Today, Melissa needs to go to school, and she needs her coffee to do so. On the way, she will drop Jacob off at preschool. Her neighbor, Stacy, will pick Jacob and her kid up from preschool at 3p, and then the kids have a play date. Stacy will feed Jacob dinner since Melissa has back to school night tonight.
When the day is over, Melissa will go home, stopping to pickup Jacob.
Melissa drives to work. She is a little slow dropping Jake off -- she needs to make sure Stacy remembers that she has back to school tonight. As she gets back in her car, she realizes she left her travel mug at sitting on the counter, and debates whether to go home, stop at Starbucks on the way, or brave the sludge that is availabe in the teacher's lounge. She decides to stop at Starbucks and get a fancy latte and a baked good -- it's gonna be a long day, so she can live it up a little. Despite the various delays, Melissa is able to speed a little and make up for lost time, arriving at school just before her kids start coming into home room.
Toward evening time, Melissa feels like she is set for back to school night. She catches the attention of a couple of other teachers and they decide to go out for a quick bite to eat. They all pile into Melissa's car, drive to a restaurant, and are back in time for the evening's activities.
While driving home, Melissa remembers that she needs to stop to get some more lunch supplies for her and Jacob, so she makes a detour to Kroger's before continuing to pick up Jacob and go home. When she gets to Stacy's, Melissa finds that Jacob is asleep, so she carries him to the car, without waking him, and buckles him in.
Melissa walks Jacob to Stacy's, and then Stacy drops both kids at preschool on the way to her job. She carries her school bag (a nice messenger bag) and a purse. She'd have her coffee if she remembers it. Melissa then walks to the bus stop. On the way, she realizes she forgot her coffee, but if she misses a bus, she might be late. She'll just have to make do with what's in the teacher's lounge.
When it gets to be dinner time, Melissa looks around for the other teachers. She catches the third grade teacher from across the hall, who shares a car with her husband and will be getting a ride home from him. Since neither of them has a car, they decide to just grab dinner at a sub place about a block away. It's not their favorite, but at least they know they can walk there and back quickly.
When back to school night is over, Melissa heads to the bus stop. The buses have switched to the night schedule, so she has to wait a little bit longer than usual. The bus drops her off close to home, so she walks to pick up Jacob, who has fallen asleep at Stacy's. He's fussy at being woken for the walk home, so she has to carry his little book bag in addition to her own stuff. By the time she gets home, she's beat.
Melissa notes she's running late and thinks about driving, but she also sees on her computer's dashboard widget that she's a few calories behind her goal for the week so far and the weather is forecast to be beautiful, so she decides she'll walk anyway. The widget also says that she still has twelve minutes to make it to her bus stop, which she decides is plenty of time to drop Jacob off and still make it.
Her school has also been running a food drive this week, and the winning homeroom gets a pizza party. She had promised her class that if everybody brought in something by Wedneday, she would try to get people on her bus route to also contribute to her class's goal. With some downtime in the afternoon, she puts a quick post on the community route thread, asking people to bring stuff in for Thursday or Friday morning.
When it gets to be dinner time, Melissa looks around for the other teachers. She catches the third grade teacher from across the hall, who shares a car with her husband and will be getting a ride home from him. Based on the targeted local business tie-ins on her trip planner, she knows that she has a discount at a restaurant she's been wanting to try, so long as she brings in a bus transfer slip. She and the other teach hop on board the bus, grab a bite to eat, and then go back.
When back to school night is over, Melissa heads to the bus stop. The buses have switched to the night schedule, so she has to wait a little bit longer than usual. The bus drops her off close to home, so she walks to pick up Jacob, who has fallen asleep at Stacy's. He's fussy at being woken for the walk home, so she has to carry his little book bag in addition to her own stuff. By the time she gets home, she's beat.
When I do get a spare moment, I love to curl up with a book -- anything from a thriller to a book I'm considering having the kids read -- my cat, Muffin, and a cup of tea. When I'm trying to get work done or clean the house, I like to give myself a bit of extra energy with some John Mellencamp or Bruce Springsteen. I'm embarassed to admit it, but I sing along. Loudly.
