My Day

Ok, so you really want to know the humdrum typical day of a new father/ engineer/husband/writer with two dogs? If so, read on…but consider yourself warned.

You may become exhausted just reading it.

4:45am: Alarm goes off. Depending on how well (or not) the baby slept determines my general grogginess as I hit the shower.

5:00am: Bundle up and take the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood. I use this time to think about what I’m going to write that day…my WIP or a blog post or an email.

5:25am: I make a big press pot of coffee. I attempt to fit in feeding the dogs, eating my breakfast, and making my lunch in the time it takes to boil the water and seep the coffee. Rarely do I make it, but it’s fun to see how close I can get.

5:45am: Writing time. With the kiddo, I’m never sure when he’s going to wake for the day, so this could be 45 minutes or 2 hours. How ever long it ends up, it’s sacred.

7:00am: I’ll play with the baby while my wife gets herself and him ready for the day.

7:30am: My wife leaves with the kid. I jump back on the computer for another 30 minutes of writing time.

8:00am: I leave for work. Most days I have my Kindle read me a book through the car’s auxiliary jack.

8:15 or 8:30am: Start the workday. Engineering medical devices has a ton of protocol/report writing, so most days I do that between the spattering of meetings. On good days, I get into the lab for testing.

11:30am: If there’s not a lunch meeting, I sneak off to the gym or the San Francisco Bay trails for a run.

12:15pm: Shovel food into my mouth at my desk. Sometimes I have time to chew. Then it’s back to meetings/reports/etc.

5 or 5:30pm: Battle traffic to pick up the kiddo. Take him home and play with him until my wife arrives. That’s when the real work begins: Dinner (again, sometimes I chew). Dog’s dinner. Dishes. Trash. Bath time. Story time.

8:00pm: As my wife tucks the boy in, I head out for another walk with the dogs. Often I talk with my parents on the phone…if there’s not some pressing manuscript issue I need to be thinking about.

8:30pm: Spend another hour or so writing/blogging/emailing…as long as there’s not some other chore to be done or errand to be run.

9:30pm: Watch a little TV and have a bite (or several) of any dessert I’m able to scrounge up.

10 or 10:30pm: Get into bed. My wife and I chat about our days…and what our predictions are for how the baby will sleep. Finally, plummet into sleepy-time (hopefully) for a restful six hours until it all starts over!

Weekends, on the other hand, are really busy!

Though, in all seriousness, I love my life.