7:57 open my eyes, Jason is already up, I throw a pillow over my head but not going to sleep anymore so I say some quick morning prayers
8:00 the clock across the Allee starts its long morning chimes, I reach for my phone to read my Bible for a bit. Psalms 6-10 today.
8:08 move to more prayers
8:12 use my phone to check any emails (2 spam), What's App messages (0), and any Facebook notifications from overnight. It's a "lite" morning in that regard :(
8:14 Jason comes in to say farewell for the day
8:16 my feet hit the floor, stop into the bathroom, decide to throw the bath mat in the wash, round up the hand towels from the WC (water closet = powder room/guest bath) and kitchen to throw in with the bath mat and hand towel from the bathroom. Easton comes to see me in the hall for a morning hug. Get washing machine started.
8:25 Go greet my other babies in the living room where they are playing with doll accessories.
8:26 Go to make coffee, see that Jason has cleaned out my French press for me so it's all ready to go
8:27 Start water boiling in electric hot pot, add coffee to bottom of press, head to bedroom to send J a "thanks for cleaning out the French press <3" text, reset bedroom clock that is off by 2 minutes and bound to mess up this "day in the life" post
8:30 pour water into French press and head to make everyone's bed which is folding the duvets for the kids and pulling up the duvets on mine and Jason's side, arranging pillows
8:34 there is an empty cereal bag on the kitchen table, add it to and tidy up the recycling sitting on the kitchen counter
8:35 push the plunger in the French press
8:36 Easton comes in seeking to dry his hands on the towel in the kitchen since there isn't one in the WC. Oops! Replace all hand towels.
8:37 head to bedroom with cup of coffee to check in on computer with everyone's Facebook updates from their day that is just ending half way around the world
8:39 Dalton comes in to ask if they can play Xbox because they read yesterday and never ended up playing any video games. I tell them no, we need to read every day
8:42 Dalton comes back in to ask if they can read for less time. I ask if Easton is putting him up to this. He is. I call Easton in. We make deal that they can read for 5 fewer minutes today. They leave to get started. I watch a slightly disturbing video that doesn't make me feel so good about me and my skinny children taking trains multiple times every day
8:53 peek in at reading boys, thank goodness for our library back home and Kindle apps, :) Autumn is playing dollies, refill my coffee and head back to bedroom to do some Duolingo
9:00 boys are done reading, I give permission to play Xbox
9:12 done with my Duolingo lessons, Autumn wants to try some pineapple juice.
9:16 I check in on Pinterest. Everyone's back to school pins remind me I need to look into the backpack situation here. Coffee is taking effect. Head for pit stop then kitchen for the pineapple juice Autumn wants to try. She likes it. I give her a bit more and refill my coffee.
9:24 Set Autumn up on PBS Kids online next to me, read on the boys' new school's website about "how to buy a rucksack", it is different here. I've seen the strange looking backpacks in the store and read on the school site about how they need to be this way because of all the heavy books they are responsible for and how they need to be reflective so cars don't hit the school-goers and such. Peek on Amazon.de. Cut and paste a few things to run through Google Translate. Holy cow those special backpacks are expensive! Post a question in the Berlin Expats Facebook group asking if these "Schulranzen" are truly necessary.
9:52 Leave computer. Ask gamers if they're ready for breakfast. The answer is "no". Decide to clean bathrooms I didn't get to over the weekend because we were so busy.
10:11 Finish bathrooms minus the shower/tub, Autumn calls me in to see the "Dalton" she made on Dad's tablet
10:12 wash my hands, the boys step down converter on the Xbox overheats (it does this after about an hour all the time). Because gaming is over, they're ready for breakfast. The boys join Autumn at the tablet while I toast everyone's bread 2 at a time. I miss my 4 slice toaster oven from home. :( Empty the no longer efficient fruit fly traps we had around the kitchen.
10:21 something is beeping in the living room, call the boys to help
10:23 fill up everyone's water bottles with cold bigger bottle of water
10:25 everyone's breakfast is ready, call everyone in
10:26 it's "Autumn's day" so she says the breakfast prayers
10:28 washing machine beeps to say it is done (dude, that was even longer than 2 hours!), I hop up to take the stuff out, hang bath mat over the balcony railing outside and the hand towels on the drying rack in the kitchen, bring a pile of whites to the bathroom that were hanging in the kitchen to de-crunch in the dryer
10:30 join the kids back at the table, a fruit fly is buzzing around, I regale the children with the tale of one falling into my eye last night, the boys talk mostly about Disney Infinity stuff, Autumn is crying because Easton "sometimes says Dalton is the cutest thing in the world" and her feelings are hurt (even though they say this about her frequently)
10:33 Dalton is still hungry, pour some "Bobbles" on his plate. Easton follows suit.
10:36 Autumn wants more Nutella toast, Dalton asks to be excused, I toast more bread for Autumn and swallow my daily meds while I wait on toaster
10:37 Easton asks to be excused
10:38 Autumn's toast is ready, I start loading up the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher, empty the sink drain trap (gag!) since there are no garbage disposals here, scrub the kitchen sink
10:50 kids are trying to get back on Jason's tablet, I say not now, they're getting loud and crazy and coming down the hall. I start dishwasher and warn, "Guuuuuuys!" and .2 seconds later Dalton is crying from being accidentally shoved into the wall with their rambunctiousness, comfort Dalton, ask kids to lay quietly on their bed for a few and then we'll finish watching the Harry Potter movie we started last night. Dryer beeps. I turn it off so door will unlock in a few minutes
10:52 wipe down table and chairs, we're going to need more of these pseudo-Clorox wipes
10:54 sweep the entire kitchen
10:57 head to the bathroom to sweep in there since the bath mat is out of the way, Autumn is in there finishing up and singing one of her beautiful made up songs about God and forgiveness
10:59 empty dustpan, head to dryer, fold and/or lay flat the clothes, put away the folded ones for drawers (undies, pajamas, hand towels), I'll get to hanging the others some other time
11:04 grab more dry clothes from the kitchen drying rack to de-crunch in dryer
11:05 head to bedroom and call kids in for movie
11:08 finally logged in on Amazon streaming and movie begins
11:09 I look on Facebook for responses to my rucksack query, 7 responders say my kids will need these special pricey backpacks. Great.
11:44 Harry Potter is over
11:45 boys go to play more Xbox, Autumn plays more on J's tablet
11:48 I get stuff out of dryer and fold and put it away, gather another small load to de-crunch
11:49 clean tub and shower
11:59 take shower myself, Autumn wanders in with Jason's tablet asking how to pronounce the random string of letters she's typed in as a character's name. I tell her not to walk around with the tablet.
12:06 done with shower, put in contacts, brush teeth, deodorant, sunscreen
12:11 dryer is done again, turn it off so door will unlock in a few and comb through and "do" my hair while I wait for it to unlock
12:13 get dressed
12:16 fold and put away stuff from dryer
12:19 round up a new load of laundry to wash
12:21 start washing machine (it takes 2 hours!!!), put away sponge and cleaner I left in the bathroom, it goes under the kitchen sink, notice kitchen sink is mostly dry from earlier scrubbing and decide to Windex it to get it extra sparkly even though it won't last and no one but me will notice, get make-up bag out of my backpack in the kitchen (I put my make up on in the subway station yesterday while waiting for our train before church, we were very tight on time as Jason was at church early to play in the worship band and I had to ready the kids with clothes and breakfast, wrap presents for a party later, make dinner so we had something to come home to eat after the party, pack up stuff we'd need for the day and ready myself.) Where was I? Oh yeah...
12:24 put on make up
12:27 done with make up
12:28 sneak a small square of chocolate in the kitchen, get my water bottle, smack a fruit fly dead on the wall
12:29 dig through clean laundry pile and set out outfits for today for the kids on their beds
12:31 sit to start this blog post with Autumn still on the tablet next to me (Super Why) while I wait for the boys Xbox to overheat yet again
12:48 boys overheat and come join Autumn at the tablet, Easton is hungry and eats a croissant he finds in the kitchen
12:57 I hear dishwasher signal in the kitchen that it is finally done, Easton comes back, the boys are annoying Autumn and I'm annoyed they went from one screen to another so I send them out
13:01 ("They" usually do 24 hour clock time here. Luckily, this is one small thing that is not hard for me to adjust to at all as you do 24 hour time in hospitals and such and I once worked the 3-11 shift (or 15-23 ;) ) so I've got 'em all down.) J texts to see how day is going, I continue this post to get all the way current,
13:28 Easton asks if we can have lunch
13:33 open the dishwasher to vent the steam, take lunch orders
13:34 realize we don't have a lot of lunch choices, kids vote to get dressed and run up to the grocery store for a little food before we eat
13:37 kids dress and hit the potties while I load up all our plastic and beer bottles to take with us
13:38 Easton asks if he can pull the new shopping trolley, I gather up keys and money
13:41 we leave our apartment for the elevator
13:43 we walk out of our building
13:48 arrive at grocery store (it's called "Rewe" which sounds sort of like Ray-va but with the more glottal "R" sound that I can't quite do), we put our trolley full of bottles into the machine to get our deposit
13:50 head through the store picking up things from the bakery, some yogurt, some fruits, some new pseudo-Clorox wipes
13:58 we load our groceries onto the belt at check out, there is a 30 something-ish couple two places behind us that are making out quite inappropriately for my tastes, the kids don't notice
14:01 we walk out of Rewe, Easton is pulling the trolley again, the little two run ahead, they know not to run too far, know not to cross any streets, know to stay out of the bike lanes, it makes me smile
14:07 enter our apartment building
14:08 we enter the apartment, I wash my hands and put away the groceries, Autumn removes her dress for some reason
14:11 I'm done putting away groceries and start on lunch
14:30 lunch is finally ready:
Easton: Balsamic chips, vanilla yogurt, pineapple; Dalton: PB&J on a croissant we just got at the Rewe bakery, strawberries and pineapple, Balsamic chips; Autumn: vanilla yogurt drizzled with honey, strawberries, Balsamic chips; Me: cheese, tomato, avocado and mustard on a croissant, cantaloupe, strawberries, and pineapple, Balsamic chips. Easton had been watching a bit about the Titanic on Brain Pop and we all talk about it. I silently lament that we're not going to Homeschool anymore.
14:45 turn on Oobi on my phone for the kids to watch while they finish up, go get laundry out of washer to hang on drying rack in kitchen
14:54 done hanging laundry, unload dishwasher, clean up after lunch: put away leftover fruit, load dishes, wipe table & chairs, counters, and front of cabinets, sweep crumbs
15:14 head into bedroom with boys to do some math practice
15:16 both boys are logged into our IXL account from Homeschooling to do a little review. They are rusty from so much time off.
15:40 Dalton is dismissed, Easton has mostly been whining and flopping around and requiring me to hold his hand through every little bit so he has to keep going
16:20 Easton is dismissed, the boys run off to play more Xbox (ordinarily they would never get this much video game time, not even every day let alone multiple times per day but these are very extenuating circumstances). I sit to blog this day some more.
16:25 Autumn comes in to watch where they left off in Oobi. I check the weather for the week so we can think about making fun plans rather than playing Xbox and the Surface so much and only going to the grocery store. I message a local friend about trying to meet up at the strawberry farm, another person about rain forecasted on a day we're supposed to meet up, and another friend about backpacks.
17:00 still at computer looking at various things, messaging with a friend, and Autumn is still watching Oobi next to me, Jason messages that he's on his way home
17:28 wrap it up online (again, it was rare for me to be on the computer so much--blogging this, go figure, and therefore for Autumn to be with the tablet so much as well), head in to pick up the living room for J's arrival
17:32 boys console converter overheats again, J arrives, we're still picking up living room, I take out my contacts they bug my eyes they're so old, and let's not forget a month ago J wore them for two days so...yeah. Glasses time.
17:38 I start on dinner, for J and I it's mostly fixed from yesterday (chilled quinoa salad) but I make plates of other stuff for the kids including heating up 2 potato pancakes for Dalton on the stove
18:00 we sit down to dinner
18:35 done with dinner, begin cleaning up, kids clear their things and Easton starts to help Dalton wiggle his front teeth that aren't coming out, Jason does dishes (he always does dinner dishes <3, always has) and I wipe down the dining table and chairs, sweep the floors,
18:40 help Autumn locate some clothes, kids go potty and put on shoes, Jason empties kitchen trash, I empty all the others and try to put a new trash bag in the kitchen can without it splitting at the seam (I split the first one but succeed with the second). Text with a local friend about possible plans for tomorrow.
18:49 I load up the kids with the recycling. Jason loads himself up with trash and more recycling and I unlock the door with the keys and put them back in J's pocket, after taking down the trash and recycling he's taking all three of them to the park
18:50 The rest of the family heads to the park
18:51 I sit to get this post current yet again
18:59 connect to a encrypting website, log into my mom's Netflix account (hope that's okay, Mom!) and watch 30 Rock. Wishing I had one of my tiramisus. Oh wait, I have a generic one. BRB
19:09 back with my definitely-not-as-good tiramisu. I won't even buy this one again in a pinch.
19:12 shoot, I got chocolate on my dress, that's okay, I was ready for my p.j.'s anyway, head to the kitchen to put my spoon in the dishwasher and throw away my trash, decide to take bath mat off the balcony railing and throw in the dryer to de-crunch-ify, get some stain remover on my dress and leave it on the machine and put on those pajamas. Ahh. Okay, unpause 30Rock.
20:09 the rest of my family comes home after trips to "two and a half parks", Autumn tells me she has sand in her hair. I walk her straight to the shower and we take off her clothes while she stands in the tub, she takes her shower, and afterward Easton hops in
20:18 I comb through Autumn's wet hair
20:20 help Autumn brush her teeth, also put paste on the other kids' toothbrushes, listen to all sorts of Easton's big ideas for future plans and inventions with "E.D. Industries" that he's been planning with Dalton for months.
20:33 all the kids are done with their showers and teeth brushing
20:39 Dalton is finally dressed for bed and we start our prayers in the kids' room then I read aloud for about 15 minutes from Harry Potter #3
20:59 kids are all tucked in, Jason and I come into our room, we discuss the rucksack situation and eventually get on our own computers to look at them which turns into looking at other things like apartment hunting for J and Facebook browsing for me
21:45 Jason heads to buzz his head and take a shower, I read through the various links I've clicked on through people's Facebook posts, respond to a message from our new pastor, and send a quick message to a friend I was thinking about in Colorado
22:13 Jason is back, we chat for awhile, read a little of the Bible together and say our nightly prayers
22:52 I get up to wash my face and brush my teeth and such, Jason gets out his clothes for work the next morning closes up the windows and drapes for me like he usually does, we say goodnight, he generally stays up later than I do
22:59 I'm back in the bedroom, I set one of the "decorative" pillows from the bed on the floor near me to block the power light on my laptop and catch my phone when I inevitably knock it off the bed in the night, I turn off the lamp that was on over on J's side
23:01 read some more Bible (I'm back in Genesis right now)
23:12 done with the Bible, decide to Google Mark Driscoll as I have no idea who he is or what the controversy with him lately is
23:25 done with my Driscoll research
23:26 turn on an "Everybody Loves Raymond" rerun on YouTube on my phone and put in one ear bud, I fall asleep easier if "the TV" is on, I plug the phone in to my computer USB to charge for the night, lay it on the bed next to me (hence needing the pillow on the floor) and get comfy to fall asleep.
The End
I'm a little embarrassed to even hit "Publish" on this one as it isn't quite a true day: we didn't go anywhere on public transport. We always go somewhere! Seriously, not even a whole handful of days have we not gone somewhere on public transport. As a result, the boys would not have played quite that much Xbox if we had done other things! Don't judge. ;)
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