I participated in Ali’s Day in The Life project on Saturday. So far I’ve never done anything with all the pictures and words I’ve recorded in these projects but I still love to do them. Sometimes just doing the documentation makes it worth while. It’s an opportunity to notice things about our life and routines right now and to notice the changes since last time I did this sort of in depth documentation.
Here is our day: Saturday, 30 July 2016, 6 AM to 10 PM

6 AM: I am the first one up. I enjoy this window of time all to myself, especially on Saturdays since there is nothing I need to be doing to get ready for the day. I feed the critters, make some tea and sit down with my knitting (a cardigan for Maisie). Abby curls up next to me.

7 AM: Maisie woke up an called me fifteen minutes ago. She wanted to stay in bed “sleeping” a bit longer but wanted me there. We play in the living room so we won’t wake up Rob. Baby skunk bear was still tired and needed to be put in her crib with a blanket. Maisie takes “pictures” of me with her phone and shows them to me. I have to make a variety of silly faces for her.

8 AM: I bring everything for breakfast (granola, mini chocolate chips, yogurt, juice) out to the living room on a tray and we eat at the coffee table. It makes breakfast kind of special just by being in a different place. When she’s done eating Maisie starts singing the alphabet song and dancing along. I have to sing too. Then she does our make-up according to the steps in some of the tutorial videos she’s watched (She loves all kinds of how-to videos).

9 AM: Get dressed and try to convince Maisie that we need to go to Canadian Tire to get squirrel food and a few other things. We end up outside looking at the garden. I notice we’ve got a second sunflower open and some strawberries almost ripe. I take a picture of our raspberries; so does Maisie.

10 AM: Finally on our way to Canadian Tire. We take our time shopping and then take extra time while the sales clerk tries to figure out why the computer wants to charge me $1537.05 for a plastic bin.

11 AM: Home again. I bring in our things. Maisie decides she’s going to make me a grilled cheese sandwich in her kitchen. I get in a couple more rows of her sweater. My sandwich involves a canning jar, a bunch of hair elastics and a foam ball. We fill the squirrel feeder and put out a bowl of in-the-shell peanuts to see what the squirrels think of them.

12 PM: I make coffee for me and Rob, get the dishwasher going and make some lunch for me and Maisie (Rob is going out for lunch). We have quesadillas: mine is normal, Maisie’s is deconstructed (She walked around eating a tortilla and had some cheese later).

1 PM: I snag a bit of time on my computer while Maisie waters plants and then washes her feet with the water from Abby's dish.

2 PM: Rob goes out. Maisie asks to nap. I’m thankful for the break, even though it means she’ll be up late later. I”m sewing together squares for a blanket for an injured friend. Abby is constantly nearby. On a trip through the family room I see a raven picking peanuts out of the bowl on the deck.

3 PM: Rob is home. I’m still sewing squares. I make some tea. Ollie is in super nuffing mode and rubbing up on anything and everything. My feet are a particular favourite.
4 PM: I walk past Rob’s desk just in time to see a video of someone wearing a Darth Vader mask and a kilt … while riding a unicycle … and playing the Star Wars theme … on a set of bagpipes … that are on fire. The internet is a strange and wonderful place … or something like that.

5 PM: Maisie wakes up. She sits on Rob’s lap and watches him play Dark Soul 3 for a while then starts asking to watch videos. He lets her watch a couple then turns off his computer and takes her out to the living room to play.

6 PM: Rob shows Maisie his new shoes. They decided to go out and get some milkshakes to go with dinner. I finish off the last bit of blanket sewing while they are out.

7 PM: Eating cold pizza for dinner - perfect for a hot day, especially with the milkshakes - and watching Star Trek: Voyager (for us) and Paw Patrol (for Maisie). I managed a few more sweater rows.

8 PM: Getting ready for bed (putting on pajamas, brushing teeth, etc.) and running around trying to finish up all the things I’d forgotten about that need to be done before going to bed (like hanging up laundry that needs to be dry by tomorrow morning). Rob and Maisie watch a cooking video for cold noodle soup while I brush my teeth.

9 PM: Bed time. Maisie gets up half an hour later because she needs to pee.

10 PM: Maisie gets up saying she’s hungry. She eats two bites of cold pizza. Fifteen minutes later she’s asleep. So am I.

It was raining when we got up. I saw some female Red-Winged Black Birds hiding under the rhubarb leaves. We had coffee. I didn't write as many notes in my notebook as I had earlier in the week. Rob suggested I make brownies. They made the kitchen smell so good. When the rain paused I went outside and filled up the bird and squirrel feeders and took a look at the garden. A little furry friend was there for the peanuts but ran down the railing when I got too close. Rob made special fried rice (shrimp and chicken) for lunch. Abby got to have one of the leftover shrimps and very carefully peeled it before eating the meat. I had tea and spent some time in my sewing room. I didn't do any sewing. I tidied, I designed a scrapbooking space and I pulled out a scarf that's been neglected for a few years. We had peas from the garden for a snack. Abby likes peas. It turns out she likes pea pods even more. I finally found three little balls of leftover yarn I'd been looking for. Abby and I went out to the living room to watch a movie. Rob joined us. Abby spent some of her time climbing on us and some of her time flaked out on the floor. I worked on my giant granny square. We had some fruit that had to be eaten in the fruit bowl so I made mango-peach fool for dessert.

Slept in and made coffee when we got up. I did a bit of sewing and made a kerchief for Abby. She looked very festive when we walked down to the Ramble & Ride. I put on on old denim skirt and was very surprised to discover it fit. We had lunch in Old Town. After lunch we took Abby - who had found and walked through the muddiest puddle possible - to the SPCA Dog Wash. While we were there we met another small dog who may be one of Abby's siblings. We walked home with a very clean and fluffy dog. We saw my dad on our way. We also took Abby to get her claws trimmed; most of them were fine, courtesy of summer walking on asphalt and pavement, but her dew claws were very long. We went through the McDonald's drive-thru afterwards to get some fries to share with Abby. She was zonked for the rest of the day. I washed some dishes and pick some peas for a snack. Rob went out to to a movie and my sister came over for tea in the evening. I finished the shawl I've been knitting her while she was here.