Today was a day when I thought I hadn’t got much done. Then I spent sometime (on a train) writing down what I did do on day eleven and my list told a different story. Here it is: (I haven’t edited it very much – I decided to leave it stream of conscious.)
Didn’t manage to get out of bed early. Exhausted. Got up, did breakfast, missed Breakfast Club, got son / me ready, wife took car in for service, made sure homework and reading book was in bag and that we had sports kit, took son to school, forgot to bring contribution for teachers’ present – hopefully they’ll be there on Wednesday, signed son up for After School Club, tided up, wrote blog post on time management (ironic), did life planning with my wife, filled in survey for business coach, called bank, went to Pilates, made lunch – managed to make fish fingers and chips and olives – weird but using up leftovers, watched half of a Death in Paradise while I ate it. Went over next few week’s calendar with wife. Made phone calls. Tried to find out about plans for camping. Liaised with wife about builder who liaised with builder. Spoke to company I might buy writing shed from. Left for dentist (her) and contact lens appointment (me). Made more phone calls. Texted mum. Waited around in opticians, saw optician. Went to library to get book son ordered (one of the X Storey Treehouse books – he loves them) and signed him up for summer reading challenge. Went to look for outfit for drama workshop. Tried taking the route that would be kindest to my hips. Vintage shop closed. Went to another vintage shop. Ended up walking far too far. Also closed. Went for juice in Treacle – one of my favourite cafes (and ended up eating scone and buying cakes too). Bought grated cheese, bananas and carrots in Tesco, even though I really didn’t want to go to Tesco. Walked to bus stop. Got bus. Walked home. Cooked macaroni cheese and crudities. Gave book and summer reading challenge stuff to son. Agreed to a) son playing Scooby Do on my phone b) eating outside. Persuaded son to sit up for tea. Turns out he had Mac and cheese at school and I forgot to check. Wife made him cheese roll. Wife and I drink beer. I try to do a food list for camping so I can order it in time but wife and I fell out (minor disagreement about whether picnic should be healthy). We all eat cup cakes for pudding. I feel guilty about the sugar. Help clear up but wife does most of it. Sit down exhausted. Son goes up for bed. I lie on bed and proof-read a bit of drama textbook. I decide I won’t order camping food. Ever. Grumpy. Wife does bath. I do stories. There are flying ants in the garden. Brief debate over whether to re-wash the washing. We finally get the camping mattress down (it’s self-inflating so it is hard to do and it always takes us ages to get round to it), which requires moving the dining room table. By this stage my hips are so stiff I’m finding it hard to concentrate. I have a bath and get into bed with murder mystery (Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham) at about 9ish. Son still awake and scared on monsters, and says he never wants to watch Scooby Doo again.
And Monday felt like a day when I didn’t get much done because I didn’t make much progress with my writing, or my writer’s shed, or my drama book. It’s useful to write everything down simply to see how much I am trying to cram into one day….