Day in pictures

I finally got around to documenting a “Day-in-the-life,” Evelyn’s good idea. I had a hard time choosing a day because each day of the week has a different routine depending on whether or not I’m working, on what the esposo’s schedule is like, and whether or not we have any special activities that day. As it turned out I did pick a day with activities that were out of the normal routine, but it is still somewhat representative of our lives — minus some of the extra shopping stops. My parents were in town from late Friday night until early Sunday morning, staying at a hotel with a fairly nice indoor waterpark for the kids, and we all had a really good weekend. Here it goes!! Sorry for the length; you might want to pause here and get some coffee before you read it. I was quite dedicated to my photojournalistic mission, as you’ll see.

7:15 AM — Alarm goes off, and I roll myself out of bed relatively easily since it is a bit later than the workday get-up time. I head immediately to the kitchen to the coffee pot, make my 6 cups of Breakfast Blend (usually ends up to be 3 real world cups; evaporation?), and have the usual, toast with nut butter and a little fruit, this time slices of kiwi on it, and some light reading on the side, like this old Runner’s World but often Oprah or yesterday’s Times. I’m horribly predictable when it comes to breakfast.

7:30 AM — E-mail and blog check, since the rest of the household is still silent. It is a standing computer station, which keeps the computer fingerprint free and keeps me from wasting as much time — except that often I cheat and sit, anyway.

7:45 AM — Girls are up!! They come staggering out to the living room for cuddle time, as they do every day that mommy is home when they wake up. Sometimes in the chair, sometimes the couch, sometimes the bed, but it is always cozy time in the morning, until their engines kick in. Today, little boy sleeps in.

8:15 AM — Amid their many protests I grab my i-pod and my camera and head out on a short run, handing the kids over to Papi, who is reluctantly awake. This is the view leaving our neighborhood. I am happy. It is a sunny day, cool and fresh, and so far I’m alone on the trail.

8:45 AM — I’m already heading back, and look to my left to take this picture of the little duck and the kayak paddling along.  It is so darn beautiful that I just can’t believe how good life is, and I feel like it should be illegal to feel this good in a world where so many people are hurting. Sometimes, like at this moment, I am so thankful for all I have, from the kids to the running, that I’m overwhelmed by it all, and just don’t understand how I got so lucky. I thank the powers-that-be a million times over.

9:00 AM — The run was short today, and I’m back to the real world quickly when I get home to discover that our new hamster, Sapphire, has escaped. The hunt is on, and we hear him scratching between the cupboard and the stove. I get some peanut butter on a spoon and he falls for the trap. I get a good picture but suddenly, no hamster! He squeezes in the crack between the cupboard and the wall. There’s no getting him out a second time, so we shelve that project for later and get ourselves ready for the day with Sapphire running free.

9:30 AM — I’m ready, but Zufan’s hair has been in braids for 16 days so it takes a long, long time to brush it out. She does great this time. Doesn’t she look big sitting there on my lap? I wish I had my bookcase organized for the picture, because I think you can tell a lot about a person by what is on their bookshelf, although most of these are my older reads. (Lore of Running, Dog Breeds, Drawing with Children, Vegetable Gardening for Dummies, Haitian Creole language CD, Africana, Bengali language tapes, Yucatan, Culture Shock: China, It’s All Good Hair, etc. etc.) 

10:30 AM — Here we are, finally with Grammie and Grandpa, browsing at the bike shop. I take a picture of the big girl trying out a bike, then go browse around and gasp at how much bike gear costs. Seriously? Two hundred dollars for just the shorts? Wow. My dad entertains the idea of trading in his car for one of those fancy bikes.   

11:30 AM — We get lunch and some coffee, and play pattycake and read Barney books with Zufan. She continually asks to go “in” the book, saying “Please? Me see Barney? I go there. I go in da book. I hug Barney. Barney no bite me. Barney nice. Barney no ‘tupid. Barney good. I go da book, please?” She is my first kid to come up with this rare special request.

1:30 PM – After lunch and coffee, we head to the Pet Supermarket, where we purchase a cage that Sapphire (hopefully) cannot escape out of, if we do manage to find him. The nine year old is beyond thrilled by this stop, as are the other two. They all three LOVE furry creatures.  

3:00 PM — Back at our apartment Grandpa puts together the hamster cage with lots of little helping hands. You’ll also notice a TV in the backround, something we haven’t had for a couple of months. Yep, my parents brought it to us. Not necessary, but very, very nice of them. Welcome back, PBS.

4:00 PM — We go outside to play a bit. Zufan hears an airplane and make the baby sign for plane and says “Fei-Ji,” one of her only Chinese words. When we leave she hauls a giant bucket of sand across the lawn, just for fun. She’s getting a little fiesty, and seems tired.

4:30 PM — Yep, sure enough, she falls asleep in the rocking chair with Grammie. I head out to vaccum the car, which is embarrassingly full of crap various necessary items. By this time, I am really tired and it feel SO good to drive away and leave the kids well cared for with my parents for a little while. I crank up the radio and fire up the cell phone.

5:15 PM — I’m back, and Sapphire still has not shown his whiskers. The cage is ready to go whenever he dares come out. Zufan doesn’t want to wake up, but I insist (I’ve been awake with her way too late way too many times to fall for the “ay bendito” ).

6:00 PM — We head out for supper, at a kid-friendly place with lots of nachos, salsa and noise.

6:30 PM — Never a wallflower, Zufan orders her own food, and then enjoys it immensely.

7:30 PM — Now at my parents’ hotel room, I flop on the amazing bed and think how wonderful it would be to REST. Big sis tickles my feet and Zufan and big brother jump on the bed so that I’m forced to get up after about 32 full seconds of relaxation. I get them changed into swimsuits.

8:00 PM — Grandpa stays in the hotel room to recover while Grammie and I take the kids to the waterpark. They go wild. Zufan leaps and jumps like she believes she is immortal, which gives most of the adults around us high blood pressure, at the least. I convince her to try the hot tub with me, but that only lasts a few minutes then I’m back in the the icy waterpark. The nine year old does a great job of keeping Zufan’s head above water when I need to take a break (mostly, I break and big sis babysits). My fat-free 5.5 year old little boy keeps losing his 3T shorts. After a series of close calls and more noise than one can imagine, I drag poor Zufan back up to the safety of the hotel room. She screams bloody murder the entire way.

9:15 PM — I change while she gets a long bath with several little bottles of different potions (see her in the backround?), and then I make coffee. Decaf, but coffee nevertheless. I’m feeling just about as haggard as I look by now.

10:00 – They are lined up in the backseat, heading for home while snacking on chips and a can of coconut milk. Zufan wants her turn at that juice. Personally, I think coconut juice is nasty, but I’m proud to be raising good little Ethiopian-Puerto Rican-Americans, so I egg them on.

10:45 PM — Back at the ranch, the big kids fall immediately to sleep and Zufan tells her stuffed monkey, “shhhh….”. She (and I) fell asleep shortly after this picture. I love, love, love bedtime.

Did you think that was the end? No! But almost… 

1:00 AM — Papi comes home from the library and wakes me up with a panicky whisper, “The mouse! The mouse!” I jump up and attempt to “rescue” Sapphire, who is sitting on his haunches in the middle of the living room. Sapphire is a very speedy hamster. He runs up a sweatshirt and onto the windowsill, then falls into the plastic storage bin of shoes, where he is trapped. I pick the little escape artist up and put him in his cage, way too tired to document this closing act of the evening. So all is well, and back in order.

Thanks for sticking with me! Do you almost feel like we spend the day together? I do! Sorry if your coffee is cold and your eyes glazed over. Now, I’m off to remove that blue fingernail polish. Interview, soon.