This week is about establishing some sort of routine so that I don’t spend all my time eating bon-bons and watching “What Not to Wear.” I still feel that I need to dig the house out from under its years of neglect, so I really do do laundry almost every day. Something always needs to be washed.

My day starts at 6:30. I wake up Geeky Boy, shove him into the shower while I go get coffee. Mr. Geeky is sometimes responsible for this task, but a) he stays up later than I do and sometimes it’s just as hard to rouse him at 6:30 and b) Geeky Boy doesn’t get up for him as well and c) he’s not very patient with Geeky Boy’s resistance to waking up (yes, pot, kettle).* At 7:00, I wake up Geeky Girl and I go downstairs and make breakfast. Right now, that’s an English muffin and a half grapefruit. Sometimes it’s eggs. Sometimes we skip that and Geeky Boy eats at school.

At 7:30, I drive Geeky Boy to school. We’re within walking distance, but it’s a really long walk. He has to leave no later than 7:10 (which means getting up at 6:00) to get there by 7:35/7:40. When it’s cold, we always drive him. I’m home by 7:45.

Meanwhile, Geeky Girl has been getting ready at home. Mr. Geeky is away this week, but normally he prods her through the process. She needs less prodding than Geeky Boy, which Mr. Geeky likes immensely. He can check email, etc. and not have to be “on” as much. She leaves at 8:00 for the bus.

During my work days, I would get in the shower either right after I got home from dropping Geeky Boy off or between 8 and 8:30. Now it’s 8:30 at the earliest. When Mr. Geeky is here, I usually wait for him, so it’s 9 or 9:30 before I shower. This may seem irrelevant, but I generally don’t start my “work” day until after I’ve showered, but I think delaying that until 10 is going to be problematic, so the shower may get postponed in lieu of work. The joys of working at home!

At any rate, this week, I’ve worked through until lunch on a couple of writing projects, splitting the time evenly between the two, so about 1.5 hours on each. This is working for now, but I have a feeling, I may end up alternating days on each project or working on one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, something like that. The main thing I want to establish is that morning (which is my best brain time) is for work of that nature, not for housework, etc.

After lunch, which lasts only 20 minutes or so, I do housework-type stuff. I’m limiting this to only an hour. Each day is devoted to a particular part of the house. Today is living room day. What I’ve been doing is not just general straightening, but also massive cleanouts. Today, for example, I’m going to work on the entertainment cabinets, getting rid of some things we don’t need and organizing it. I’m also going to hang the blinds, blinds that we purchased at least 6 months ago (this is what I mean by neglect).

From 2-5, I putter. I’ve done different things. Sometimes, I just take a complete break. But mostly, I’ve been reading or finishing up a house project or baking. I’ve also tinkered around with a web site I’m working on for my future possible business, responded to various emails, etc. Geeky Boy gets home anywhere from 3-4 and Geeky Girl gets home at 4, so really, it’s hard to get involved in much of anything if I’m only going to have an hour to devote to it. When they get home, I get them started on homework. I also assign them chores. Every day, as I’m puttering, I think of things for them to do. Yesterday, I had Geeky Boy gather all the trash and take it outside. Geeky Girl is still excavating her room and they both had to clean the kitchen. Today, I’ll probably have Geeky Boy sort the recycling. Every day, there’s work to do on their rooms. I’m trying my best to establish new habits for them. In the past, there’s not really been time for chores except on the weekends and we all kind of rushed around in a vain attempt to maintain order.

This leaves evenings free. Sometimes, there’s more homework to complete or a chore or two to finish up, but generally, by 7:30, we can all relax and do whatever. Yesterday, we watched the Daily Show together. We’ve played games, etc.

I have a feeling that the holidays are going to throw a wrench in all of this. But, I’m hopeful that by at least Christmas, we’ll have a good enough foundation laid that I can really get cracking on things by January. Right now, I consider myself on sabbatical without a project.

*For the record, I think it’s ridiculous that school starts for teenagers at such an ungodly hour. I really, really wish they’d change this, for all our sakes.