A Day in the Life

Monday, May 2nd
4:50  After climbing into bed at 11:58 the alarm rings entirely too early.  Oh good, Aaron's alarm went off, he's up.
5:00 Guess I fell back asleep, alarm 2 wakes me up.  spend the next 10 min fading in and out of sleep,  I wish I could sleep in today.
5:15  Aaron rubs my feet for a minute before I roll out of bed.  Gosh I love him. I also didn't know my feet were sore.  Wonder if its from the barefoot running experiment?  Or the shoes I wore to church yesterday?  Or just life.  Decide the answer is probably "yes".  What the heck is that beeping?!  Actually ask out loud "Why is the smoke alarm beeping?!"  Aaron tells me because it's battery must be low.  I think I tell him that it shouldn't beep because it's annoying.  Ah, clarity of thought so early in the morning.  Pray with Aaron before he heads off to work.  Beeep!  Argh!  Aaron offers to pick up batteries on his way home tonight.  Bless him.  Beep!
5:20 I lazed in bed too long to get a workout in before leaving for the chiro appt.  Beep!  Will squeeze that in when I get home.  Hop on the scale before hitting the shower.  Blech.  Not the number I'd like to see, but considering the dessert I ate last night (and the fact that I haven't fed Sam yet-hey that accounts for something!)  I'll take it.
5:25  I should really get out of the shower,  I'd rather stand here in the warm water all day.
5:30 Gotta be functional!!  Beep!  Didn't wash my face last night so there is still makeup on.  Meh, not too bad after I clean up  the smudged mascara and add a little powder.  Good enough for a 7am appt to which I will wear yoga clothes,  Beep!
5:40 Contacts in, clothes on, bed made.....to eat or not to eat?  Stretch for a few min instead.  beep!
5:45 Gotta wake Jacob and give the girls their first wakeup call.  And put in laundry when i come back upstairs.  Beep!
5:46 downstairs.  Dang it-someone wet the bed.  Good thing I didn't start a load of laundry already.  Girls room "wake up!"  Beep!  Grab Jacob out of bed.."Have to be ready in 20 min, come shower".  Round up wet laundry.  Remember that Charlotte also wet the bed and I left her things in the hallway last night, grab those, start wash.  Beep!  Remember that Aaron has late class tonight and won't be home till probably 11.  Dang!  Good thing I have to leave the house for an appt this morning, I'll stop and get batteries!  Beep!
5:50 Grab Sam to feed him.  Snuggly and warm in the corner of his crib, I hate to disturb him.  Mmmm, warm little body in my arms.  Wish I could crawl back in to bed to nurse him and go back to sleep.
beeep
5:55 Sitting at the computer, quick email check while I nurse Sam.  Pottery Barn has pretty things.  Why am I still on the ShapeFX mailing list?  And seriously, I get that the products have built-in shapers, but I don't think advertising them on a 6ft tall size 0 is...I don't even know?  Real?  Convincing?  Do people really think that they will look like a toothpick if they wear that dress the way the model does?  I don't know.   Maybe they do.  Oh good, I hear Jacob getting in the shower.  Start blog for the day.  Will have to correct one-handed spelling later.
beep!  
6:05  Shower is off.  Why do I hear that water is in the tub?  Is it not draining?  Note to self:  check tub drainage when I get home.   Gotta leave in ten minutes, better get the girls up.  Beep!
6:15 Dangit-need to go!  Downstairs to get Jacob.  Find him standing in a towel holding a pair jeans complaining that he has no shirts and no underwear.  Seriously?  Your laundry day was on Wednesday. Look to his hamper-overflowing.  Which means clean clothes were dumped in the middle of the dirty.  Ugh.  Dig to find him clean underwear.  Then he complains he cant find his shoe.  No kidding?  have you seen your room!?  Be glad I made mental note that his tennis shoes were under a blanket in the family room on Sat, hope they are still there.
Phew.  Crisis averted.   Beep!
6:20  Sam in carseat, grab purse, thank goodness keys are where they should be.  Malia is up.  Get myself and Sam in car.  Oh no!  The front yard is COVERED in ice!  Still too early for sprinklers on May 1st.  Hope my tulips aren't dead.  Sorry honey, turning the water back off till it's above 30 in the morning.  Wait for Jacob.
Wait.  Wait.
6:25 we need to leave!  Stick my head back in the front door, call Jacob.  He's coming.
6:28  all buckled, only a few minutes late.  Hope there is not traffic in construction areas.
whoops, speeding a little!  Slow down.
6:30 Guy biking the trail.  His shirt is up about six inches in the back.  Skin is bright red.  It's like 30 degrees out!  He has got to be freezing.  Runners!  I wish I was out running.  Nah, too cold right now.  I'm good.  Oh look it's Tiffany and Jamie running!  Tiffany is going to kill me at the tri in a few weeks.  Oh well.  Maybe I wish I was out running
6:35  SEriously honda?  the speed limit is 35 not 28!  Please don't turn left, please don't turn left, dang it! They turned left.  Gotta get around the Honda! Yikes.
6:45 What a beautiful morning.  Timp looks so amazing as the sun peeks up.  So pretty where I live.
6:47 Really?  Another Honda going 10 under the speed limit.  Some of us have places to be!  Move along!
Patience is a virtue Catey.  Be nice.
6:55  Cutting it close, good thing there is no traffic.  I love driving up along the base of the mountains.  Gonna make it on time, gonna make it on time....
7:00 on the dot!  Just in time!  Technically early for me since my appt is at 715, Jacob is the one that is almost late.  Nice.
7:20 On our way out.  Quick and easy!  My back was a mess though.  So much pressure relieved.  And my knee is back in.  Thank goodness.
7:25 That chick over there is a strong runner.  I wonder what I look like when I'm running?  Maybe I'll have Aaron film it one day so I can see.  Do I want to see?  Maybe not.  The sun is streaming through the canyon.  Now I really do wish I was out running.
7:45 During conversation about dinosaurs and gum and fieldtrips and Jacob wanting to be rich and famous he reminds me that we need to stop for batteries.  Thank goodness-I had totally forgotten!
7:46 Walmart.  9 volt batteries.
7:50 Pulling back on to the highway.  In and out of Walmart in less than five minutes?  I think it's a record.
8:01 Home!  Little ones are still sleeping (wow!), three oldest are up and showered and ready for school. Two are sitting on the couch reading.  This is new for Taylor who used to hate reading.  I'll take it.
8:03 Sam slept the whole drive home and is back up now.  Into the high chair for breakfast!  Tell Malia to stop carrying Charlotte.  Down to storage room to get crackers and peaches and toilet paper.  Replace tp, put extras in bathroom.  Whoops, out of soap too.  Take a few minutes to sniff through scents and see which one I feel like for now.  Mango Margarita it is. Does it make me a jerk that the good soap only goes in my bathroom?  Nah.  Right of indulgence as an adult.  Yeah, that's it.
8:10  Girls stop arguing!  No she's not going to kill you.  Dallin let's read your baggie book!  Jacob takes off his jacket and I see that he is wearing his little brother's shirt.  Inside out.  And backward.  Good thing he kept his jacket on at the dr's office.  Go change!  Shoot, I never ate this morning.  Protein shake it is since I still haven't worked out yet.  Switch out laundry, get the next two loads ready to go.  It's the little boys' laundry day so I help them sort.
8:20 Please stop Carrying Charlotte!  Beep!  Ack!  Still haven't changed that battery!
8:25  Sam is too busy watching kids dance to HSM music to eat.  Hand him some more diced peaches hoping he'll eat a bit.  Dishes into the dishwasher, clean up the oatmeal that spilled on the counter.
8:30 Someone is yelling it's time to go.  Uh, not till nine.  Thank goodness.  Now Taylor is bugged that he can't find his shoes.  I know where those are b/c I tripped over them this morning in his room while trying to get Jacob a shirt.  Do a quick room check, ironic that the 4 and 6yr old's room is cleanest.  Send out the call to make beds (met with collective sigh), help Alaina with her hair, listen to kids go from irritated with each other about something to excited about whatever ad they just saw from yesterday's newspaper.  Listen to oldest kids feed Charlotte things to say.  The fact that she speaks so much now is sitll a novelty a month and a half later.  Super cute to hear though.  Clean up my bathroom, towels to hamper, Charli and Sam's clothes to their hamper.  Make mental note to wash my workout clothes today.  That pile is growing.  Oh there are my other shoes under there.  Dangit, I'm as bad as the boys now.  Deep clean of bathroom will have to wait till this afternoon.  Leave breastpump on counter to remind me to pump, leave paint clothes on counter to remind me to finally spray those mirror frames that I've been putting off for weeks.
8:40  Realize I'm narrating my every move in my head, wonder if I'll drive myself crazy today.  The Perry the Platypus song is in my head too.  Wonder if I can sneak off to the bathroom alone without anyone noticing and following me....
8:45 This protein powder is gross.  Even in coconut milk.  Don't buy this brand again.  But hey, I did get to go to the bathroom alone and with no one knocking at the door!  Wonder how much longer I can listen to Troy, Gabriella and Sharpay singing this morning.  Better than enough other things that I'll take it.  Taylor counts down, 24 more days of school!  Woo-hoo!  Lincoln tells me we're out of milk.  Dang.  Well, we'll be out till I do real grocery shopping this week.  Not driving back to the store just for milk.
8:55 Time for morning devotional.  Ask kids to pick up the papers they just emptied out of their back packs and onto the floor. Gospel Standard of the day, Prayer, quick check to make sure everyone has everything they need.  Wash Sam's hands and face in the sink.  I love the way he giggles when he plays in the water.  Ask Malia why she is wearing a winter sweater and boots when it should be over 60 degrees this afternoon. She says "I know".  Well ok.  Confiscate a pack of gum from Jacob who then has a fit and frumps out the door.  Sorry kiddo!
Wonder how many minutes I will spend recording my day....
9:00  "Lincoln!  Come finish your breakfast!"  Direct Charli to the shower "no, I want baf today!"  ok.  Put Sam on floor to get Charli in 'baf".  Man that boy is everywhere!  Gotta start vacuuming my room daily to make sure he's not eating things he should be.  Speaking of...fish thread out of his mouth.  Man it's cold in here!  Thermostat says....61?!  What the?  Someone turned off the furnace.  Oh wait, maybe that was me....  Back on for today.  Hopefully not for much longer-it is MAY now!  Change Sam's diaper and get him dressed, then pick up my bedroom while he plays and I practice counting with Charli in the bath, in addition to having the conversation "Where's Daddy?  At work?" "Yes, Daddy's at work" about a dozen times.  (yes I can see her, she is less than ten feet from me.  Benefit to a smaller master bedroom and bath)
9:15 Get Charli dressed, tell Lincoln to hop in the shower.  "I don't want to shower!"  Ok, fine, don't shower today.  Then I hear him go in the bathroom and turn on the water.  Nice.  Beep!  Ack!  Still going!  Where did I put those batteries?  I'll get to that in a minute....Gotta nurse Sam so he can nap, and Charli says she's hungry again.  Nurse Sam, get him down for a nap.  Get Charli peaches.  Get Lincoln out of the shower who then complains that he's still hungry because he doesn't like the almond milk I gave him instead of real milk.  I tell him he must drink it.  I am not wasting that stuff.  It costs even more than gasoline does right now.
9:30 Sam is down for a nap, Lincoln is blowing bubbles in the almond milk thanks to a cereal bowl with a built in straw.  Sweet.  Charlotte is very impressed.  Time to workout.  Upstairs or down?  Quick cleanup of the office floor so I can workout upstairs since I threw the downstairs rug away last week.  Yes, it was that bad.  And Aaron hated it.  And it was now torn.  And had a bandaid crushed into it that would not come out no matter how hard I picked at the sucker.  Without the rug the floor is too hard for ab work on the ground.  Hello Jillian.  Beep!  Pause Jillian to find that bag of batteries NOW!
9:37  Drawbacks to being short and having 9ft ceilings:  can't reach smoke alarm even on chair tall enough for pub table.  Taller barstool did the tick.  Awww....blessed silence!
9:39 BAck to Jillian
10:47 Workout done.  Core work and pushups, working up to the 100 pushups challenge.  Maxed out at 20 today in one set, after having done 4 smaller sets.  Not bad for day one.  Not bad for having to work out with two dogs and a couple of small children underfoot.  Lincoln only got upset once, threatened to go to bed because I told him no popsicles.  The kid will send himself to bed?  I try not to laugh.  Charlotte spent most of the workout trying to work out with me.  Too cute.  Only one potty interruption, small accident, but we made it to the bathroom before she finished.  Better than nothing.  Third load of laundry started.
11:00  Settle in with a snack of smoothies, as well as toast with almond butter and strawberries for me.  (I'm slightly addicted)  Discuss the fact that Stitch is an alien and not a dog.  Kids color while I sneak off to check email and a couple of my online forums.  Keep my mouth shut about some things I'd love to comment on.  Just wouldn't be worth it.
11:15 Sam is up.  I guess painting the mirrors will wait till afternoon nap.  He'll play in the exersaucer for a bit while I clean out the office.  wait, I still haven't pumped.  Now is as good a time as any.  Change Sam, then pump.
11:30 Turns out now is not as good a time as any.  only 2 1/2oz.  and half a box of cereal on the floor as well as an empty pkg of oreos.   Ask Lincoln if he ate any.  He says no.  With black teeth.  Sam does not want to play, he wants to nurse.  Good thing he's more efficient  than the pump.  Charli needs to go potty, I go with her with Sam attached to me.  Lincoln cleans up (most of) the cereal for me.
11:45 I hear Dallin walk in.  Sam desperately wants to play with my phone.  Despite my serious worry about his regression in the sitting up department, this child is not lacking for curiosity, action, or getting around.  He is in everything!  Maybe he just doesn't like sitting up because he doesn't want to be stuck in one place?   Next load of laundry!   Yes really.
12:00 Heading outside to play.  Sam LOVES to swing and loves almost as much watching the other kids swing.  I love hearing the giggles!
12:40 Lunch!  Kids all ask for nachos, sure thing!  I go for chips and salsa, it will only be a few minutes till Charli comes to dig in to the salsa.  They want to make it a picnic in the backyard and have turned the little playground into a fort with a blanket roof.  Interesting way to picnic, but whatever works.
1:15 Dallin is bored with outside.  I suggest a list of things to do, he decides he wants to bake cookies. Sugar cookies.  I go out of my way to make sure he knows that the dough sits to chill and isn't made immediately.  Hopefully he is listening and will cooperate with getting his homework and reading done while it chills.  Nurse Sam again.  Growth spurt maybe?  Doesn't seem to be feeling well though....dang.
1:25 Sam's little body grows heavy in my arms and his breathing slows.  Sweet sleepy little babe!  Put him down in his crib and do some blog hopping while the kids are happily playing in the backyard.  Find a fabulous necklace that I think I can duplicate, a book I'd like to read, and read up on a few bloggy friends' races from this weekend.  Still haven't cleaned up the office.  Headed outside with the kids again for a minute after loading the dishwasher.
3:00 Uh, or a little bit longer than a minute!  Felt SO good to enjoy the sunshine and read stories outside with the kids!  I am so ready for warm weather every day!   Big kids are home from school (early out day).  Time for snacks, chores, homework, and all that good stuff.  Feeling sad for some friends-one of my kids came home and said that B was sad because Dad had packed up and left after Mom and Dad were mad at each other.  Poor kid.  They are friends of ours but haven't mentioned anything....  Want to ask Mom how she is and see if there is anything we can do for them, but don't want to intrude.  Hopefully I'll see her sometime this afternoon or tomorrow.   Time for cookie dough now while I keep tabs on everyone and their afternoon responsibilities.  Hoping they are cooperative and work quickly so we can do something fun tonight!
3:30 And now I'm the chore nazi.  Dangit.  Wish they'd just get their stuff done so they could go play!  Malia is done and headed off to play baseball at the park.  Just talked to a friend who talked to above mentioned Mom...Dad really is gone.  Sad for my friends and their kids.  She said they are doing ok and will let us know if they need anything.  I hope so.
3:35 Years ago I never would have guessed that a 10yr old boy would have as much attitude as one expects out of girls at that age.  *sigh*  Time for....you guessed it!  The next load of laundry.  Get dishwasher tabs and toilet bowl cleaner out of the storage room so those two chores can be done.  I need to clean up the storage room and inventory everything there.  Which reminds me that I need to figure out dinner.  I miss the two weeks that Malia had a project that involved planning and cooking meals for two weeks recently.  That was nice.
3:50  Baby has been changed, Charlotte taken to the bathroom again, Dallin is waiting in the kitchen to make the cookie dough that keeps getting put off.
4:00 Referee another arguement.  Start cookie dough, realize we are out of eggs.  Whoops.  Maybe I will be going to the store tonight after all.  Make grocery list for month.  Considering it looks like we should have about $10 left in our account after paying all the bills this month it should get interesting!  Good thing I had some work last month and have a check coming.
4:30 Finally seeing progress.  chores almost done-why do they always drag this out?!  Try and explain to Jacob that when Aaron's mom and her husband talked about moving "here", they meant to Utah not our house.  He is so irritated that they weren't referring to our house or even our city.  Is it bad that I'm kind of relieved?  I am a horrible person.  Finish going through ads to price match, enlist the kids to help cover any items we are out of that I may have missed.  Better get dinner started too.
4:45 Finally had a chance to talk to Aaron today.  I miss him.  Some of the days get long without seeing him for more than a few minutes before the sun comes up and a few minutes long after it's gone down.  Caught up with him on a few things before he had to duck into class.  But hey, I should see him in about 6 more hours!  yay!  Now to start dinner.
5:45 Kitchen cleaned, homework done,  grocery list made.  Need to go through coupons for a few things.  Table set, pizzas made.  I think I may have eaten my weight in croutons while making dinner.  I love that when my kids want pizza for dinner they get out the mixer!  Not to mention it looks so much more appetizing than frozen pizza.  Yum! Spinach and pineapple half/plain cheese half still in the oven. Time to eat!
6:30 Sometimes my kids are just plain LOUD.  Like on a level most people don't understand. People come over for dinner, we warn them, they say "oh, our kids can be crazy, I'm sure it's no different"....uh, hahahahahahahaha!  I love the look of shock on their faces when all of our kids want to say something at the same time, we have at least one glass of water spill (tonight it happened before food was even served), someone drops a fork, tips something over, falls off their chair....something.  Suddenly they realize their couple of kids at dinner isn't really all that crazy. Thankfully my kids have exceptional manners (most of the time), so it's just the volume that creates the noise and chaos.  8 kids will do that.  Granted, we also get gems like "If the whole earth were a bubble and you stuck a pin in the ground, every body would be dead because the bubble would be like "Pop!" and then it would just sink into itself.  that would be crazy."  We have talked about filming dinner every night.  It could be a series.  Much of the time it is that entertaining.  And heck, even if it isn't, it's still worlds better than something like Jersey Shore.  At least we have intelligent conversation.  Even if it is on an elementary level most of the time and includes random comments about what would happen if the earth was a bubble.
That said, dinner is cleaned up (mostly), dishwasher is still running, next load will have to wait in the sink.
Headed outside to weed and clean out the car.
7:26 Spent almost a full hour trying to attack what has become our dandelion problem now thanks to the neighbors upwind.  Feel like I barely made a dent.  So frustrating.  So very very frustrating.  We are rapidly approaching THAT time of night.  The breakdown is beginning.  Charlotte was wearing her pjs outside and just wet her pants.  The little boys are starting to get whiney, the older kids are starting to get silly instead of being helpful.  They took everything out of the van and dumped it on the driveway.  Not cool.
7:30 Charlotte is cleaned up.  Little boys are inside getting pjs on.  Older kids have five minutes left to finish bringing their things in from the car.  Time to start wrapping this day up!
7:33 Little boys have snuck outside.  Again.
7:35  Boys back in, nurse Sam, put him in bed.
7:40 Boys back out again.  Seriously?!  Driveway still not cleaned up, I am running out of patience.  Two younger boys pulled back inside, again, better be for the last time.  They are put on unload dishwasher duty.  I realize I forgot to put Charlotte's sheets back on her bed.  Guess I should do that now.
7:45  One last bathroom trip for Charlotte, two stories and bedtime.
7:50 Jacob gets punished for speaking inappropriately.  For the second time since 4pm.  Not one of his finer days.
7:55 Oldest kids still haven't cleaned up the mess on the driveway.  They have five minutes before they get punished.  I know I said five minutes 30 minutes ago.  Life got in the way.  An hour and a half to get their things out of the car.  They have removed all the car seats, rearranged the seating and dumped things on the driveway.  Guess how many of their things they have put away?  big fat zero.
7:56  Just saw a text message from Aaron from an hour ago.  Perfect timing, I needed a smile.  The kids are lucky.  He told me he found a sixlet wrapper in his backpack.  hahaha!  I put it there on Sunday afternoon.  Because it drives him crazy that when I have a stash of them he finds the little wrappers hidden all over.  I am looking at two next to the computer right now.  I think I will collect empty wrappers to leave for him continually.  I told him that when I die I will come back to leave him sixlet wrappers in random places.  He told me that was creepy.
8:03  OK.  Times up.  Enough is enough.  Guess I'll be hauling in the rest of their stuff from outside and they can deal with it tomorrow.  Time for scripture reading and bedtime prayers.  Better get over myself and my annoyances so I don't bring contention to it.
8:27  That took entirely too long.  Still have 6 kids not yet in bed.  This is probably the hardest part of having Aaron gone nights-getting everyone to bed.  I do not know how single parents function.
8:35 Scripture mastery with the oldest 4.  Tonight is Genesis 39:9  Quick discussion about why it's an important verse.
8:40 Finally chasing everyone to bed.  I should have left for tonight's swim workout 10 minutes ago.  Gotta get everyone to sleep first.  They all got up early so I'm hoping they crash quickly.
8:57  Better late than never.  Off to the pool.  Glad my oldest is old enough to babysit.
9:02 Am I the only one who just doesn't like the song Viva la Vida?  I could happily go the rest of my life never hearing it again.  Much more peaceful drive this evening that this morning.  Wait a minute...is this seat wet?  This seat feels like it might be wet....
9:21 Ooo....the big lights are on at the baseball fields!  Summer is coming!  Wow-those are young kids playing so late.  especially on a school night!
9:25 Need a membership card printed at the Rec Center.  They ask if I want to take a new picture or use the one from a couple of years ago.  I tell them I don't care because they will both look goofy-may as well use the old one.
9:40 Just not feeling it tonight.  Swimming strong and quick enough, but just not feelin' it.  15 more minutes and I'm calling it.
9:55 That's it.  I'm out!
10:10 Back at Walmart in the exact same parking space that I occupied roughly 14 hours ago.  Milk, eggs, don't get a Twix, don't get a Twix, don't get a Twix....Shoot, there's someone I know.  I hope he doesn't turn around because I am not feeling social tonight!  What is my deal?  Phew, he turned down that aisle. Anything else I need tonight?  Spend a few minutes looking around, snag some new flavors for Sam to try.  And some puffs since Charli ate the rest of his.
10:24 Back to the car, I made it without the Twix.  Yay willpower!  Oh hey I think this is the new Lady Gaga song Born This Way.  Yep, must be.  Wow, it DOES sound exactly like Madonna's Express Yourself.  Huh.  Call Malia tell her I'm on the way home.
10:38 There is a guy (girl?  really can't tell....) jogging.  In dark clothes.  Don't think I'd do that out on these trails at nearly 11pm.  I'm skittish anyway though I guess.
10:41 Home again home again.  Malia meets me on the front porch to see if I need help carrying anything in.  She then wants to tell me allllllll about the book she's reading.  I suggest we discuss in the morning since it's entirely too late.  She agrees and heads to bed.  Put the milk and eggs in the fridge.  Look for lotion and chapstick.  Are my lips sunburned?  It almost feels like it.  Hmm.  Hopefully I got a little color on my arms today at least.
10:50 Sitting here having caught up for the evening.  Waiting for Aaron to get home.  Check Facebook and Google reader.  Getting tired of the Osama status updates and the arguing about the president.  Enough already.  Best FB moment of the night, finding out the MLK quote that everyone keeps posting isn't a real MLK quote.  Ha!  go figure.  No, actually, that is topped by the following:
‎"People who make up quotes and attribute them to famous smart people should have their typing fingers cut off." -- Martin Luther King, Gandhi, George Washington, and Moses, in a rare collaboration
 Nice to end the evening with a laugh!  Good stuff.
11:07 Aaron's home!  Yay!
11:20 Calling it a night.  Never got the officecleaned out or those mirror frames painted.  Oh well, they'll be there tomorrow.  Glad to crawl into bed tonight, hopefully I'll be there within 10 minutes.  Quick clean up....how does it get to be such a mess after picking up so many times?  Better to have a house full and a mess than be lonely and bored and clean.  Time to go catch up on the day with Aaron.
12:14  Yeah....I hadn't talked to Aaron all day, I knew it would be more than ten minutes.  I love the time to reconnect at the end of the day, even if it is super late.  Read Scriptures together and chat.  After talking for 40 minutes, we go over sample questions for the NCLEX (nursing license exam).  Some of them are worded horribly.   We go through a set until my eyes are fighting to stay open.  And now I'm going to sleep.  Good Night!