Day In The Life (& Winners)

Life really is made up of the ordinary moments. A cup of hot coffee. A satisfying dump. A syrupy kiss from your kid as they head out the door. Changing the sheets. Putting dinner in the crockpot. Adding finishing touches to a report. Lighting a pumpkin sugar Yankee candle and letting it burn all day, filling the house with sweet aroma and covering up the odor of the satisfying dump.

This is precisely why I like to do my “day in the life” posts. Not because my life is so exciting. It is not. But, because these posts represent the every day wonderfulness of a life full of the small, exquisite details. All of them imperfect and perfect at the same time, if you know what I mean.

My day started at 1:30 a.m. when, for no apparent reason (except maybe the two glasses of wine from the night before), I could not sleep. I finally gave up and went downstairs to read this book for a bit:

I crawled back into bed by 3:30 a.m. and heard Ken’s reassuring question, “Are you okay?” No matter what time of night or early morning I get up for lack of sleep, Ken always checks in with me that way. I love him just a bit.

Back to sleep and startled by the alarm at 5:45 a.m. Time to get Sam off to basketball practice. I shower, dress, put the coffee on and wake up child #2, who suffers very, very much in the morning. I rub her back, coaxing her out of her warm covers. She scowls, but asks me to stay with her a bit longer.

I head out for a work appointment, enjoying my car ride. Yes, I drew those lines on my forehead with a Sharpie before I left home:

And some construction, which makes me cuss.

Afterwards, I head into Boulder, but not before taking in one of the best views around:

You all really should move here. Really.

I stopped at Whole Foods for some over-priced healthy crap. I made a pit stop and was reminded of how PC Whole Foods and Boulder really are. Or maybe they just don’t want women whipping out tits by the salad bar.

I did not turn left because I am not at the moment lactating. I was tempted, however, to visit with the women who were lactating and reminisce about when my boobs were big and leaked all the time and were a food source for another human being.

But instead I grabbed one of these and a breakfast blend coffee:

The almond croissant. You have not lived until you have had the almond croissant. When I lived in Paris (yeah, I am so worldly) I would go to the corner Patisserie every morning for a warm croissant au amande. I’m pretty sure they are filled with liquid meth or crack. There is actually a recipe to make your own but I’m not stupid enough to try. I’ll leave that up to a real cook like Eat, Live, Run.

Home again to work, write, get kids and start dinner (home made pizza with a a little help from Whole Foods – their pizza dough is really good and cheap).

But, something is missing! No running, no workout at all today. I am tapering for the Denver Half on Sunday. Which is funny, because I’m not sure how you taper from training that never existed in the first place, but I’m doing it.

I’d love to read about your day in the life. Consider yourself TAGGED. Everyone who does it is entered to win a Shut Up + Run tech shirt (only small or medium available) or a Shut Up + Run visor. I’ll pick a winner based on creativity! The only rules are that you must include a few pictures and it has to be little, everyday stuff. So if you work as a heart transplant doctor or you do “Last Chance Workouts” at the Ranch, no need to enter.

Let me know with a comment if you’re playing along. Posts need to be up by Tuesday, October 11.

What was your favorite small detail of your day?

Ever hang out in a lactation room?

SUAR

The winners of the Marathon Bar prize packs are:

#8: Josiah from the Incredibly Shrinking Man
#44: Marlene from Mission to Another Marathon
#113: Becky C. from Becky’s Blog
#118: Melissa from Double Jogger Diaries
#303: PJ from PJ Runs

Email me at beth@shutupandrun.net with your mailing address!

Winner & “A Day in the Life”

The winner of the Active Band $50 giveaway is #79 Allison from (Mis)Adventures of the Johnson Jocks. Wonder if they know Harry Beaver. Congrats! Shoot me an email at beth@shutupandrun.net and I’ll let you know how to claim your prize!

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Everyone once in awhile I will do these “day in the life” posts. Not because I think my life is that interesting; really it’s not. I do it because I want other people to do it. PLEASE! I know you all through this crazy blogging world, but I really don’t know the ins and outs of your days.

In and out. In and out. TWSS.

The blog only tells so much. It is an overview. Everyone once in awhile, we need to share the minutia. The mundane. The stupid. Lord knows I have a lot of that going on.

The cool thing about my life and why I love it so much is that no two days are in any way the same. I work from home, so the unraveling of my day is based on kids’ schedules, my workload, my training plan and letting the dog out back to shit.

A Day in the Life

5:30 a.m. Get the damn coffee going before I lose my momentum:

5:40 a.m. Take out the recycle (which tells a lot about someone) while coffee brews:

5:45 a.m. Take some drugs (meth and crack not pictured):

5:50 a.m. Feed this lump of precious stinky fur. He is looking at you with that one eye. Yes, that is my bike in the dining room. It is the only safe place for a bike. Climate controlled. Free of robbers. My mom HATES that I do that. Moms think dining rooms are for fine china, not Treks.

6:00 a.m. Head to the pool with Scooby Do towel for some early morning laps:

6:15 a.m. Grab a lane, preferably one without band aids, hairballs or feces:

7:10 a.m. Put on running stuff and head out from the pool:

7:30 a.m. Arrive at middle school to coach some cross country:

7:40 a.m. Run three miles with these girls (my victims)

8:15 a.m. Head home and notice my car looks like I am homeless. But I bet yours does too.

8:20 a.m. Also notice how I carry around half eaten food on my seat. Them are some perfect bite marks.

8:21 a.m. My car console has to be one of an athlete in training (cereal, Z bars, GPS, sunscreen and Altoids so I can impress the pussy posse).

9:15 a.m. Wake up this kid because he is getting braces off today. Drive him to dentist.

9:40 a.m. But first stop at Starbucks for hit #2 of caffeine for the day

9:45 a.m. You can tell I handed the camera over to Sam. Some unknown person’s butt. Is it yours?

9:46 a.m. Enter Starbucks. Try to take pictures of baristas but they inform me this is “strictly prohibited.” Whatever. I tell them I’m just having fun and FINE I will only post pictures of myself.

9:50 a.m. Grande coffee with extra extra cream and I’m ready to roll. I don’t get Sam anything because he always wants the $6 frap and I’m not that nice. I even have a coffee bag with a free coupon on it. I am frugal (cheap) that way.

10:00 a.m. Greeted by this dear friend, Kathy, at the dentist. She makes me look bad with her perfect hair and stunning outfit. Very, very bad.

10:15 a.m. Sam in all of his braces-removal-glory. I wish I had a multi colored shirt like that. Where do the dentists get those?

11:00 a.m. Check out those pearly whites:

11:05 a.m. The orthodontist office gives him a gift bag with all the “bad” candy in it. I love them for it.

High noon. Make myself a quick lunch (grilled ham/cheese with tomato and Dijon because I am fancy like that)

12:30 p.m. Trip to the grocery store. Yes, I look very serious when I shop. And yes I do need a hair cut and color.

12:50 p.m. Emma thinks she is two years old again. No dammit, I do not have a penny for that dirty thing.

1:30 p.m. Family stop off at Coldstone. I go for the “Like It”:

1:45 p.m. I make kids use their gift cards because I am cheap and no way am I spending $4 for a glorified scoop of ice cream with a couple mix ins.

1:50 p.m. I love summer. I love my kids. But only when I’m holding ice cream.

2:00 p.m. until late into the deep dark night. Me and my computer make love. Reports to be written. Training plans to be thought out. Blog posts to be read. Emails to answer. Twats to be made.

That’s all I got.

Do you work from home or have flexibility in your days? I am a contractor for several social service agencies around here. I meet with families in their homes and write all my reports from my home office.

Does your car look like you’re homeless? What’s the weirdest thing you keep in your car? I have an airplane blanket I stole from Jet Blue. I’ve gotten lots of mileage out of that thing.

Do you like ice cream with chunks in it or just smooth? I’m a big chunk person. I LOVE Oreos and cookie dough in mine.

How do you take your coffee? Frou frou drinks or just plain ol’ Joe? I’m a plain coffee gal myself.

Post your “day in the life.” I dare you.

SUAR