welcome and necessary addition to our feast.

*** Lizzie and mrDarcy did dishes and cleaned the kitchen, bless their hearts. This allowed Rocky and I some one-on-one time. Sometimes that involves sitting and talking or other times a walk to the mailbox or even a power nap. Whatever it involves it’s almost always enjoyable because it’s with each other and we happen to really like each other. The only thing contrary would be when we talk finances. Sometimes it’s not always enjoyable. Sometimes that thing lends itself to producing a testy or frosty response. Sometimes it’s actually no big deal and is the preferred reaction. Depends.

*** Rocky and I called his mother to discuss the possibility of her going on dialysis. Her kidneys are at 11% so a decision needs to be made and soon. Being 83 and in poor overall health, she may not be a prime candidate for surgery to have a shunt implanted but we believe it’s an important move to hopefully give her a longer life. Otherwise …

*** We watched a movie then played a few games of solitaire and listened to mrDarcy’s laptop download of a comedian by the name of Stein. Soon enough it was time for mrDarcy to go back to his own place which paved the way for Lizzie and I to also turn in as we were two too tired girlies in need of slumber before the sandman beat us but good.

*** Zzzzz.