A Day in the Life: Fall 2020

 I hadn't shared a day in the life post in quite some time and I just knew that this season in our lives needed to be documented.  With Alec attending school in person some days and virtual others I plan to do another day in the life post soon.  



I picked a day last week when Alec was going to school to attend one of his shop days and made sure it was a day that Ian was home and not going to work (see no two days are alike!).  

4:45-5:45-- I woke up and my husband and I decided to finish watching the latest episode of the Blacklist that we started the previous night.  Then I got up, got all dressed and ready for the day, and made our bed.

5:45-6:40-- I worked in the kitchen on my blogging, made sure Alec was all ready to go to school.  I hate that it's barely even light out now in the mornings.  

I always try to pull our school books the night before and pile them on the table near each boys' seat


6:40-7:30-- I'm in the car driving Alec to school and then myself home.  My husband thinks it's nuts that I drive him but he's only in the building a handful of days a month and the bus adds an extra 3 hours onto his day!


7:30-- I ate breakfast and read my book while enjoying the view.




8:00-- I called the other two boys downstairs for breakfast and we started in with schoolwork.  I read aloud from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix before they each tackled their own work.  



10:00-- Evan was done and Ian was finishing up his last few subjects.  

10:30- 11:30-- Evan and I headed out for a walk.  We decided to head to the Thompson Dam and stick to the paved walking path an avoid the dirt/hiking paths.  I was really surprised that we walked for nearly an hour.  I was tired but not completely wiped out!! This is the longest I have walked since my surgery 3 weeks ago. 

Evan snapped this photo of the trees while I was driving 





12:00--We arrived home and Evan offered to make me a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch.  I sat on the couch with an apple and rested/ blogged/ read until it was time for me to leave to go pick up Alec.


1:30-2:30 --Pick up time.  I drive to the school, get in the parent pick up line and with the staggered dismissals they have going this year I'm never quite sure what time he'll get out.  It doesn't really matter though as all the parent pick-ups wait in line behind ALL the busses (it's a regional school with students coming from so many towns) and the buses don't leave until every last student is out the door.  Then the parent pick ups leave behind the buses.  He finished up day 2 of hairdressing and learned how to braid- 3 different ways.  

reading while waiting




2:30-4:30-- I sat with Alec on the couch while he did some schoolwork and I paid bills.  We also tried to access his new email the school set up with zero luck then checked in with his grades to find that yet another assignment is listed as missing.  Handing in virtual work has really started to feel like a full time job.  We are often lost as to what we are supposed to do-- The work is always done and done on time but we often don't get credit for it with his English teacher and we can not figure out why.  We sent a message to his teacher and then both decided to read (thankfully he is a phenomenal A+ student so the occasional "bad" grade isn't completely detrimental).  My mother in law came to take Alec to karate.


4:30-5:30-- I was upstairs folding laundry & watching TV until it was time to prepare dinner.

5:30-- My husband came home and fired up the grill for hamburgers and hot dogs.  I heated up some frozen French fries, set the table and served everyone salad. 

6:30-- the food was finally ready!  It takes forever for our oven to preheat.  By the time we sat down Alec was home too and we watched a bit more of Back to the Future 3 together. 


7:00-- Dinner was all cleaned up, my husband and Ian headed out to look for a part for the 4 wheeler while I went upstairs to fold laundry and watch TV.  Alec took a shower and started setting out what he needed for the next day.

Somewhere around 8ish I took a shower and got ready for bed.  My husband and I watched an episode or two of the Blacklist and I'm pretty sure I was sound asleep by just a few a minutes after 9.  

My day had a few less chores than normal since I'm still just a few weeks post-op and am supposed to be taking it easy.  But overall that's how most of our days go when Alec is at school and Ian isn't at work. 

Linking Up With: Spread the Kindness,  Lovin' Life Thursday, 
















Comments

  1. Busy day! Your view is so pretty.

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  2. The bus adds 3 hours to the day?! I'd drive too. Sorry to hear that handing in stuff for virtual school isn't going well. Technology is great, but can be so maddening too.

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    1. Yep, it takes an hour and half to get to and home from school on the bus- he actually has to switch school buses at one point. I wanted him to take it a few times so he knows what to expect just in case there is a day/time I can't bring him or pick him up but otherwise I'd rather he sleep later in the morning and enjoy his time after school outside rather than riding the bus with a mask on.

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  3. Wow, you get up so early! I am glad you went to bed at 9pm! The scenery around you looks gorgeous. I hope you have sorted out the online issue with the English teacher :) #MMBC

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    1. I tend to fall asleep at 9 because I get up so early! LOL. I hope we get all the issues sorted out soon too but I fear they'll probably be on-going as things continually change.

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  4. It is interesting to see how other people's day goes. We've started choosing driving over the buses at the moment. It makes sense but it can be a pain.
    #mmbc

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    1. There are so few people on the bus that I don't worry about him riding it (in fact most of the time the buses we see at school are empty!) but I just can't justify all that extra time out of his day.

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  5. you have an amazing view during breakfast - I wish I had something similar. #MMBC

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  6. This was so much fun to see your day-in-the-life!!! Don't you just love how quickly homeschool work can be knocked out?! Then you have the rest of the day to enjoy! Have an amazing week!!

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    1. I do! I often feel guilty that even with high school level work it has never taken us more than a few hours to knock it all out. I just love how much extra time we have to do other stuff.

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  7. I love reading about the normal day to day lives of people. You have such an early start, you are eating breakfast just as I am getting out of bed. lol x

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    1. Yep, we are all pretty early risers (other than the one attending school who would normally sleep much later!! He had to work real hard to train himself to go to bed early and get up early).

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  8. Your breakfast looks so good as does your view. :) I love that he is learning to braid and I never could. Ella asks me all the time and I can barely do it. I mean, I can try but it doesn't look good LOL.

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    1. I can French braid (even on myself) but I had never learned the fishtail braid. I loved that they learned 3 different ways in one day.

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  9. Wonderful and busy day...love it

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  10. I love seeing this view into your life. Also I wish I could get up as early as you do. I’m so much more productive in the morning, but I have such a hard time actually getting started when that alarm goes off in the morning. I hope the virtual school gets easier, I know for me I am really hoping the kids will be going full time soon! Your son looks like he makes an amazing grilled cheese! :)

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    1. I don't even set an alarm!! I just tend to wake up early and have a horrible time getting back to sleep. I can remember us walking around the cruise ship on our honeymoon at like 5:30 in the morning trying to find something open because we were bored staying in our room.

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  11. I love these types of post. The thing I picked up on was that someone made your lunch, that's my love language :)

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    1. It was so incredibly sweet especially since I know this particular boy hates to cook and prepare food. But I was feeling pretty wiped out after our walk and he offered to make me lunch so I could rest.

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  12. Your breakfast looks delicious and so healthy too! I need to break my cycle of just drinking coffee in the mornings, I'm so used to it that I don't even feel hungry until noon!
    We've had some "missing homework" hiccups in the beginning too. All done and no credit given. I'm glad my daughter was able to re-submit screen shots of her work, it would have been so frustrating if she had to re-do it all with her busy dance days!
    Ellibelle's Corner

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    1. I love my fresh fruit and granola; we keep three big rectangle food storage containers on our top shelf with cut up pineapple in one, strawberries mixed with blueberries in another, and grapes in the third all ready to eat. I am hoping the missing work hiccups are behind us but fear it's just something we'll have to keep dealing with and trying to stay on top of as long as we are virtual. Luckily MOST of the teachers are very understanding and forgiving.

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  13. I'm not sure if I will take Gabbie to school or send her on the bus. The pick up lines are annoying for sure. But I'm sure the kids appreciate being picked up!

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    1. I don't mind the pick up line at all and for our school it really isn't that long. I just love hearing his chatter the whole way home and can't imaging missing out on that. The one or two times he took the bus home he was just wiped out and didn't tell me anything about his day!

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  14. Hi Joanne
    You are an early riser! I'm a night owl so I'm up till midnight and then sleep till eight in the morning. Your day is a busy one. I agree that remote learning assignments can be hard to find and get credit for. My eldest grandson began middle school this year and he goes in school 2 days and remote 3 days--that is how his school is functioning to keep social distance among the students. He ended up with an F in one class as he did not do all the assignments as he missed seeing them listed online. Poor kid was devastated and made up the work.
    I drove my daughter to high school every day. Her school was a crowded NYC school back then and has "split sessions" so her classes began at 7am. I did not want her traveling on public transportation in the dark. Driving time was nice, however, and we really bonded those years.
    Enjoy your busy days-- children grow up so fast!

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    1. My son also goes into the building 2 days and remote 3 days (when they are in an academic cycle) but since they log into every class with their teachers even when remote we haven't had the problem of missing the assignments listed but we have definitely struggled with figuring out how to attach the completed work and send it back in. I can not even imagine how devastated he was to get an F! I am so glad he was able to make up the work.

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  15. Fall is my favorite season, such a variety of texture and color. It seems to add a feeling of vigor and zest.

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    1. I love all the colors and textures and the crisp cool air.

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  16. These are my favorite posts. I need to do one. It has been awhile. I love getting a glimpse into your life.

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    1. I so rarely think to do them either but they are one of my favorite posts to read from others!

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  17. Thanks for sharing your day with us! That breakfast looks delicious. And the view you have to go with it is perfect. I used to get up as early as you, but since I have retired (and I don't have kids at home), I have started sleeping in.

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    1. I don't think I'll have a hard time adjusting to sleeping in once my kids are grown. I love the weekends and rarely get up before 7:30.

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  18. Love your day in the life post. I think it's wonderful that you take Alec to school and back. The bus ride sounds very long. And I can attest to the fact that I sincerely miss time in the car together now that Jack is driving. Thanks for linking up with Hello Monday! Tanya - The Other Side of the Road

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    1. Thank you! I love our car rides especially since it's usually just the two of us and he happily chatters away the whole time.

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  19. This was fun it sounds very similar to how my days are. Your breakfast looks delicious and I don’t know why we never got past the first couple seasons of the blacklist, it’s so good

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    1. It is a really good show; we're mid way through season 3 I think.

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  20. I love day in the life posts & might just do one myself.

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    1. They are so fun and I just love looking back through the years and seeing how our schedules change.

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  21. You took some beautiful photos . Fall is such a colorful time.

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  22. Busy day. Yummy breakfast to start the day. Glad you found time to read. Have a happy week.

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    1. Even when all three of my boys were young I somehow always managed to find time to read.

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  23. Such beautiful pictures and the lake is stunning. It looks so different to life here in Australia. I mean, I know it's Spring here, but living on / near a lake looks amazing!

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    1. It certainly can be; the only time I don't like it is when we have storms with high winds that shake the house. With a wide open lake near us there is nothing to slow that wind down.

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  24. I really do love posts like this. I'm so bad about remembering to start documenting my day to make a post like this. I need to do that though, especially before I'm back at work soon. Such a productive day. I hardly ever leave the house.

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    1. I don't often leave the house either anymore. I used to stretch my errands out just so I could leave the house a few times a week. This season I feel like we are always shuttling someone somewhere.

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  25. These posts are always the best! It's so interesting to see how everyone spends their time during the day. B can't wait until our kids our old enough to watch Back to the Future... they're his favorite movies and he's eager to see how the kids like them!

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  26. I love it when bloggers share their day. Thanks for that!
    It’s so dark in the morning when I get up at 5am. This is the part of fall I don’t like :(
    RR

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    1. Yeah I am not a fan of the dark mornings and evenings at all.

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  27. That was so interesting to read. You will be glad that you have written about days like this when the kids ask "what was COVID like?". Blogging is such a good tool for recounting our lives. As you go into dark mornings and early evenings, we are at the opposite here in eastern Australia with daylight saving in some states. Glad you are recovering well. My last check up coming up this week...and my GP tells me to start getting used to being well! An almost foreign concept.

    Thank you for linking up for #lifethisweek. Next week's optional prompt is 43/51 Inside 26.10.2020. Hope to see you there. Denyse.

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    1. I was just thinking the other day that I might not even be able to recognize it when I'm back to feeling like "normal" since I really don't remember how that feels! Good luck with your last check up this week!!

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  28. I love this kind of post. We can barely get up in time for PC to get to work without being late and here you guys are binge watching your current series long before sunrise!! I used to be able to get up easily but something has changed.

    Proud of you to be able to walk so far so soon after your surgery. I am sure the delightful scenery made the walk even more pleasant.

    Our oven would shut off whenever it wanted. Turned out it had something to do with the aluminum trays I had on the racks to catch spills. Once I tossed them, it heated quickly, remained at temp and didn't shut off.

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    1. Ours is a newer oven that is "engery saving" so it takes a long time for burners or the oven to heat up; once they do they cook great but all these energy saving appliances definitely take longer to do everything.

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  29. Joanne, I so often feel like I am caught in a time warp with the same daily mundanities repeating themselves endlessly day after day after day. So I do love to read how other people plan their days. And I have to say that other than having a teenager to drive to school a few days a week, my day looks very similar to your day! Awake between 4 and 5 am every day (I like to be up before everyone else to get my groove on!). These dark morning hours are when I enjoy reading blogs and drinking coffee and networking and commenting and linking and emails. It is my favorite coffee time activity. We start school at 8:30 on virtual days. School starts at 8:25 on in person days so I try to stick to that schedule. We are usually done with all the work by lunchtime as well. I might have to do a post like this! Fun stuff and super interesting to me. Thanks for sharing and linking up!

    Shelbee
    www.shelbeeontheedge.com

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    1. I have another day in life post coming looking at those days Alec is home and virtual learning (which sadly doesn't end until the end of the school day).

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  30. That's definitely an enjoyable breakfast view!

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  31. Your day is fairly busy and full. I don't know how you do it. And I can't believe how early school starts for Alec. Yikes. And along with many others, I love your breakfast view :)

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    1. That's a huge part of why I drive him in; if he were to take the bus he has to be at the top of our road for 5:50 (though in reality the bus usually is here more like 5:35/5:40)! That is just insanely early to me.

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