I’m always fascinated when other bloggers write about what a typical day looks like for them. What with my dearth of projects this week, it seems like a fitting time to share mine. My day job has very little to do with my blog other than motivating me to take up some sort of creative outlet to cope with the emotional demands, but it’s such a big part of who I am that I didn’t want to just gloss over it by writing 8-5: work. For those who are unsure, I have a master’s in social work and I provide counseling to kids in the community. I work for a private agency and our services are funded by Medicaid. Let the day begin.
7:00 wake up. I’ve been kind of in and out of sleep for a few hours because I couldn’t get comfortable, but of course now that it’s time to get up I’m perfectly snug and wishing I could stay. I decide to lay in bed for another 20 minutes or so on the condition that I use the time to put the finishing touches on the morning’s blog post using the Wordpress app on my phone. Nick is always chipper in the morning so he’s up getting dressed and making jokes while I’m still groggy. He leaves for work before I’m even out of bed.
7:30ish Get up, get dressed, head downstairs. I scarf down a spoonful of peanut butter for my morning protein. I usually have protein bars on hand to eat in the mornings but I’m currently out.
7:45 Say bye to the pets (Juliet is particularly pathetic when I leave) and head out the door.
8:00-9:15 Weekly meeting with the other two workers on my “team” at work. I’m the team leader so I’m in charge of coordinating our caseloads and some other administrative stuff, but I’m not the boss or anything. The weekly meeting is a nice time to debrief what’s been going on with our clients and-bonus-when I walk in the awesome baristas already have my bagel and cream cheese waiting on the counter and are almost done mixing up the special not-on-the-menu juice concoction they sweetly allow me to order every time (to any locals, the CC’s on Airline at Bluebonnet has the BEST staff).
9:30-10 I make my way out to the neighboring parish where I spend most of my days. I’m feeling a little funky so I stop and grab a protein bar from a gas station. I get a call on the way letting me know there’s a situation with one of my clients I have scheduled for later today. Ugh.
10-11:30 My first session of the day. This one is with a little girl who’s homeschooled. We play UNO and talk about treating others as we’d like to be treated. She follows me out to my car when I leave to give me a hug and beg for one of my special pencils.
11:30-12:30 I drive right up the road to meet my boss at a middle school. I’ve been out of grad school almost three years and will be eligible for licensure soon, so she wants to observe me in a session before she signs off that I’m ready. We meet with a teenage girl and talk about negotiating compromises.The session ends earlier than I expected because apparently the school is on a weird schedule today (I’m only allowed to keep kids from class during PE or elective periods). Afterwards my boss gives me some good tips on asking more open ended questions and I take the opportunity to ask her about that situation I got a call about earlier. As always she is full of wisdom.
12:30-1 I drive to another part of town and grab a quick burger before my next session. One perk of pregnancy is feeling less guilty about this sort of meal than I used to in my calorie-counting days. It’s full of protein and iron and much more substantial than anything I could pack for myself to eat on the road.
1-2 I pick up a parent who doesn’t have her own transportation and drive her to the middle school her child attends so we can talk to the school counselor together. On the ride back home we have a good talk and she shares some things she’s never told me before.
2-2:30 I show up at the primary school where I have five clients because there’s one kindergartener I really wanted to pop in on, but when I get there I realize they had early dismissal today and the kids are all gone. I do run into the school disciplinarian though, and he pulls me into his office for a few minutes to talk about a fifth grader that I see. I figure at least my trip to that school wasn’t a total waste. I’ll be back there all day tomorrow.
2:30-4:30 I head to what ends up being my last session of the day (with a teenager and her parents). I’d had another teen scheduled for 4, but I think this one’s going to be a doozy and will probably run late so I call my other client to reschedule. The session was worse than I’d anticipated. I got yelled at a lot. I was really glad I’d talked to my boss about this case earlier so I could feel confident in my response. Thankfully, the situation seems to be stabilized by the time that I leave.
4:30-5 I spent the whole car ride home calling various folks I work with to update them on the situation (including my boss, who asked that I keep her posted)
5-6 I get home, let the dog out, and make one more call to check in with the client I’d rescheduled. I feel guilty for not hopping on the computer to enter my notes into the new electronic billing system, but I’m sick of work for today do I decide to do it first thing tomorrow. Nick gets home a little earlier than usual and I help him prep dinner (meatloaf muffins and roasted potatoes. Delish). Pistachio starts throwing up her food while dinner is cooking, but she seems to be in a good mood so we don’t worry too much. A little while later she tries to eat again and throws up again, so we google it and decide to pick up her food bowl for the night so she doesn’t dehydrate herself. We’ll give her breakfast tomorrow and if she’s thrown up when we get home from work we’ll take her to the vet (they take walk-in’s until 8pm).
6-7 we eat dinner on the sofa and watch CSI: Miami on DVR
7-8 I still can’t bring myself to work on the computer, so I draft this blog post on my phone while lying on the couch and watching Netflix’d episodes of Saved By The Bell with Nicholas.
8-9 I drag myself upstairs and take a bubble bath, then climb into bed. I read blogs on my phone for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep. I require a solid ten hours a night so I’m out pretty quick.
No day is ever the same for me. Sometimes I start or end earlier or later. I almost never help with dinner. I usually spend more time blogging. Sometimes I have orders to ship out. And I don’t always get a bath before bed (although that is my goal since it helps me relax and, you know, cleanliness is important). Today I won’t leave the house until 8:45 but I probably won’t be home until after 6, then my friend Cassie is coming over to visit for a little bit. I used to have a job where I had to report to the office every day at 8am and I hated it. I really prefer the flexibility this job offers (even though it does mean doing more work at home). And although some days my blog and my shop just seem like more work piled on, having those creative endeavors in my life really does help me stay happier.
Thanks for reading. I hope I haven’t bored you to death with the minutia of my daily life. If only I could tell you more about my clients! Now THAT would be fascinating!