Since we took a break from homeschooling this year and my girls are at a Classical School, I’ve had to figure out what to do with my time during the day.  I DON’T do it all and for everything I say yes to, I say no to twenty more things.  I am loosely organized with my time and try to stay home about 3 full days a week.  The other two days, I do more chores, errands, meetings, lunches, and then work from home in the morning or afternoon.  This sample day is a day I work from home all day, which has been a challenge for my extroverted self.

(You will often hear music playing while I work but you will never find the tv on. As a result, I never know what’s going on in the news or in pop culture.  Stevie keeps me informed enough to keep me from embarrassing myself!  (My girls asked me the other day if I had heard of the show The Voice.  That’s how bad it is.)  But we can’t all be good at everything so I’ve had to let current events go.

(I have heard enough about the show on Preppers to realize that if there’s one thing I should be stockpiling, it’s most certainly  hair color.  Heaven help us if I run out of that.)

5 am

Wake up without an alarm (because early rising is in my blood)  and tiptoe into the living room, so as not to wake up the (very smelly) dogs.   Check email/blog comments and answer as many as I can in about 20-30 min.  Inevitably, said smelly dogs start to wine and want to join me for my very peaceful morning hours.  Hank tries to sit on the sofa and I shoo him away, so he takes the nice upholstered chair instead.  Let’s pause and take a moment for Hank.  He’s the biggest, smelliest, fluffiest doll baby ever.  I try to combat the smelliness by using my favorite diffuser reeds on him, running the wooden sticks right up his back.  Works pretty good up to a point.  It’s even worse in lake season because there is no cure for wet smelly dog, no matter how resourceful you are.

5:30-6:00  I use the Pray Now app for morning bible reading/devotions.  I can’t say enough good things about it.  I love it more and more as the years go by. Every day, there’s an psalm, OT reading, NT reading, prayer, and writing from one of the ancient church fathers.  You can get it in book form too, called the Treasury of Daily Prayer.  The readings are paired to go along with the church year and also to complement each other.  If it’s a saint’s day, as in today, which is St. Patrick’s Day, there will be a writing from that father as well and a brief story of their life. During Lent, there’s also a short Lenten catechesis teaching taken from the Small Catechism.  It is THE most wonderful devotional resource I’ve ever used.  You can get it in book form here or download the app from iTunes.  It’s the best $8.99 you’ll spend this year, I promise.  When you open the app, it automatically opens to the right day but you can use the calendar function to find any day’s devotion you’d like.

6 am

If it’s a day I’m doing a blog post, I usually work on the post for an hour or so.   I often start  posts in my drafts and then work on them for a week or two or a month (or 6 months) before I post them.  I try to keep an editorial calendar but often I find that my natural tendency and rhythm can’t always be tamed by a schedule.   This morning, because I know I’m posting Day in the Life, I’ll spend probably 2-3 additional hours today working on it before it gets published, but I’m so glad I’ve at least started it.   I like working ahead like that so that I trick myself into how much actual time it takes to do a post.  (It takes a long time, no matter how I try to lie to myself.)

7am

Get ready for my  run, girls come downstairs for breakfast, and we talk through what we have going on today/this week.  I normally have a protein bar or protein shake and the girls eat a rotating breakfast of  turkey bacon, oatmeal, bagels, and waffles.  I steal all the leftover turkey bacon.  Then, I take my handful of supplements (that’s another post!) and drink a couple glasses of water.  (A runner must hydrate.  I use the word runner with air quotes and wonder if I’m doing a disservice to runners everywhere by calling myself one?)

We leave for school about 7:20 and the girls read the psalm for the day aloud in the car (from the PrayNow app) and we say the Lord’s prayer together.  Then we talk and laugh and I usually go into some schpeel about loving your neighbor and being kind and avoiding girl drama at all cost.

8am

3-4 mornings per week, I go for a “run”  with a heavy emphasis on the quotes.   And by that I mean, I run a little, text a little, stop for water, stop to stretch, run a little more, come up with ideas for writing so stop to dictate them, and finally finish the complicated ordeal that is the middle aged 4 miler.   It looks like pretty soon I’ll giving up running for power walking at the mall.  I never leave home without my tunes, some jewelry, and my favorite hat. Why exercise without pearls if you don’t have to?  I’ve actually had a really tough year physically.  I still feel like I’m recovering from my torn calf last year and I haven’t been able to make any real headway with my running.  I really want to run the Country Music Half Marathon again but I don’t know if I can be ready by then.  I just keep trudging along, trying not to lose any more ground.  I’ve gone through seasons where I weight train and cross train, but for now during this season of writing, I hold on tight to a few runs a week, more for my sanity than anything else.

9:00

9:00-9:30  I do house chores as quick as I can do them because life is short and who wants to clean house all day? I work fast like I’m in it to win it and do things like make the bed, tidy the kitchen, clean a bathroom or two, vacuum the high traffic areas.  I really would like to hire help and as soon as my income warrants it, I probably will, but for now I do all the cleaning around here—usually in fits and starts and never as thoroughly as I’d like.  It always looks picked up and nice and I open the doors and windows a lot to let the fresh air make up for my lack of strenuous cleaning on my part.  I have a schedule (mostly in my head) that I follow for cleaning but it’s nothing fancy and I don’t stress if I don’t get it all done.  I’m a stickler for clean and cleaned off counter tops and I like our master bath to shine.  I’m in a constant battle with books in my office, but I’ve finally (mostly) tamed our papers, so that’s a huge relief.

I’ve grown to love the menu plan over the years,  to ease the general wailing and gnashing of teeth that occurs in hungry children at approximately 6:00.  If I’m doing a soup or a crock pot meal, I get that started in this little window of time.  I also throw in a load of laundry.  After about 30 minutes, whether I’m finished or not, I make myself move on, otherwise, I’d never get my blog work done.

9:30- 10:00  Shower and get ready.  Can we just take a moment right now to say how much I loathe the getting ready portion of the day?  It seems like such a complete waste of time.  And I’ve gotten it down to a science and can do it quicker than most men.  But still.  Also, I listen to podcasts while I do my hair and make-up and that makes it feel a little less my life is passing right before my heavily made up eyes.

10:00-12:00

This chunk of time is usually devoted to blog writing.  If I’m done with a post, this is usually when I publish it. Then, I spend a few minutes on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to let you know I have a new post.  I spend the rest of this time on starting other posts,  brainstorming for future content, developing and photographing recipes, working on house or DIY projects, etc.  I do all the things that bloggers do to keep the creative and original content flowing. Some weeks, I have so much going on and so many ideas that these hours are magical.  Occasionally, I feel like the well is dry and I spend the two hours reading a great book or cleaning or gardening.  I listen to a lot of podcasts, so if I’m doing something that doesn’t require quiet, I’m listening to podcasts.

12:00-1:00

Lunch with Stevie.  He comes home everyday for lunch and we usually have sandwiches or leftovers.  Like Nester, we LOVE cheese tortellini soup leftovers or ANY soup leftovers, for that matter.  Occasionally, I’ll have book club or lunch with a friend or volunteering at school, but most days, we’re both home for lunch and we chat a little when he gets home and then do our news reading while we eat.  (He actually reads news and I read blogs.)  Sometimes, on Fridays, we go out for lunch and I love that too.  We catch up, talk about the kids and projects we’re working on and how many purple martins he’s spotted in town.  But the every day working lunch is my favorite.

1:00-3:00

This is my time to work on bigger projects like writing chapters, or articles, or longer blog posts.  I try to resist doing chores during this time and I often keep my phone in a different room.  I try to get into the zone because I have SO many ideas floating around in my head that I fear I’ll lose them if I don’t get them down.  I’m always looking up passages in books I love or in the Scriptures.  I’m literally surrounded by books and depending on what I’m working on, I need them very close.  When I did a series of blog posts on vocation, I read everything I could get my hands on about it and then try to write about it from my unique point of view. I wrote an article for our church body’s publication called the Lutheran Witness and it ended up being the cover story for March.  (I will post the pdf soon!)

3:00-5:00

3:00 —I pick up the girls from school at 3 and then we head home.  They start on homework and I start on dinner.  I listen to podcasts (are you starting to see a pattern here?) or pandora and play on social media while I’m getting dinner ready.  Tonight we’re having corned beef and cabbage soup so it’ll be an easy dinner night.  I usually have time to actually sit on the sofa and read, which is always a treat!

As far as podcasts go, I love Tsh’s podcast (she just recently interviewed Susan Wise Bauer!), Pastor Paul Buscher’s sermons (my pastor) (he hits it out of the park every Sunday, with Christ centered Gospel preaching, Pastor David Petersen’s sermons (very literary, more intellectual preaching and brilliant!), all the podcasts from the Circe Institute (mostly Classical Education but SO helpful for parenting and living), and then nearly EVERY hour of broadcasting by Issues, Etc (they cover theology, current events, culture and the show has been THE most important tool in helping shape how we think about the world.  I HIGHLY recommend!)

6:00-8:00

Supper time and any extracurriculars that we have going on.  Tonight we have tap dance and I’ll probably do some reading or visiting with friends while the girls practice.  I also scan social media during this time and try to read/answer comments from the day’s post.  We almost always are able to have dinner together and that makes momma happy!

8:00-10:00

Girls are getting in bed/ready for bed.  Stevie and I sometimes watch a show or two and then I head to bed. I’m usually finishing things up on my computer while we watch.

I always use Natural Calm (a natural magnesium supplement) at night and I swear by it.  I’m a restless leg, teeth grinding sleeper so this helps me so much at night.  Stevie monitors whether or not I’ve taken it, because otherwise, I’ll be thrashing and grinding all night and neither of us will sleep well.  I try to read for a half hour or so before bed because nothing puts me to sleep like a good book.

So, there you have it.  A day in the life of a blogger/writer trying to carve out space to do what she was made to do.

(Side note:  Most of my intensive reading/writing takes place on the weekends when I have larger blocks of time.  We try to keep our weekends low key.)

I came up with this self imposed schedule because otherwise it’d be so easy to squander the days away.  And sometimes, I do that too.  But, I’m learning to cherish these pockets of time that I carve out to do my work.  They are important because this is one of the ways I am called to serve my neighbor.  I always have her in mind when I’m doing my work.  This is important because this is for her.   Knowing that gives me strength for the hard days, when all I want to do is watch reruns of Friday Night Lights, eat cookies, and quote Coal Miner’s Daughter.

Okay, now tell me all your productivity secrets!

 

 

(photos all by  Lisa Price Photography)

Remember back in October when I spoke at Allume?  Well, some of my friends from home came to the conference, both to support their scared friend and mostly to hear the likes of Ann Voskamp and Phil Vischer in person.  You know Phil, right?  The creator of Veggie Tales.  The master mind and voice behind all those vegetables that stole our hearts.

Back in October, I didn’t get to hear Phil speak because of a conflict in schedules.  It was so comforting for me to see the familiar faces of good friends during my talk, since I’m by no means a seasoned speaker.   (The conference sessions are now available for purchase.)

That weekend my home girl Jeannie became a Phil Vischer super fan.   And when I say super fan, I mean she began to stalk him mercilessly admire his work with zeal.  Jeannie and I ended up on being the decorating committee for our classical school’s largest fundraiser, Truth and Treasure— a fancy-ish sit down dinner in which we needed to transform a church gym into a beautiful venue and find a well known dynamic speaker.  Jeannie campaigned and prayed  that the speaker would be Phil Vischer.  His people finally said yes but we all knew that he never had a fighting chance against Jeannie’s prayers.

Jeannie was not only a genius at finding a speaker but she was amazing at church gym vision.

And can I just stop here a minute to say that big venue decorating is not one of my spiritual gifts?  Karaoke singing? Yes.  Heavy eye makeup wearing? Sure. Coal Miner’s Daughter quoting? Of course.

Decorating a gym and 45 tables?  Not so much.  It looked beautiful, magical even.  Hats off to my darling and lovely friend, Jeannie Jett and to the slew of people who made this evening possible!  Our fearless leader Evi had the night planned in her heart many months before, using the theme of Esther—For Such a Time as This—as our guide.   She had spreadsheet after spreadsheet of exactly when and where everyone was supposed to be at all times.  This would be a good time to mention that spreadsheets are not my spiritual gift either.

But, these women know how to host a rapturous evening of great food, beautiful art, and inspiring speaking.  I’m thankful I was along for the ride.

(Side note:  I threw my back out from lifting those urns 7 million times but other than that, all I have are the loveliest memories!)

We had a VIP reception before the event where Phil had agreed to sign books and mingle with our people.  In Chicago where he lives, he said that most people don’t even recognize him in public.  Our people brought their old VHS tapes, t-shirts, books, and even small children for him to sign.  Okay, maybe he didn’t sign the children, but our little town made him feel special.

He was adorable and funny and approachable and in general the nicest guy you ever want to meet.

He stayed in the reception 30 minutes past the time we asked him to and Jeannie and I were finally given the task of removing him from the room so he could have a few minutes alone to think before his talk.  Only then we remembered that there were another 100 books sitting in boxes for him to sign before the evening was over.  We approached him and told him that we would be his bouncers and  escort him out of the reception into a more private setting so he could sign the remainder of the books and prepare for his talk.  We ended up in a church cafeteria with the caterers and a lot of clanging dishes, but only after I basically let EVERYone who approached him along the way get all their stuff signed and chitty chat with him about how much Veggie Tales had meant to their families.  Actually what I did was take  their iPhones and get pictures of them with Phil ALL the way out of the reception room.  Note to event planners everywhere:  Never ask a Southern woman to do a job that involves being direct and matter of fact.  This is a skill set we do not have. (“Honey, let me have your phone and I’ll get your picture with Phil!”)

All that to say, Jeannie isn’t the only one stalking him now.  He’s an amazing, kind and brilliant artist who continues to great work for the kingdom.  His story of losing his company after so much success was so one of the best talks I’ve heard in a long time.   You can read about it in his book Me, Myself, and Bob, which is FANTASTIC!

He has a weekly podcast  and a blog and often covers the issues pertaining to Christianity and culture.  He’s very smart and thoughtful and has a brand new program out for kids called What’s in the Bible.

What I’m trying to tell you is, if you aren’t following Phil, you’re missing out.

Also? I’m waiting for the email any day where his staff asks Jeannie and me to travel with him and be his bouncers.

Let’s face it, it would make the stalking easier and everybody would get ALL their stuff signed and plenty of pictures with Phil.

Also? I know all the words to the hairbrush song so I’m sure that would come in handy on the speaking circuit.

During the month of March, his video series What’s in the Bible is 30% off  and is a great resource for teaching kids the faith.  He even has a version you can use for VBS.

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And here he is giving a convocation at Liberty University.

Love and hugs from Phil’s newest fan club member and his very scary bouncer.