Day In The Life

I'm trying something new.

Though undoubtedly far from exciting, below is a blow by blow recount of what I did last Tuesday. To some degree I feel uncomfortable about forcing this on anyone so here is a link to TMZ if you'd rather read about other people's lives instead of mine. Don't worry, because if I wasn't me and was given the choice to read about me or click over to TMZ, there is an excellent chance I'd click the link. Plus I don't have any sort of tracking software installed here, so I'll have no idea if you leave. So go for it.

Still, here? That's cool, thanks.

6:30 AM - I woke up and put my arm around my wife. Except it wasn't my wife, it was Ian. Ian is going through this phase where he gets up in the middle of the night and climbs into our bed. Because I am a triathlete and sleep as hard as I train, I rarely wake up when he comes in. Or at least this is how i explain it away to my wife. I remember it's Tuesday and my wife has already left for work. It's just Ian, the dogs and I this morning. I doze a little.

7:00 AM - Ian is awake and he wants me to know it. I feel him jump on my stomach.

"Daddy, I'm awake" he says. I yawn.

"I wanna go potty then play Star Wars then eat a banana then play Star Wars some more then do something else" he says.

"Like go to School?" I ask.

"No, something different" he answers.

7:30 AM - Ian has played Star Wars, eaten his banana plus some yogurt, and is back into another round of Star Wars. I've laid out his clothes and he will eventually reject the t-shirt I picked (I'm Always Crabby In Maryland) in favor of his Tony Hawk t-shirt. I should have known that the Tony Hawk shirt is better, he tells me. He's probably right.

7:45 AM - Ian is practicing writing his name. I've got to admit I'm pretty happy that he'll do this on his own. I tell myself that I should get him in the car and off to pre-school, but as usual my blackberry sucks me in which in turn puts me in front of my computer to view the attachments from the overnight email. I instruct Ian to brush his teeth and get the dogs fresh water. The dog water assignment is the first official chore we've given him. It's a chore he performs flawlessly.

8:15 AM - I get Ian into the car and over to the school. This is early for us; I usually don't escape from the computer so easily, nor extract Ian from the PS2 so easily. For him, it may be the new girl in his class (he actually cited this as a reason for being ready to go). On the way to school, Ian asks me if motocross is cool and if he can have a dirt bike some day.

8:30 AM - I'm back into the car for the drive home and on the hands free talking to the London office before they "nip off to the pub" or whatever that do over there at night. Yeah it's probably the pub. I've had a hands free long before the State Of California required I have one. Yet I notice I still drive with one hand on the wheel.

8:35 AM - My dentist office cuts into my call reminding me that I have a dentist appointment at noon. I had completely forgotten as it was scheduled 6 months ago. That's probably why they call.

8:45 AM - I arrive at home and allow myself to get sucked back into the computer.

9:00 AM - The home office in Vancouver comes on line. 6 things start to happen at once.

10:00 AM - I have Illustrator, Photoshop, Excel, and Mail opened on my monitors. One of my colleagues becomes pissed when I don't answer her Instant Messages, as that window is hopelessly buried way down on my desktop. Sorry.

11:00 AM - I've completely forgotten about my dentist appointment.

11:30 AM - I remember the dentist appointment and roll out the door. I take the coast highway south to a) check the surf (though I am not a surfer); b) to check wind conditions for my ride later; and c) look for sweet bikes. I see a real nice Specialized TT bike out there.

12:00 PM - I'm at the dentist. It's just a cleaning. I try to take a nap. The dental hygienist sees my Desert Sprint Triathlon t-shirt, and makes the assumption I am an Ironman. It's hard to dispute this with a mouthful of dental tools, so I motion to what's left of my belly and hope she makes the connection that way.

1:00 PM - I'm done at the Dentist, and I drive home. It seems the London crew IS at the pub, based on a series of odd text messages I receive.

1:30 PM - More work.

3:00 PM - Bike ride time. I ride my normal 15 mile weekday afternoon route and am battered by a headwind from hell between miles 3 and 6 and again on miles 8-10. I'm OK with this now though, as I actually think riding into the wind is an effective LT training tool.

4:00 PM - I'm back from the bike ride and work some more.

6:15 PM - Mary arrives home from work via Ian's pre-school. Ian is throwing a fit because mom didn't let him open the car door on his own. I go out to the driveway, grab Ian, and carry him into the house upside down while the dogs lick his face. This usually solves problems like this.

6:30 PM - I run out for a quick haircut.

7:00 PM - I'm back at home and I have dinner with everyone. I show Ian how to score 200,000 points on a Lego Star Wars bonus level (which I had figured out for myself the previous evening). He's not that impressed until he finds out he can trade the points for characters I do not recall seeing in any of the movies.

7:30 PM - I watch Ian in the bath and then we watch about 15 minutes of "Ice Age". This is a great movie.

8:00 PM - Mary reminds Ian and I that our 15 minutes has turned into 30 minutes and that it's past lights out.

8:15 PM - I start looking for my passport as I am flying to Vancouver the next day.

9:15 PM - I find my passport.

9:30 PM - I think about packing but then change my mind. Why do something now that can just as easily be done 5 minutes before I need to leave for the airport? Besides, finding my passport was a pretty big project and I'm tired.

10:00 PM - Mary and I catch up on the day and then head to bed.

11:00 PM - I find myself falling asleep while reading. Lights out.

If you got this far thanks so much and thanks for reading.