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

7:10 a.m.: Wake up before my alarm and laze around in bed. I snuggle the cats and scroll through Instagram.

7:35 a.m.: Time to get up! I feed the cats and then make breakfast (eggs and toast with iced coffee). I read blogs while I eat breakfast and then start working on yesterday’s blog post.

8:15 a.m.: I do my full morning routine today. Yay!

Cleanser, toner, niacinamide, vitamin c serum, and moisturizer 

9:00 a.m.: Working block. I do my morning tasks and then have an hour-long leadership meeting that runs over.

11:15 a.m.: Lunchtime. I heat up hamburger stew and eat it while watching an episode of Friends. Then, I clean up my lunch dishes, clean up the girls’ food area, and give them fresh food.

12:00 p.m.: Working block. I deal with emails, have a short meeting with some of the other managers to play around with the poll function on Teams, and then start auditing a website.

What my face looks like when I don’t fill in my eyebrows, sigh

1:40 p.m.: FaceTime with Mom because I had to tell her about my crazy dream last night (I moved into a different apartment!)

1:50 p.m.: Back to work!

2:05 p.m.: Speed around the house because I need to leave for my chiropractor appointment ASAP. I change my clothes, pull up my hair into a high ponytail, and pack my backpack.

2:15 p.m.: Drive to my chiropractor’s office and leave a Marco Polo for Mikaela on the way.

2:35 p.m.: Everyone is running behind at the chiro, so at least getting there 5 minutes late didn’t mess anything up. Whew! I have a quick adjustment session and talk to my chiro about Thanksgiving plans.

3:00 p.m.: Drive to a nearby Starbucks and park myself at a table with a peppermint mocha. Mm! Work time! I mostly work through some content editing tasks and keep an eye on my email.

4:45 p.m.: Leave Starbucks and drive to physical therapy, which is only a few minutes away.

5:00 p.m.: Physical therapy! This is my last scheduled session, so I have to decide if I want to keep doing PT or do the exercises on my own. I have been seeing improvements and the PT sessions are free, so the answer is probably to schedule more sessions. But still, I’m on the fence!

5:50 p.m.: Done with PT! I drive to Publix and pick up a few things. On my way home, I realize I’m driving behind my mom’s car! I text her a very creepy, “I’m right behind you.” Muahaha! (She’s driving to dinner with Robert, and I might have invited myself along if I didn’t have ice cream in the car!)

6:20 p.m.: I’m home! I give the girls some treats and then take a very relaxing bubble bath.

6:50 p.m.: I get into my pajamas and then sit down at my laptop to do some blogging work. I take a short break at some point to empty my dishwasher and throw a frozen pizza in the oven.

8:00 p.m.: It’s time for Survivor! I watch it on my iPad at the table while eating pizza and finalizing my blog post that will publish tomorrow. I also do some coloring!

10:00 p.m.: Still watching TV! After Survivor, it was time for The Amazing Race. However, I move myself over to my couch and put the show on my TV. I use the heating pad and then the massage stick on my aching hips/IT band.

11:00 p.m.: I call my mom once our shows are over and we chit-chat for a while.

11:35 p.m.: I clean the kitchen and do an abbreviated nighttime routine.

11:50 p.m.: I’m exhausted, so it’s right to bed for me! No time for reading.

END NOTES //

• Sleep score: 100 (!)
• Apnea score: 5.2 per hour
• Sleep duration: 7 hrs, 50 min
• Podcast episodes: 4 (American History Tellers, The Friendship Paradox, Pod Save America, and The Popcast)
• TV episodes: 3 (Friends, Survivor, and The Amazing Race)
• Facetimes with mom: 2
• Reading time: 1 hour, 51 minutes (Generations – audiobook); 13 minutes (The English Experience)

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

5:15 a.m.: My alarm goes off, I snooze it. Lila and Eloise jump on the bed for morning cuddles.

5:25 a.m.: Second alarm goes off and I’m up. I get dressed, brush my teeth, pull my hair into a bun, and fill up my water bottle.

5:40 a.m.: Drive to the gym.

6:00 a.m.: Spin class! My first one in over a month, so I wasn’t sure how my hips would respond. Unfortunately, things were not as easy as HIIT class yesterday. It didn’t feel good to cycle out of the saddle, so I either stayed in my seat or went verrrry slowly. This instructor also likes “jumps” where we sit, then stand, then hover, then sit, then stand, then hover, in quick succession, and I was unable to do those movements. But I still got a great workout! Slow and steady, as I ease back into my exercise routine.

6:50 a.m.: Drive home. I’m tempted to stop at Starbucks for a peppermint mocha (I am soooo sleepy), but I tell myself I have coffee and peppermint mocha creamer at home.

7:10 a.m.: I’m home. I feed the cats and take a shower. But before I step into the shower, I spend far too long scrolling on Instagram, oops.

7:45 a.m.: I make coffee and oatmeal for breakfast and work on yesterday’s blog post.

8:15 a.m.: Quick morning routine.

8:35 a.m.: Morning working block. Except the Cloudflare outage means Salesforce is down for me, which is where I do the majority of my work. Wah! I chat with the other managers about it. I’m able to do some contractor editing, but I’m just so sleepy and this outage is ruining my normal morning work routine, so I decide to take a nap.

9:10 a.m.: NAP TIIIIIIME!

10:00 a.m.: My alarm goes off. Sad! I scroll on my phone and work on a graphic for the podcast episode that was released today. It takes longer than I expected because I paused my Canva premium subscription, and have to update our podcast logo on the post, since it has premium-level graphics. Ugh.

10:20 a.m.: I should do some work, right? Right. Saleforce is working for me again, yay! I work through my morning tasks and then realize I’m getting hungry and need to prep dinner in the Crock-Pot so I take a break. Lolz.

11:15 a.m.: I start prepping dinner, which is going to be hamburger stew in the Crock-Pot. I like my Crock-Pot meals to be super easy – basically just adding everything into the pot, mixing it up, and letting it cook on its own. But this recipe had so many extra steps, and it took me forever to do them: peeling and dicing the potatoes, peeling and dicing the carrots, browning ground beef on the stove. (And that’s with me buying precut onions and using jarred minced garlic—there was more prep!) Halfway through, I tried ordering lunch through Ubereats but the app wouldn’t work. LOVELY.

I need to figure out something to have for lunch at home because my blood sugar is dropping quickly. I can feel the symptoms of a hypoglycemia episode coming on (overheating, shakiness), and all I want right now is sugar. I have healthier snacks available, but once I’m in this state, my brain shuts down and I reach for the quickest way to boost my blood sugar, and today, that’s chocolate chips. Yep. I start gobbling down handful after handful of chocolate chips as I continue dinner prep. It is not my finest hour.

(Mom also calls me when I’m nearly done with the prep to see how my body is doing after spin class. So sweet! Luckily, no aches or pains.)

12:15 p.m.: I am finally done prepping this stupid Crock-Pot meal, and the best I can do for lunch is fish sticks, rice, and green beans. Semi-healthy? Ish? Whatever. It’s food. While it’s cooking, I clean up the kitchen because it’s a mess from all the food prep.

12:45 p.m.: Time for lunch! I eat while working on blog posts and fiddling with some Apple Health stuff.

1:30 p.m.: Okay, serious working block commence! (I love that my job is flexible in that I don’t have to be in front of my computer from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day—I can take these long breaks when needed, but it also means I’ll be working late today.) Here’s what I get done:

• content edits
• posting QAs
• back-to-back 1:1s (same as yesterday – 4 in a row – but most are 15 minutes or less)
• clearing out my email inbox

3:45 p.m.: I take a short break because four meetings in a row are very draining. I put up some travel photos on one of my walls. I’m still deciding if it’s the right layout. I want it to be a little asymmetrical.

Then, I poke around Wayfair, looking at nightstands (the one I bought is smaller than I expected, and I’m going to need something bigger at some point). I add some more Christmas decor to the apartment. I give the girls some treats when Lila starts meowing at me. And I call my mom, but she doesn’t answer.

4:30 p.m.: Another working block! I do more content editing and work on December assignments for our content team. I also work on some boring Salesforce report things (it’s a part of my job that I love, but I recognize it’s hella boring to most people). My mom calls me back at some point, and we chat!

6:00 p.m.: Dinner time! Even though the Crock-Pot meal took forever to prep, at least it’s easy to dish out. I give myself a big bowl of stew and eat it while watching a few episodes of Friends. I also eat ice cream straight from the carton because hey, I live alone and I can do things like that.

7:00 p.m.: I set a timer for 30 minutes and do some blogging work! I finish writing yesterday’s post and start working on inserting photos. I also read and comment on blogs. (I am so behind, you guys. So behind.)

7:30 p.m.: Back in my office to get some work done. Mostly content editing and posting.

8:00 p.m.: I scoop the litter boxes (I’m very excited that my new Litter Genie has arrived so now I have one in each litter box location—in the previous apartment, both litter boxes were in my bedroom walk-in closet. In the new place, one is in the walk-in closet and one is in the living room, so I decided to treat myself to a second Litter Genie so I don’t have to keep lugging the one I have from the bedroom to the living room every night.) I also start my nighttime routine, going to do the full skincare routine tonight!

Cleanser, liquid exfoliant, toner, niacinamide, and moisturizer. (I need to add retinol back into my skincare routine; I can’t remember why I stopped.)

8:30 p.m.: More blogging work. I get my blog post scheduled for tomorrow morning and then read some blogs.

9:00 p.m.: Baaaaack to the office for one last working sprint. More boring work stuff happens, but I feel like I’m in a good spot to shut things down after 45 minutes.

9:45 p.m.: I finish my nighttime routine, clean the kitchen, and set up my new silverware organizer. (It’s so pretty!)

10:05 p.m.: I sit on the couch with a heating pad that I use on both hips/IT bands. While I’m doing that, I call my mom on Facetime and we chat for a while.

10:35 p.m.: I use my new massage stick on my glutes, hips, and IT band. I feel a lot of tenderness right below my hip (Google tells me it’s the “tensor fasciae latae” muscle), which makes sense with all the hip and IT band pain I’ve been having. It feels good to massage it. Afterward, I do my PT stretches in bed, which also feels really good.

10:50 p.m.: It’s so late. I want to read my book, but I am so tired. I play Happy Color for a few minutes and can barely keep my eyes open. I ask Alexa to turn off my light, as I make sure my alarm is set, put on my CPAP mask, and turn on an ASMR video.

END NOTES //

• Sleep score: 84 (high) <– I don’t trust this new Apple watch sleep score
• Apnea score: 3.4 per hour
• Sleep duration: 5 hrs, 51 min
• Podcast episodes: 5 (Oh God It’s Friday, Maintenance Phase, Faith Adjacent, Stuff You Should Know, and Beach Too Sandy Water Too Wet)
• TV episodes: 2 (Friends)
• Facetimes with mom: 3
• Reading time: 1 hour, 44 minutes (Generations – audiobook)

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

5:15 a.m.: Alarm goes off. I snooze it, rip off my CPAP mask and throw it on the floor, and then Lila jumps up on the bed. I pet her while half-asleep and she purrs oh-so-loudly.

5:25 a.m.: Second alarm and I’m up. Eloise jumps on the bed after I get up and meows good morning at me. I tell her good morning and pick her up for morning cuddles. Then, I get dressed, brush my teeth, fill up my water bottle, and say goodbye to the cats.

5:40 a.m.: Drive to the gym while listening to a podcast.

6:00 a.m.: HIIT class! My first one in well over a month. It went well – no hip pain or IT band pain! I’m hoping extra movement will help the healing process. I was also surprised that I was able to keep up during class. Maybe not at my previous intensity, but not too far off from it, either.

6:45 a.m.: I leave the gym and drive to Publix.

7:00 a.m.: Grocery shopping! (I love a Monday morning grocery shop right as the store opens. So peaceful!)

7:22 a.m.: Done and driving home. Then, I put away the groceries, feed the cats, and sit down to eat breakfast. I also start writing my blog post that will be published tomorrow (about our last day in London).

8:00 a.m.: I spend far too long trying to figure out why my Apple watch won’t let me check for updates, which is when I discover I need to update my iPhone. The new iOS 26 is wild. Everything looks and feels different on my phone now!

8:30 a.m.: Take a shower and do a quick morning routine (take my meds, deal with CPAP, empty dishwasher, and brush out my hair).

(current meds: turmeric, anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxer, fish oil, vitamin d, iron, prozac, vitamin c, multivitamin)

9:00 a.m.: It’s time for my morning working block. It’s a busy one:

• morning tasks (sort through emails, divvy out editing assignments, check on my contractor reports to ensure nothing needs to be responded to)
• pull a Salesforce report about delayed tasks to send to some of our content writers
• side chat with another manager about a troublesome account
• reply to emails
• edit content from one of our contractors
• do some website posting/QA
• resource plan for December content assignments

(I like to bounce around different tasks. It works for my brain!)

11:42 a.m.: I’m starving, so it’s time for lunch. I have a Pub sub and then two gingerbread cookies I made yesterday during family time. I watch an episode of Friends and finish a coloring page.

12:17 p.m.: Chore time! I vacuum my room and then put up a few more pictures – gallery wall is almost complete! I also clean up the girls’ breakfast dishes and give them fresh food and water. Then, I swipe a straightener through my hair, draw on some eyebrows, and put on mascara since I have meetings all afternoon.

12:40 p.m.: I call my mom to tell her how weird the new iPhone update is because that’s an important thing to interrupt her workday for.

12:50 p.m.: Afternoon working block! Let’s review:

• internal meeting to talk through some next steps for a troublesome client
• 4 back-to-back 1:1 meetings with my writers – some of them last the full 30 minutes and others are quick 10-minute check-in sessions
• editing contractor content
• posting/QA
• email cleanout

I also do a Target curbside order in between my 1:1 meetings.

4:30 p.m.: I’m done with work for the day! I get dressed for physical therapy and tell the kitties good-bye. While driving to therapy, I send Mikaela a Marco Polo video.

5:00 p.m.: Physical therapy! I do a warm-up on the bike and then some stretching and strengthening exercises. My PT also uses a massage stick on my hips, glutes, and IT band, which feels oh-so-good. We talk a lot about books during the second half of our appointment, which is a topic I can chatter on about for a long, long time.

5:53 p.m.: Done with PT! I drive to Target to get my pickup order.

6:17 p.m.: Home sweet home. I give the girls some treats and then start making dinner (homemade nacho night!). I eat dinner and watch three episodes of Friends. I also have a bowl of ice cream at some point.

Proof that Lila doesn’t always look supremely photogenic, ha

8:15 p.m.: I call my mom for an evening chat. Lila sits behind me on the couch and swishes her tail in my face the whole time, ha.

8:50 p.m.: Blogging time! I’ve only written 25% of my last London recap, oops. I finish writing the recap and then work on inserting photos. I take breaks here and there to complete a modified nighttime routine (taking my nightly meds, filling my CPAP humidifier, tidying the kitchen and starting the dishwasher, brushing my teeth, etc). 

10:50 p.m.: Blog post is scheduled to publish tomorrow morning, and I am so very tired. But I can’t go to sleep just yet – I need to read for just a few minutes to keep my Bookly reading streak alive. I haven’t read at all today – not even my audiobook! I only make it one chapter (8 minutes) before I call it a night. The book goes on the nightstand, the alarm is set, the CPAP mask is on, and I turn on an ASMR video to lull me to sleep.

END NOTES //

• Sleep score: 83 (high) <– this seems inaccurate, since I slept less than 6 hours!
• Apnea score: 2.6 per hour
• Sleep duration: 5 hrs, 42 min
• Podcast episodes: 5 (two episodes of Rob Has a Podcast, Book Riot, Behind the Bastards, Good Hang)
• TV episodes: 4 (one episode of Friends during lunch, three episodes while eating dinner)
• Facetimes with mom: 3
• Reading time: 8 minutes (The English Experience)

monday in the life: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2017, 2016, 2015. and 2014

Do you take more or fewer meds/supplements than me?