TUESDAY REPORT

 As many of you tactfully predicted in the comments of THIS POST, my first Tuesday of the school year DID NOT GO AS PLANNED.

For one thing, you guys, I GOT MY PERIOD for the first time in NINE MONTHS. This means that my menopause clock (menopause is official when you have gone a whole year without a period) STARTS OVER. I also got a terrible little raging insomnia bout and had just awful PMS (maybe the p stands for PERPETUAL), so I was already a little off my game. (I got a different brand of estrogen patch when I refilled instead of the one I had been enjoying, and the adhesive didn't really work and I didn't notice right away, and I think that's what kicked off the shitstorm. I am still waiting for more follow up from my menopause care provider to see if I need to adjust meds or maybe have some imaging.) (I am also calling pharmacies trying to find my OG brand in stock-- apparently, this happens with estrogen patches; they don't all work the same for everyone). (Spent a whole day tracking a box down. Had to pay $100 since it was an early refill and my insurance wouldn't cover it. They will cover it again next week, so I will order then and stay a few patches ahead in case sourcing is an issue again. My provider also made a note that I can only have a certain brand, which sometimes encourages a pharmacy to stock that brand).

For another thing-- and this is the thing you noticed-- I am expecting to do A WHOLE LOT before I leave the house on Tuesdays. Luckily! I am tracking my time right now, so I can tell you exactly how the morning went.

I meant to get up at 5, but I BARELY SLEPT AT ALL (did not fall asleep until sometime after TWO AM), and my iPhone alarm was on silent (WHY IS THIS A FEATURE? WHO MEANS TO SET A SILENT ALARM?), sooooooo I got up at 6.

6:00: Put on a sweatshirt and exfoliating foot lotion and dorky crew socks (anytime I wear socks, I treat it like a mini foot spa situation), dorky ankle weights, and a dorky vest and walk Annabel while listening to The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus; start laundry on the way out

6:30: Wash my face and apply one million potions. Put on my under eye patches. Help Minnie get dressed in the outfit she picked out for her self-proclaimed PINK WEEK, help her brush her teeth, persuade her to wear at least some of her hair out of her face, make her requested breakfast of a peanut butter sandwich, a piece of cheese, grapes, and a Danimal (shrug). Celebrate Cooper when he came upstairs (FOURTEEN LAST TUESDAY!); switch laundry.

7:00: Supervise sibling gift opening and encourage Coop to text the grands to thank them for his gifts and cards; general kid management, although I also had time to drink coffee since Minnie needs the most hands-on help, and she is pretty much ready to go before she eats breakfast and can go straight from the table to school; pack lunches and ice packs and water bottle into bags (the actual lunches themselves get packed the night before). Decide my hair looks so cute with my face-washing headband on that I actually WEAR a headband for the day (different one); do a literal 5-minute face with a timer, and throw on my second first day of school outfit (one of my classes met for the first time!!)

7:30: Walk Minnie to school; come home to wipe down bathrooms real fast before leaving by 7:45 with Dorothy and Coper to go out to breakfast. (my work bag was packed, so all I had to do was throw my phone in there and go).Tidy breakfast (not messy since it was only Minnie and Jack), and switch laundry again as we leave).

8:00  Birthday breakfast at Hubbard and a quick trip to Kwik Trip to load up on energy drinks and garbage treats. 

9:00 Drop Dorothy and Cooper at school; rush to campus (only 2 miles but SO MUCH TRAFFIC). Park, walk to my classroom.

Missing from my morning? Cardio and strength training, bed making and general tidying. I had to fit this all in (45 minutes of exercise; 20 minutes of general housework) in the afternoon, subtracting it from focused work time. WHICH IS WHY I EXPECT SO MUCH OF TUESDAY MORNINGS.