RaNdOm Day in the Life

Sometimes I just have to laugh at life. :) The past couple of days have been FUNNY and just as random and crazy as you could almost possibly imagine. Here's not a real typical "Day in the Life" but actually more regular than you'd probably guess. I'd say this is actually somewhat representative of my life at least 2 days a month or so:

THURSDAY

* snooze my alarm at least once (no more "The Hills Are Alive," Connie....now it's "Hero")

* wake up in the shower--most days I do remember to shave both of my legs instead of just one, like today

* leave for work before 6:00 a.m. carrying flipcharts from yesterday's tour of the U.S. Capitol (maybe I should have started with yesterday when we listened to the COO for the Architect of the Capitol, took a tour of the Capitol and took the underground subway to the House buildings for our meetings for the rest of the day)

* hilarious email exchanges on the way to work

* listen to "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" on my i-pod as I walk to the hotel we are meeting at for our seminar while wishing it really were Christmas for a lot of reasons--mostly because it's already HOT and humid at 6:20 a.m.!

* try to wake up as I set up our training room re-hanging flipcharts and posters that fell down during the night

* re-organize toys and papers on the tables, set up projector, look for floor tape for all our extension cords, and guess how I will need to organize the graduation certificates

* talk to some of the participants as they read the paper and eat their breakfast

* wait until the coach comes to re-organize and finalize plans and then scurry to get it right in time

* try not to be mean or stressed or frustrated in the process

* run back and forth between rooms to make sure other coaches have the computers and speakers they need

* switch out projectors as we kick off the day at 8:30

* listen to a whole bunch of government managers emotionally recognize each other and their leadership skills after a year-long program

* have lunch with nearly 600 government managers to celebrate graduation from the program

* listen to the most enthusiastic innovation and technology speaker I've ever heard--Todd Park, CTO of HHS

* clean up everything

* celebrate colleagues leaving soon

* talk to coaches about our seminars coming up next week

* walk back to the office

* help unload the van of supplies

* collate hundreds of papers for next week's seminars

* answer a few emails

* head home by 5:30 p.m. after forgetting my keys (exhausted)

* eat some dinner really quick while debriefing from the day with the roommates

* nearly get struck by lightning on the way to the temple

* enjoy the temple!

* read scriptures

* get to bed by 11:30

FRIDAY

* sleep in until 7:00

* get ready for work

* decide to do my conference call at home and work from home for a couple of hours

* help Lindi gather random papers and stickers for internet rebate

* figure out if I have time to get to work before we'll have to leave for our team lunch

* decide to go straight to lunch

* have lunch with the Center for Government Leadership team near Dupont Circle

* walk to colleague's apartment to get her car to go back to work

* get to work and gather last of the supplies for next weeks' seminars--making a couple of trips to the basement closet to find toys and speakers

* load everything in my colleague's car to head over to the Department of Education

* drop things off there--after a much longer than usual wait to get to know the new security group :)

* take the metro back to work

* try to get a little bit organized--answer emails, remind coaches what's all happening next week

* leave work 30 minutes later than planned

* meet Sarah to volunteer at a nonprofit that needs US panelists to talk to international student au pairs

* answer questions about life in the US, listen to reports on their countries, play US jeopardy, listen to the thunderstorm outside

* take the metro home after 10:00

* find a parking spot for Sarah's car since we can't park in our parking lot all weekend

* walk home

* find something to eat, watch some Pride and Prejudice and go to bed! :)

I don't know why this all seemed so funny to me at the time and if anyone else will see the humor at all, but it made me think about the importance of:

* priorities and making time for the important things (did I say that I LOVE the temple?!!)

* making time to take care of yourself and re-energize (as much as I really like people, I am DEFINITELY an introvert and need my own time to think, etc.)

* seizing the day and the moment and making each day a good day!

I love this quote that one of my previous roommates shared with me on a cute drawing by Leigh Standley, "The world is full of people who will go their whole lives and not actually live one day. She did not intend on being one of them." I don't know that this list of my days really define living how I want to, but I'm glad I can at least look back on it and laugh and think about what I do with my time each day. I probably need to re-evaluate a few things and live more deliberately. :)