5:30 a.m.: It’s another early morning for me thanks to period cramps and an aching back. This is a new symptom for me, and I’m not sure what’s causing it, but I’m waking up with spasms right below my ribs, but above my sciatica. Just add it to my list of ailments. I take some ibuprofen.

6:30 a.m.: I tried going back to sleep, but my back hurts too much so instead, I take another early morning bubble bath. That helps!

7:15 a.m.: I do a bit of research to figure out what’s causing this back pain and how to improve it, and then research pillow options on Amazon.

7:30 a.m.: I order breakfast (not proud of this, but I woke up in a lot of pain today between my back and my hips and it’s the path of least resistance) and read my book while I wait for it to arrive.

7:50 a.m.: Food is here, so I eat while scrolling Reddit. I play my NYT games and angrily text my group chat about today’s Connections categories.

8:30 a.m.: I go back to bed because I am exhausted, and I can do things like that as a childless woman, woop!

10:30 a.m.: I wake up before the alarm I had set for 11:30, and Eloise is laying on me. I spend some time petting her and then do some stretches – child’s pose and cat/cow in the bed, which feel oh-so-good on my back and hips. And then I slowly get off the bed and do more stretches, specifically focusing on my hips and IT band. I need to be so much better about stretching than I am!

10:45 a.m.: I putter around the house for a while. I put some Christmas stuff outside my door (a doormat, a wreath, a sign) and go through my morning routine. I also comment on some blogs.

11:45 a.m.: Cramps are crampin’ so I take a minute to sit on the couch and play on my phone.

12:00 p.m.: I get ready to leave for the day. I brush my hair into a bun, figure out what I’m taking to my mom’s, and get some boxes together to take down to the trash compactor.

12:15 p.m.: I leave my apartment, take the boxes to the trash compactor on my way, and then drive to Publix.

12:40 p.m.: Done at Publix. I drive to my mom’s house and then it’s time for football Sunday! There’s not a ton that happens: I eat lunch, we watch football, and I spend a lot of time scrolling and looking at Christmas present ideas. With a few taps on my phone, I’ve finished my younger nephew’s Christmas shopping. Woop!

3:00 p.m.: I make dessert. (I made this extra peppermint-y by adding crushed Andes peppermints to the mix.) While the cookies are baking, I sit down at the table and update my One Line a Day journal because I’m woefully behind.

4:30 p.m.: Couch rotting time. I mostly play on my phone while watching the game. Around 5:30, my brother leaves to have dinner with my SIL’s family since it’s her father’s birthday.

5:55 p.m.: I finally pick up my book and do a little reading, keeping an eye on the game while I do.

6:30 p.m.: I eat dinner (leftovers from lunch!) and continue filling in my One Line a Day journal.

7:00 p.m.: More couch rotting time. The end of the Eagles/Cowboys game is crazy! I chit-chat with mom and we talk about ideas for my birthday.

7:50 p.m.: The Eagles/Cowboys game is over so it’s time for me to head home. When I get home, I give the girls some treats and put out my trash to be picked up outside my door (valet trash is my faaaave).

8:20 p.m.: I sit on the couch, turn on the Sunday Night Football game, and have quality time with my heating pad. I give it 15 minutes on each hip/upper leg, 15 minutes on the top of my left shoulder, and 15 minutes on my back. Ahhhh!

9:30 p.m.: I work on the blog post that will be publishing tomorrow. I also read and comment on blog posts.

10:45 p.m.: I’m very tired and have an early alarm tomorrow. I do a shortened nighttime routine and then it’s off to bed for me!

END NOTES //

• Sleep score: 87
• Apnea score: 1.4 per hour
• Sleep duration: 6 hours, 6 minutes
• Podcast episodes: 3 (The Worst Bestsellers, Pod Save America, and Diabolical Lies)
• TV episodes: 0
• Facetimes with mom: 0
• Reading time: 39 minutes (Atlas of the Heart), 37 minutes (Battle of the Bookstores)

sunday in the life: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014

5:30 a.m.: I’ve been up for a while with period cramps, but kept trying to fall back asleep without dealing with them. Why do I do this to myself? Anyway, I get up, take some ibuprofen, and go back to bed.

6:00 a.m.: Cramps are still being a nuisance so I take a hot bubble bath, which definitely helps. Nothing like a 6AM bubble bath!

6:30 a.m.: After my bath, I sit down on the couch with a new book (Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown!) and read for about 20 minutes, but it makes me very sleepy.

6:50 a.m.: I make toast and then sit down at my laptop to finish the blog post I’m publishing today. I also comment on some blogs.

8:00 a.m.: I get dressed, brush my teeth, pull my hair into a bun, and pack my backpack. I also take my meds and unload the dishwasher.

8:30 a.m.: I leave the apartment and drive to my local Whole Foods. Not for food! (I am much too poor for their prices.) But to do an Amazon return. Usually, I drop my returns at The UPS Store, but the only option for a free, no box return was Whole Foods. They had real Christmas trees right as I walked into the store, and omg, the smellllll. So perfect!

9:00 a.m.: I drive to my salon for a waxing appointment. Long story short, I have a condition called hidradenitis suppurativa, which means I am very suspectible to getting cysts, especially in my underarms. Last year, I had three different cysts become infected and it was quite an ordeal. Once I learned that clogged hair follicles could be the cause of these cysts, I decided to start getting my underarms waxed professionally. And ever since, I haven’t had a single infected cyst! It’s reason enough for me to keep getting my underarms waxed. Anyway, the appointment is quick and easy!

9:15 a.m.: After the appointment, I drive over to Starbucks for my weekly writing date with Mikaela.

9:45 a.m.: Writing date! I order a peppermint mocha and egg bites. I spend my time working on a blog post, commenting on blog posts, and responding to comments on my blog posts.

11:25 a.m.: Writing date complete. I drive home and I’m feeling pretty moody at this point. I’m guessing it’s related to my period, and I hope this moodiness will pass soon. I hate feeling this way!

11:45 a.m.: I’m home. I’m puttering around when I get a Facetime from little miss Olive (Mikaela’s daughter). I chat with her, her younger sister Eleni, and Mikaela while they get ready for a fun afternoon. Once we hang up, I heat up lunch (pizza leftovers from last night) and eat it while watching some episodes of Friends. My mom calls me while I’m halfway through watching a second episode, and we chit-chat for a bit. All of this puts me in a better mood!

1:30 p.m.: It’s naptime. I had another terrible night of sleep, so I’m not even setting an alarm. I’ll sleep however long I need to sleep.

4:00 p.m.: I’m up after a wonderful 2.5-hour nap. (And no, this won’t affect my sleep tonight. I’ll fall asleep easily because I AM BROKEN.) My mom has texted me some fun birthday ideas for me, so I spend time scrolling on my phone, looking at the different options.

4:30 p.m.: I putter around the house for a bit before sitting down on the couch with my book for some dedicated reading time.

5:07 p.m.: I call my mom and we chat for 30 minutes. Afterward, I order dinner. (I thought about going to Publix and getting groceries at this point, but I just couldn’t summon the energy. My energy is typically so low during the first few days of my period.)

5:40 p.m.: More puttering time. I add more ornaments to the tree, strip my bed and put the sheets and pillowcases in the wash, and tidy up around the apartment.

6:00 p.m.: Time for some dedicated blogging work! I mostly read and comment on blogs, and I’m feeling a lot more caught up than I was a few days ago. It’s helpful to have a quiet week with very little plans!

6:40 p.m.: I switch out the laundry and then put my big quilt in the washer. And then my food arrives! I eat dinner and finish up season 3 of Friends. Seeing Robin Williams broke my goddamn heart. What a treasure.

7:50 p.m.: Laundry is done so I remake my bed and switch my quilt to the dryer. I also hang up a photo and do more tree decorating. (I decorate the tree so very slowly, lol.)

8:20 p.m.: I sit on the couch for some reading time! I am really enjoying Atlas of the Heart. I’m envisioning a podcast episode out of what I’m learning, but I’m not quite sure what it will look like yet.

8:45 p.m.: I need to do things, but I don’t want to do things. So instead, I put on a podcast and finish a page on Happy Color.

9:00 p.m.: I do a semblance of a nighttime routine. I also shake out the litter mats and sweep up all the accompanying litter particles before scooping the litter boxes.

9:40 p.m.: Blogging time. I finalize the blog post that will publish tomorrow morning and comment on more blogs. My mom Facetimes me to talk about the Survivor episode she just watched (she’s watching a season I’ve seen before, so we have lots we can talk about!) and then, of course, we get to chit-chatting about other things, as we do.

11:00 p.m.: I’m so tired so I close the laptop, turn off all the lights, and head to bed. But before I can go to bed, I need to ask ChatGPT what this sharp, shooting pain in my head means. A brain aneurysm? A tumor? Will I wake up tomorrow? Since it’s not combined with anything like a fever, numbness, confusion, or vision problems, it’s probably not anything serious. Likely nerve irritation.

11:30 p.m.: Lights out.

END NOTES //

• Sleep score: 73
• Apnea score: 4.8 per hour
• Sleep duration: 5 hours, 40 minutes
• Podcast episodes: 4 (Sarah’s Bookshelves Live, Behind the Bastards, Beach Too Sandy Water Too Wet, Rob Has a Podcast)
• TV episodes: 3 (Friends)
• Facetimes with mom: 3
• Reading time: 1 hour (Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave – audiobook); 1 hour, 4 minutes (Atlas of the Heart)

saturday in the life: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014

5:15 a.m.: My alarm goes off. Snooze, cats, think about why I would ever willingly schedule a 6am HIIT class.

5:25 a.m.: I’m up. And what a nice morning surprise: I started my period! Ughhh. I deal with that, brush my teeth, pull my hair into a bun, get dressed, and fill up my water bottle.

5:40 a.m.: I leave for the gym. When I arrive, I don’t see my mom’s car (she’s usually here before me), so I check on her location. She’s still at home! She calls me and says she never heard her alarm. Tsk, tsk! I’m already here, so I’ll just get through HIIT class on my own.

6:00 a.m.: HIIT class. This one doesn’t feel as good as Monday. Some of the exercises were tougher on my hips/IT band. I just had to take things a little lighter than normal!

6:45 a.m.: All done with my workout for today, yay! I order a bagel and iced coffee from the Einstein’s app on my way out of the gym and then swing by to pick it up.

7:10 a.m.: I’m home. I feed the cats and eat breakfast while catching up on some of my email subscriptions (I have 70-ish in my folder to read, eeks!)

7:40 a.m.: Work time! I mostly work through my morning tasks and then work on finalizing the December content assignments.

8:45 a.m.: I apply my psoriasis hair treatment, which needs to sit for 15 minutes before I rinse it out. So I read and comment on blogs while I wait. Then, I take a shower and get dressed. I also light a pumpkin apple candle in my office. So cozy!

9:40 a.m.: Work time! I’m locked in on finishing up the December content assignments, but then get distracted by a side chat with our BizOps team because they want to make a change that’s going to fuck up our content workflow big time. Thankfully, once I calmly explain that it wouldn’t be ideal for that to happen, they find a much better solution. Whew, crisis averted!

11:00 a.m.: I take a break to throw a load of linens (bath towels, kitchen towels, hand towels, washcloths, and reusable cotton rounds that I use for my skincare routine), brush out my hair, and take my meds. I also do my weekly CPAP cleaning—I soak the humidifier, mask, headgear, and tubing in a warm bubble bath for about an hour.

11:30 a.m.: Back to work and back to finalizing December assignments.

12:10 p.m.: My tummy is grumblin’ so it’s time for lunch. As I heat up hamburger stew, I take the CPAP equipment out of its bubble bath to let it air dry. Then I eat lunch while watching, you guessed it, an episode of Friends. After eating, I clean up the girls’ dishes and respond to some Teams messages that came in.

1:00 p.m.: I take a nap. I slept less than 5 hours last night so I am dragging.

2:30 p.m.: A loud noise wakes me up. Was the loud noise in my dream or is someone trying to break into my apartment? I check the Ring camera – nobody is there. So it must have been my dream! Now that I’m up, I switch over the laundry and then see that a package was delivered. I get it from the doorstep and it’s Lucy’s blanket! (Her Christmas present from me this year – here’s the Etsy shop where I bought it.) It’s so cozy and cute. I call my mom to show her, but she doesn’t answer.

2:50 p.m.: I’m reading through some email subscriptions, intending to get back to work at 3, but then my mom calls me and we have a long chat! She loves the blanket.

3:30 p.m.: Okay, time for work! I call into a meeting and then work on December assignments. Allllll dooooone. Woohoo! I clear out my email inbox and do some easy content posting to wrap up the week.

5:30 p.m.: I’m done with work – time to start my weekend! I go through my ritual of closing all the blinds, turning on lights, and lighting a cozy candle. Then I flop on the couch and dissociate for a while, playing Happy Color on my phone while listening to a podcast. I also order pizza from my fave local place.

6:20 p.m.: Okay, I need to get up and do something so I decide to put together my Christmas tree! I have the perfect spot for it in my living room. I’m always nervous I’m going to plug in the tree and the lights won’t work, but they do! I’m unsure if I will keep this tree past this Christmas (I’ve had it for five years) since more and more lights are burned out every year, but it’s not enough to be too noticeable. I start the arduous fluffing process.

6:35 p.m.: Food has been delivered, so I take a break to eat dinner while watching some episodes of Friends and coloring.

8:00 p.m.: Blogging time, mainly reading blogs and catching up on commenting! Yay! Mom calls me at some point and we chat for a bit.

9:10 p.m.: Puttering time. I keep fluffing the tree, setting up my smart plug for the tree lights, stringing some lights over the bookshelves in my office, and putting away the oodles of Christmas bins that have been littering my office for weeks. I also do some tidying of the apartment and fold laundry.

9:45 p.m.: More blogging time! More commenting, working on my post that will publish tomorrow, etc.

10:15 p.m.: Puttering time. I put away all the clean laundry, start the dishwasher, and hang another string of lights in my bedroom. Christmas has arrived!

10:40 p.m.: I give myself some dedicated reading time on the couch. I’m enjoying my romance a bit more. I should use this time to do some heat therapy, but I’m tired of doing it every night, sigh.

11:10 p.m.: Set up my CPAP machine since all the equipment has been air-drying in different spots in my apartment.

11:20 p.m.: It’s lights out for me!

END NOTES //

• Sleep score: 67
• Apnea score: 4.5 per hour
• Sleep duration: 4 hrs, 52 min (ughhhhhh)
• Podcast episodes: 4 (Have You Seen This Man?, Good Hang, Rob Has a Podcast, On Fire with Jeff Probst)
• TV episodes: 4 (Friends)
• Facetimes with mom: 2
• Reading time: 1 hour (Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave – audiobook), 28 minutes (Battle of the Bookstores)

friday in the life: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014

6:42 a.m.: I wake up, rip off my CPAP mask and throw it on the floor, and then doze in and out while petting cats that jump up on my bed.

7:30 a.m.: My alarm officially goes off and I’m ready to get up. I feed the girls, make breakfast (eggs and toast again!), and then scroll through Reddit while eating breakfast.

8:00 a.m.: Work on today’s blog post while finishing my coffee.

8:30 a.m.: I do my morning routine and start a load of laundry.

9:00 a.m.: Working block! Except when I sit down to work, both my wireless mouse and wireless keyboard aren’t responding. Hmm. I replace the batteries in both and still nothin’. So I restart my computer and like magic, they work again! This morning, I:

• go through my morning tasks (emails, editing assignments, sending content from editors, checking in on Salesforce reports)
• update my slides for our department meeting later today
• content editing
• back-and-forth with one of our SEO strategists about a content plan

11:30 a.m.: Lunchtime! I heat up another serving of hamburger stew, put on an episode of Friends, and watch it while eating and coloring.

12:00 p.m.: I’m in a time vortex here because I am unsure of where I spent my time between now and 45 minutes later when I Facetime with my mom. I did some Christmas shopping (I am so ahead of the game, you guys!) and did some Instagram scrolling, but WHAT HAPPENED IN THOSE 45 MINUTES?! I don’t know.

12:45 p.m.: I Facetime with my mom and then decide I’m not in the mood to work so I take a nap on the couch.

1:30 p.m.: My alarm wakes me up, ugh. But I see a cat on the couch with me and a cat on the hammock directly across from me. Cute!

1:45 p.m.: Work time. I think I mainly did content editing and email responses here. But I didn’t write down what I did, so I don’t actually remember. Helpful!

2:45 p.m.: I Facetime with my mom to tell her I asked for Dec 24 – Jan 2 off work. Listen, all the talk about how people use less time when they get unlimited time off is NOT TRUE FOR ME. I took off so much time this year.

3:10 p.m.: I take a short break to switch the laundry to the dryer, do my hair, fill in my eyebrows, and put on some mascara.

3:45 p.m.: Long working block!

• make notes for an upcoming meeting
• department meeting
• work through December content assignments
• clear out email inbox
• content editing

7:00 p.m.: I’m done with work for the day, yay! I need time to decompress on the couch before starting dinner so I sit down with my book. But I’m just not feeling this book and decide to abandon it. Onward to more engaging books! I scroll on my phone, looking at Christmas present ideas.

7:40 p.m.: I make dinner (homemade nachos again) and then watch two episodes of Friends and one episode of The Floor. (<– I love this game show and would apply to be on it if I didn’t have social anxiety and struggle with word retrieval!)

9:20 p.m.: How is it already so late? Argh! I start working on blogging stuff, but only really have time to finish the blog post that will publish tomorrow and start inserting pictures. Promise I’m going to catch up on everyone’s blog posts SOON.

9:30 p.m.: I sit on the couch with my heating pad, call my mom and chat with her for a bit, and then read for about 10 minutes. I started Battle of the Bookstores and it’s… fine. Hopefully it gets better.

10:10 p.m.: There is still so much to do before bed, argh! I do my evening skincare routine, fold and put away the laundry, scoop the litter boxes (it is so, so painful to get down on the floor to scoop the litter boxes, ugh), clean the kitchen, and finalize tomorrow’s blog post.

11:55 p.m.: Finally in bed. I’m going to hate myself tomorrow.

END NOTES //

• Sleep score: 75
• Apnea score: 7.5 per hour (<– not ideal, meh)
• Sleep duration: 6 hrs, 35 min
• Podcast episodes: 3 (Diabolical Lies, Currently Reading, and The Popcast)
• TV episodes: 4 (three episodes of Friends, one episode of The Floor)
• Facetimes with mom: 2
• Reading time: 1 hour, 24 minutes (Generations – audiobook); 10 minutes (The English Experience); and 10 minutes (Battle of the Bookstores)

thursday in the life: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014