I know it’s been over two years since I’ve had anything other than a Groundhog Day post.  I have good intentions to write more often but life has been very busy.

This Groundhog Day is special.  The date is a palindrome.

It’s also Super Bowl Sunday.  But we’re not that into football and I have to work anyway.  Unlike in years past I didn’t work last night and actually was in bed before midnight so my day actually began at a normal time.

8:20 am

Sunday mornings usually begin with Annelise creeping into my room to ask if she can get up.  With the exception of last week when she had friends of and they were up early she is usually never in my room before 8 am.  Her next question is always “Can I get on my iPad?”  This will usually get me another hour before she’s back in my room looking for breakfast.

Annelise heads off to the living room to watch Netflix and I fall back to sleep.  Of course she left my bedroom door open so I soon have company.

8:45 am

Seriously think about getting out of bed.  I have a lot to get done today.  I’ve been sick for a couple of weeks (spent the night in the ER last week), so I’ve been doing the bare minimum housekeeping.  But I have company coming this week and need to get the house presentable.

9:15 am

I hear Lulu barking and know that if I wait much longer Annelise will be in asking about breakfast.

9:25 am

I’m finally out of bed.

Annelise is in the living room playing with LEGOS and watching “How to train your Dragon.”

I start the rounds of letting animals out and filling food bowls.  There is a specific order to how it is done.  The dogs can’t go out at the same time because Lulu will pick on Kikapu.  Lulu also won’t go out until she’s gone through the house and said good morning to everyone.

While Lulu runs around the house I let Kikapu out.  I go out with her so she can do her annual impression of a groundhog.  She once again disagrees with Phil, sees her shade and predicts 6 more weeks of winter.  Well she would have seen her shadow if she had turned around.

After Kikapu goes in, Lulu comes out.  While Lulu’s out I feed the rest of the animals (if Lulu is around she’ll attempt to eat every ones breakfast.

The cats are always particularly vocal about their desire for breakfast.

After all the animals are fed, I get started on breakfast for the humans.

10:00ish

Annelise and I sit down to a breakfast of cinnamon rolls and grape juice.  Sunday morning cinnamon rolls have been a family tradition since my grandpa fixed them for my dad.

After we eat, we do our “memories.”  Ever Sunday morning we write down our favorite thing from that week or just something that happened that we want to remember.  And then we put them in a jar to be read on New Years Eve.

After memories, Annelise gets “paid.”  She has a variety of chores that she can do to earn money, along with keeping track of the things she needs to do like homework, reading and practicing the piano.  We add up what she’s done for the week and she gets her allowance.

She wasn’t satisfied with her take for last week so she’s going to amp up the number of chores she does this week.

10:40ish

Time to tackle the housework.  Sunday is usually the day I tackle this stuff.  I use to do them on Saturday night but since I’m not taking Nursing classes this semester my weeks aren’t as hectic and Sunday is usually a good day.

We start with the laundry.  Once it’s sorted, I can pop loads in while I’m working on other stuff.  Laundry is one of the tasks that Annelise can earn money for so she’s eager to help out.

With the laundry going, I tackle the kitchen.  The rest of my morning goes something like this… wash a few dishes, let Lulu outside… wash a few more dishes, let Lulu back in… wash a few dishes, let Lulu out.  I’m seriously considering a doggy door because she cannot decide whether she wants to be in or out.

Annelise plays quietly in the living room, trading her Legos for blocks and then her blocks for crayons and coloring book.  She is very good at entertaining herself.

11:30 am

Random cat laying in the hall looking innocent.

I have no idea where the other cat is.  Kikapu is hiding in my room pouting because the laundry hamper is empty.  And Lulu is still going in and out.

Noonish

I take a break from cleaning to focus on homework.  I have a reading assignment and a one page paper based on the reading assignment that’s due at midnight.  I remind Annelise to get her piano and reading done and then head to my room to work on my schoolwork.

I get my lap top and books and stretch out on my bed.  Callie quickly sees this as an opportunity to spend quality time together.

I do a really good job of staying focused for about an hour.  And then I’m distracted by Facebook and Instagram and Postsecrets.

1:15 pm

I manage to finish the reading and start my paper.  I get about two sentences typed and then I’m distracted again.  This time researching local pools.  I’m thinking of getting a membership for the summer and I definitely need to sign Annelise up for some sort of lessons.

I can hear Annelise practicing the piano and she calls out to me to see if I want to come take a picture to document that she played today. (She’s starting to catch on to the Groundhog Day thing).

1:59 pm

I receive a text message from our guests asking if it would be okay if they came on Monday instead of Tuesday.  Sure.  No problem, except the guest room is filled with all the Christmas decorations because the attic is cold and I haven’t wanted to go in there.  It shouldn’t take to long to move everything over.

2:00 pm

Since I’m not getting my schoolwork done, I decide to take a break and focus on getting lunch ready.  Since we eat breakfast late on Sunday we also bump back lunch and call it slupper (and then we have a light snack in the evening or she eats with her sitter if I’m working).

I grab a couple of pork chops out of the freezer and toss them in the Insta-Pot and then put some potatoes in the oven.

Annelise is in her room reading.

I let her know there are several jobs to be done while lunch is cooking if she wants to earn some money.

While I work on lunch, she folds some of the laundry that is done, dusts, waters the plants and sets the table.

 

3:00 pm

We sit down to a meal of pork chops, potatoes, green beans, mangos, and rolls.

Lulu, worn out from being outside most of the morning passed out in the kitchen while we ate.

3:30ish

Annelise asks to be excused from the table and heads back into the living room where she is working on the LEGO sets she got for her birthday.  I just sit at the table for awhile.  Just chillin’ and procrastinating cleaning up the kitchen (again).

3:40ish

I peel myself up out of my chair and begin clearing the table.  Annelise has discovered that if she turns her iPads camera around she can make little videos of herself.

She entertains herself making little LEGO videos while I put away the food, do the dishes, continue working on the laundry (total of 5 loads today) and of course serve as a doorman for Lulu.

4:15 pm

Done in the kitchen and the last load of laundry is in the dryer.  Annelise and I set about folding the clean clothes and getting them put away.

4:45 pm

All the laundry is folded and put away.  Annelise goes back to her LEGO projects and I clean the bathroom.

5:05 pm

After finishing up in the bathroom, I call Annelise to get her bath.  She still needs help with her hair so after washing it I leave her to play (and wash) while I go back to my schoolwork.

5:30 pm

Annelise is done with her bath.  I got half my paper done while she was in there.  I help her get out and send her off to her room to get dressed and pack her bag for the sitter tonight.

Lulu is outside making a lot of noise so I yell at her to come in.  All the animals start following me around because they know it’s almost time to eat.

5:50 pm

Realize that I hadn’t confirmed with the sitter.  Quickly texted her to make sure she was back in town and planning on Annelise.

Sitter is planning on her.

6:00 pm

Climb into the shower.  At this point I’ve done five loads of laundry, washed dishes and Annelise has had a bath so I’m not sure how much hot water is left.  I try not to waste time (I still have to finish my paper).  But it feels so good to just stand in the shower.

6:25

Finish up in the bathroom and get dressed for work.  Kikapu is happy when I toss my dirty clothes in the basket.  It’s been empty all day so she hasn’t had anything to sleep on.

6:30 pm

Text the sitter and make plans to drop Annelise off at the CI since they are there watching football.

Do the rounds of putting food down for the animals and letting the dogs out for one last potty break.

Quickly throw together a lunch for Annelise for tomorrow. Gather up my work things and finally leave the house.

6:42 pm

Drop Annelise at the CI.  Literally, pulled up to the curb and had her hop out with her overnight bag.

6:50 pm

Stop at Kroger to pick up a box of pasta for Annelise’s lunch for school on Monday.

6:59 pm

Arrive at work to discover I have a 7:00 patient. I swear I had checked the schedule and there weren’t any early pediatric patients.  I drop my stuff at my work station and hustle to get my room and equipment ready.  Thankfully the patient is running late.

7:20 pm

I’m finished getting things ready.  The patient still hasn’t arrived so I start working on my studies from Friday night.

7:45 pm

Patient arrives.  I get them settled in their room.  And start to gather my supplies for the set up.

8:35 pm

Set up complete.  There were a lot of tears and we had to leave the cannula out but everything else was on.  Start study and wait for him to fall asleep so that I can put the cannula in.

8:45 pm

While I’m waiting for him to fall asleep I pull up Google Docs and finish my paper.

9:05 pm

Patient is in Stage 3 sleep so I slip in and attempt to place the cannula.  He wakes up and rips it off. Even with mom’s assistance we are unable to get it in place. We try socks on his hands and that doesn’t work.

9:30 pm

Call the medical director and request permission to use NoNos.

9:38 pm

Patient is sound asleep.

9:45 pm

Put the finishing touches on my paper and then submit it.  Start working on the ISR.

10:30 pm

Finish ISR.  Work on scoring.

11:00 pm

It’s a little earlier than I like to eat supper but I’m hungry so I get a light snack and a soda.  I have Annelise’s iPad with me so while I’m eating I watched the videos she had been working on while I was doing dishes this afternoon.

These are great…

 

11:30 pm

Have a brief moment of panic thinking that I didn’t submit my paper.  Go to blackboard and double check.  It’s been submitted and is waiting to be graded.

11:59 pm

Groundhog day is about over.  I still have about 8 hours left in my day.  When I get off in the morning I’ll move the Christmas decorations out of the guest room because I never got around to it today.

For previous Groundhog Days…

2016

2017

2018

2019

See ya next year! (and hopefully sooner).