Tuesdays and Routine

I've blogged about routine before... and not knowing what day of the week it is... but on Tuesdays I always know what day it is because I go to the office!

The past few weeks I have scoured the internet for examples of good schedules for a 5 month old who has a working stay at home mom. Turns out I'm one of very few people in that category, especially once you add in "single."

Just in case someone is reading this and is curious as to what a single work at home stay at home mom of a 5 month old looks like... for me (I'm continuously offering up the disclaimer that everyone is different)... Here goes!

7am HH and I wake up and Henry has a 6-8oz bottle

7:30am HH jumparoos while I load the dishwasher and eat breakfast

8-9:30am HH plays, I work, we get coffee (almost every single morning I load HH up and we go to Peregrine for a cappuccino)

9:30am HH naps while I do more work (Tuesdays HH naps at the office during my staff meeting).

(Henry runs the show... Obviously!)

10:30am more play time!!

11am HH has some solids followed by a 6oz bottle

noon  HH naps!!! We are trying to make this his "long nap." I'll get back to you when that actually happens....

after HH goes down I scramble to eat lunch, tidy up, then more work!!

1:30pm (in a perfect world) HH wakes up and we usually run an errand or play

3pm is still in flux. We are testing more solid foods with a 6oz bottle vs just an 8oz bottle

4pm HH takes a cat nap

4:30ish more play time or maybe an errand if we didn't run any errands earlier

5:30 If HH's daddy comes by during the week it's at this time, otherwise it's just normal fun time!

6:30pm either and 8oz bottle OR solids and a 6 oz bottle (depending on what we did at 3pm) followed immediately by a quick bath!

7-7:30pm HH starts to wind down and goes to bed!!

We have survived the day!

Once HH is down for the night, I usually frantically clean up, make baby food, fold clothes, load the dishwasher, work out (PTL for onDemand 20 minute work outs), do whatever work I haven't finished, and watch TV! Btw, it's amazing how much you can do with 3 hours of a sleeping baby!!

So that's my day. Almost everyday!

What does your day look like? Do you work from home? Are you a SAHM? Do your days all look the same? 

Too soon

Y'all. It's too soon for wet, miserable weather... But today it hit with avengance. I almost broke our "leave the house at least once a day" rule. 

Around 1pm, though, I said NO. I loaded up Henry and we went to the post office and the book store! It was cold, but the outing was necessary. 

A trip to the grocery store was MORE necessary, but I will save that for another day. My refrigerator is full right now... Of baking supplies and holiday beer. Not quote dinner material. 

Tomorrow I'llthia be eating one of the last frozen dishes left over from when Henry was born... Five months ago. 

Tonight, though, I had this:

There is an amazing service/app called Postmates. You type in what you want and from where... And typically within an hour or so it arrives at your door! 

This is quite possibly the best app ever and it kept me from eating toaster waffles for dinner! 

How do you cope with the super cold months? Do you force yourself out of the house or do you succumb to Netflix and take out?

TGIF

Warning: This WILL sound like a mommy blog post. 

I remember the days when Fridays were something to look to with excitement. Honestly, today I didn't realize it was Friday till my friend Katherine texted at 12:40 saying "soup's ready. Come whenever!" Aka it was Friday and I had lunch plans that had completely escaped my brain. 

When I was single, days of the week were defined by work or nighttime commitments. Now my days all look the same. 

Wake up with HH around 7... Feed him then myself.

Get coffee (usually my one outing of the day).

Nap time and work time.

HH eats... Again. 

Nap time and work time and I try to eat lunch. 

HH eats... Again. 

Nap time and work time.

HH eats... Again.

Baths, wind down, break, relax. 

HH eats... AGAIN and then goes to bed. 

Sometime around 7pm I frantically start cleaning the house then try to squeeze in a DVD workout and another hour or two of work 

Lather. Rinse. Repeat. 

So, I am thankful it's Friday. I've learned to be thankful for EVERY day. And odds are I couldn't tell you what day it is, but I AM thankful. 

As of right now I'm thankful for Netflix and wine and for HH's 7pm bedtime. 

#SJbakes

So, I bought the Martha Stewart Cookies cookbook yesterday and am DETERMINED to bake loads and loads this holiday season. Right now I'm 2 for 2 on days with the cookbook and baking. 

Yesterday I picked a real winner to test in my tiny kitchen!! I made Martha'a rosemary butter cookies. Whoa. Boy. 

These were pretty magnificent, if I do say so myself... The recipe was pretty simple, and I had all of the ingredients handy with  the exception of rosemary. 

Tonight I made cream cheese blondie swirl brownies. Although they are yummy, they don't hold a candle to the rosemary butter cookies. Those cookies are things that dreams are made of....

But the real challenge when baking is my kitchen. My kitchen has no drawers. None. And it has THIS much counter space:

So yeah... Baking is a challenge. Everything has to be clean from the get go, and I have to wipe down and load the dishwasher as I go. Luckily I have some pretty quality kitchen gear that makes working in the kitchen easier. 

Some basic kitchen stuff to help baking in a tiny space:

Duralex stacking bowls. A bunch of sizes are great to have handy. I use them for mixing, serving, storage. Great functionality and take up little space.

A hand mixer. You don't need a fancy stand mixer if you bake a lot. Sure, a stand mixer is nice and has a large capacity for mixing, but they take up a lot of room and don't do much more than a good ol' hand mixer!

Good measuring spoons and cups (including a liquid measure). When baking, you have to be accurate so you need a full set to get the job done. 

Finally, I would highly recommend a cooling rack. This seems like just one more thing to clutter the kitchen, but it is a game changer when baking cookies in bulk!

So, go forth and bake! Get a good cookbook (I also love the Magnolia Bakery cookbooks), gather some basic kitchenwares, and make friends!!

Who am I? And why should you care?

My name is Sarah Joy; and you probably shouldn't.

Everyday for the past ten years or so (back to my livejournal days), I wish I wrote more and kept better record of what I'm doing with my life and time. Here is attempt number umpteanth to try and accomplish that.

I live in Washington DC on a tiny one block, one way street. It is cozy and friendly and my car has only been broken into twice!

I work from home for a small trade association doing programming and member services.

I have a son, for whom I parent solo.

I am trying to cook more than I eat out.

And I want to get rid of at least 1/3 of my stuff over the next year.

This blog will reflect the above. My current obsession is baking and my slow cooker and organizing my closet.

And more than anything, I am really trying to keep this as a blog blog and not a mommy blog. Wish me luck!