5/13/11

One Photo Every Hour
I took up the challenge from Julie, to document a day in my life with a photo every hour. I chose yesterday. A typical Thursday. Prepare to be utterly bored.
6 am. Up, dressed, and time to take the dog out to pee and then feed him.

7 am. Making 4 breakfasts and 3 lunches. I grab half an English muffin with jam. You'll be
 glad I didn't document everything I ate all day because I wasn't a winner in the food department.

A little bit before 8 am. Drop off Lily and Zinabu at school. I love, love, love this photo of Lily.
She looks like royalty.

9 am. Pulling into the garage. I have taken Carver to school and then played fetch with the dog.
I am back home to catch up on dishes, email, and bills. No time for personal hygiene. A week or so ago I found this Virginia Woolf quote and stuck it to my dashboard. It reminds me to quit comparing myself to other people. I am really bad about doing that all the time. Also, I need to dust my dashboard.

10 am. Back in the car. I spend a TON of time in the car these days. I am headed back to the elementary school because it's my day to work in the library. Note my iPhone. I am addicted to podcasts and cannot drive anywhere without NPR or some kind of podcast. I especially like podcasts on budgeting, economics, and money. I am freely admitting to you that I am a nerd. Also, I had to find some quarters for parking downtown later. I dug through our coin box in the kitchen and all I could come up with were 2,000 pennies and a couple of Chuck E. Cheese tokens. I found one quarter in my van and hoped the parking meter police were on vacation.

11 am. I've been here almost an hour and I've hardly put a dent in the piles. It is the end of the school year. Library books are all due this week. It is a disaster. However, I know the Dewey Decimal system pretty darn well, if I do say so myself. We have a great selection of books at out school. The kids are always drawn to the science and non-fiction books. Books about shark attacks and rats and the planet Neptune.
 They're little sponges.

11:45 ish. Before I leave I stop off in the cafeteria to say hi to the kids.
Lily, upon learning I'm not staying, gives me this face.

Still 11:45 ish. You ALWAYS wash your hands after working in the library
and visiting the cafeteria. After all, as you can see by the sign,
germs are EVERYWHERE!

12:30 ish. I am so glad I had my camera because I cannot think of one time in our entire marriage that
I met David for lunch on a work day. Never, ever, ever happens. Because he has jury duty and
was downtown with an hour and a half lunch break, I met him at Chipotle for yummy burritos. And
although it looks like David is participating in the Gay Pride parade with his purple badge, it
actually says "Juror Div. 20." He HAS to keep it on at all times so that no one talks to him about the
murder trial. It was fantastic having lunch with him. I wish we could do that more than once
every 15 years.

1:00 pm. I get home to this look. He needs to pee again.

2:00 pm. I think ahead to dinner and realize I still have time to start a loaf of bread in the bread machine.

3:45. Carver is out of school. He is excited to show me the pillow he's making in his Home Ec. class.
He said, "I wish I had a sewing machine. Sewing is so cool." 

4:45ish. Zinabu was playing here.

5:45. Dinner. Dinner is usually sacred at our house. We always sit down together, no matter what. That's why this photo is so funny. I hadn't run the dishwasher that day, so we dug out the camping plates. Lily looks like she's eating a jar of jelly for her meal, which she practically was. Zinabu left the table to get a vitamin. Carver was mad at me about something and was actually outside pouting, not wanting to come to the table. Good family memories, yessiree.

7 pm. I am cleaning up the dinner dishes (finally) after helping with homework and interrupting arguments
and picking up lost pairs of socks. A hummingbird landed on the feeder outside the kitchen window and
I was able to photograph it before it flew away.

8 pm. Carver and I talk in the kitchen for a little bit before he gets ready for bed.
9 pm. David and I are trying to plan a weekend in California this summer. He has to go for a
conference and I could fly out by myself and fly back with him. But his flight back is on a little
shuttle plane. You know how I feel about flying and I don't do small planes. At all. We are
at an impasse.
10 pm. I get a wild hair and whip up some sweet potato muffins for tomorrow's breakfast.
They were super yummy.

10:45ish. I get in bed. This is what I see when I lie on my side. One of my books about England.
I got through 2 paragraphs before zonking out.

11 comments:

jayme said...

I love these little snippets into your life. I'm totally going to do this photo every hour thing next week.

Melodie Monberg said...

That was so fun...and I love your bread maker...do you? With my new life down here, all my grain grinder, hand kneading, etc has departed. I'd love to get back to homemade bread for my kids.

M and M said...

Your post makes me realize I shoulda coulda used my nice camera instead of my little itty bitty iPhone. LOVE seeing your day.

Old Men Reflect said...

You did not show us reading in the hot tub, eating foie gras at the Broadmoor, meeting with your book club or having your daily massage.

cathy said...

Uncle Jim, I'm not sure what you think I do around here all day.

Melodie-I love our bread maker. I make bread by hand, too, and I love to bake. Lily has started to show an iterest in baking as well. Our friends had a bread machine sitting in their garage which they never used. They offered it to us and we gave it to Lily. We have a no-fail recipe we like to use and it's a snap to throw together. You just have to remember to do it 3 hours ahead of time.

Bridget said...

Um, you bake muffins before you go to bed and bread in the afternoon? I think I hate you. Oh, and I love your camera and your photos are beautiful. And you volunteer in the library and drive your beautiful children to and fro and eat dinner w/ your mom and, and, and, and.....you have a beautiful life!

p.s. Hummingbird feed attracting those bears is it?! ;)

Stacy said...

why do all the kids at lily's lunch table have jackets on?

cathy said...

Stacy, they go out to recess right after lunch and brin their jackets with them. It was chilly on Thurs. I think rather than hold their coats they just put them on. I'm so use to it I dont notice anymore.

Julie said...

I whipped up these? Who are you? Some kind of superwoman! And did you say, "California?" Oh and I love the Gay Pride Day button. :)

hotflawedmama said...

I love this. Lily's picture is breathtaking. Your kids are so beautiful. No reason to compare your life to anyone else's, I think it sounds perfect. :) Hugs.

Vivi said...

Oh I loved this post. But I'm the girl that HOPES people leave their curtains open at night so that I can glimpse into their houses. Note, I said glimpse not hover creepily by the windows.

Anyways...really fun and interesting to me, actually. I love the things you chose to take pics of...a few random comments...

1. Who only eats a half of an english muffin? Why? Who eats the other half? Since when does a half fill you up?
2. Driving Miss Lily. Looks so content and lovely.
3. Glad my dashboard isn't the only dusty one.
4. Love that you took your own pic in the school bathroom. Did you crack yourself up? I would have.
5. Gay pride button reference. Funny and spot on.
6. Your bread machine looks like a fax machine.
7. Carver's hair rocks. And a boy who can sew is going to be bonus marriage material someday.
8. Dinner and camping plates. Love.
9. I'm proud of you for "whipping up" sweet potato muffins before bed.

I might have to do this. Do I have to wait to be challenged?