Tuesday at Chez Gwinne

It is in many ways a typical Tuesday here at Chez Gwinne, but it's been so long since I've had a day like this that it seems atypical. I don't teach Tuesdays this term so it is, in theory, a day for "research" (or, more accurately, reading and writing). In practical terms, though, many of my Tuesdays are eaten up by grading, prepping for class, meetings, and, more recently, doctor's appointments. I've had a few free Tuesdays recently but no sense of what to do with them, as I'm sort of between projects at the moment. So...today.

LG comes in for snuggle time around 7:15. She drinks her rice milk in a sippy cup, pets the cat, listens to NPR with me ("Mommy, they said OBAMA!"). Eventually I oust her from the bed so we can get dressed and on with our day. She watches five minutes (literally) of TV while I finish making her lunch and then we're off for daycare at 8:30.

Back at home, coffee and oatmeal (with sliced banana and almonds, a drizzle of maple syrup) as I sit down at the computer, check to see if there has been an email crisis overnight, and sit down to write. I started a piece last night, after seeing a photo of an old friend (a lost friend) online. This morning, I come back to it, easily write a few pages of something (not quite sure what, but the sentences are good). I remember I need to take my little blue estrogen pill. I write the introduction of a critical article; I hunt around for sources (one new one, yay!). I check blogs and such. The morning is gone.

I decide I'm hungry and eat an early lunch. I make a few necessary phone calls (LG needs a new pediatrician, I need prescription refills). I make a list of things that need to be done before tomorrow and realize that *nothing* must be done at this moment. I remember that theoretically I get paid, in part, to read.

I go to the library. Lose myself in the stacks. Bring what I can carry to the circulation desk. The most unexpected find: a book on eating alone. Not a recipe book, a book of essays. I bring it home, brew some tea, and begin to read. I also skim a book on productive writing for academics, which leaves me more than vaguely annoyed (but that's the subject of another post).

That brings me to a few minutes ago. I have roughly two hours before I will pick up LG (more if I let her stay "late," which she likes to do). I will clean my kitchen. Make some oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies. Contemplate our dinner options (I think leftover taco meat will become some kind of soup; perhaps alphabet soup for LG and turkey, corn, blackbean stew for me).

I like Tuesdays. Summer is having Tuesday every day. And I can't wait.