Week in the Life 2018 | Monday (Words + Photos)

Week in the Life started yesterday and I couldn't be more excited. I had planned out a bunch of things I could take pictures of, angles I could tell stories from, etc., but in the end I didn't take a whole lot of photos and wasn't super satisfied with the ones I took. I am just using my iPhone camera (I don't even have another camera), and not doing much in terms of editing, so maybe I will need to spend more time on that.

One of the issues yesterday is that it was dark and dismal and rained all day. There was no sun and little light, so my photos turned out blurry and underexposed and pixelated. I guess I'll go with it - tomorrow is another day and it is WEEK in the life :) So there will be plenty of opportunities to improve.

The day started cold and wet. It was raining pretty hard when we woke up (5:15 alarm with two presses of the Snooze button). Not too unusual for the time of year, but it usually stops by the time we leave around 6:15. Not this morning.

Nico continued his conversation from last night about the story he is going to write ("episodes") about Pearls (Time Pearl, Fire Pearl, "Mommy, should there be a Power Pearl?" Me: of course!). He concentrates on what he's saying as he talks and doesn't get ready quickly.

Andrés got the car packed up with the kids' bags and homework and projects and posters (done over the weekend), and then pulled out and waited by the curb for everyone to be ready. He has to punch in by 7:15, so he is always trying to get everyone moving quickly in the morning.

I sat on a chair in the dining room waiting for the boys to emerge from the upstairs. Finally one of them came down.

Agus has gotten so grown up and tall this year. He is almost as tall as me. I hope (and assume) he will continue growing.

His uniform is too small. We bought new ones but the uniform lady didn't have his correct size, so we had to go with it. At this point in the school year it probably isn't worth getting new sweaters - besides, I doubt the lady would have them in her stock since she was "out" months ago. So, in this case, hopefully his growth spurt will take place after June is over.

This one came down a few minutes later, being nagged repeatedly to "HURRY UP!" He put his shoes on in a blur and was out the door.

We dropped the kids off at their grandparents' (only a block away), in the rain. No picture for that since everyone was in and out quickly, trying not to get wet.

The temperature was 50 degrees F and stayed that way for the rest of the day. I put the heat on in the car but Andrés was not amused.

Got to work at 7:05 and Andrés beeped us in.

The punching in and out has been happening for a few months now. He is not a fan, but there is little choice. The machine records a picture of him as well as his fingerprint. High tech. You'd think we worked at a top security institution.

My first stop is COFFEE. Love this machine that dispenses hot, filtered water. Sometimes (like today) it is cold and I need to heat it up in the microwave to get it hotter. Then I add instant coffee. I don't mind instant, if the brand is good, because I can make it as hot or cold as I like.

Breakfast at my desk. There is no way I'd have time to eat at home before we come. Plus, I have to wait an hour after I take my thyroid meds before eating, so it is just much easier to do it here. Usually it's quiet enough, although once in awhile teachers or students catch me with my mouth full.  Oh well.

While bringing my coffee into the teacher's lounge in order to heat it up, it splashed out. It reminded me that Jennie always complains about this - there was only a half inch of coffee in there! I wet down the carpet and tried scrubbing and drying it. It made a mark anyways. And, as Andrés pointed out very quickly, it is not the first time I stain the carpet with coffee. Although it was probably the smallest stain I've made to date, he was not amused.

Working at my desk, putting in my UTA students' final grades. I received some very kind emails from them. I think they enjoyed the course (they were all repeating it since they had failed the first time around - with a different professor - which didn't help motivation much. But they turned out to be a really nice and friendly group).

Another coffee warm up (and another cup). It's still 50 degrees out (and in).

My jacket is still on. Some days it stays on all day, although I've been bringing a blanket to put on my lap while I'm at my desk. It might look silly but I don't care. I prefer to be warm than to look good.

10:47 am and I was able to take my jacket off. It's still raining. Very unusual for Quito to rain so steadily for such a long period of time.

Real life is that I've been quite uninspired lately. I have ideas for projects but I procrastinate or don't bother with seeing them through. Part of it is that there is little extrinsic motivation anymore at work, and so I suppose that translates over into this feeling of restlessness and dissatisfaction. Another reason probably has to do with the fact that the more vocal and "seen" you are, the more you have a target on your back. I've enjoyed the last few months without having teachers talking about me, sending email campaigns behind my back, without having authorities question my "right" to work because I am a foreigner, giving ideas to have them be shot down - then having another co-worker suggest the same thing a few months later only to have it accepted among applause and pats on the back, etc. I hate the fact that I have to sit like a piece of furniture (what I criticize many workers of doing), without being the one to make a change, but sometimes you need a break from the drama. I'm taking my break. Andrés would say that I am being too negative and I probably am. But it's just this feeling I've had for the last year or so (probably more) and it's been really hard to shake. I feel like I've lost my "mojo".

I did get inspired to clean out a drawer in my desk and file cabinet to make room for things. This happened because it overflowed and make a huge mess.

All of these books need to go back down the the Teacher Resource Center and be filed properly away. I know this is something I will procrastinate doing and wonder how long they will be here stacked up, waiting for someone to do something with them.

One of our teachers was having her cycle presentations. As usual, I was invited. I always try to make it to a few. It's fun to see what the students come up with. They get really nervous when a gringa comes to listen to their presentations.

Halfway through my day Amy sent out some texts and videos of her with Davis and Charlie. So fun to see Charlie crawling and saying "uh-oh" with Davis in the background reading with Grandma Chris. Made me realize I need to make some phone calls tonight when I get home.

3:45 - time for Andrés to punch out, pick up the kids at their grandparents' and go home. The good news - they had finished their homework by the time we got there.

First thing's first - at home, time to do the breakfast and lunch dishes.

Got a visit from this guy. He comes home and immediately changes into sweats or "comfy" clothes. Lately, I've been wearing my work clothes until bed. Mostly because I am too lazy to put away two sets of clothes at the end of the night, and 4:30 pm seems a little early to put pajamas on. And since I haven't been exercising...

Washing my shoes. My shoes and jacket get so dirty in Quito. It's incredible.

After work and homework and making beds and getting bags and uniforms ready for tomorrow, this is a common sight. Nico on his laptop (he bought it with his Christmas money) and Agus on his phone (he bought it with birthday/Christmas money). Both playing Minecraft. They'll have 1-2 hours of screen time before Daddy will lose his patience and tell them to get off and "play with real toys". He is not amused by Minecraft.

After cleaning up a bit, with the kids on their devices, and I decided to scrapbook for a bit. Excited to get our Galapagos story told.

I made phone calls to Grandma Bauer (nice to hear from her - she washed her car HERSELF today), Grandma Chris (told her all about Galapagos and heard about her challenges keeping her candy drawer full), and Grandpa Dan (no answer - he was leaving tonight with Maureen for their Iceland/Finland/Russia trip so I think I missed him before he boarded the plane).

Dinner started without me while I was making my phone calls. Andrés made it and cleaned up and then I stayed downstairs for a bit more prepping tomorrow's breakfast while the boys took their showers. Real life is that I'm thinking about (always thinking about) needing to get healthier, eat better, exercise more (or even at all), etc., but never really doing much to go in that direction.

While I was upstairs after dinner doing some last minute Project Life and clean up, Agus and Nico came up after showers to see what I was up to. Nico got "inspired" and sat down to draw. I had CNN on and he watched for a bit, particularly interested in the news about the volcanic explosion in Hawaii.

Agus got excited to take one of the Photo Life albums from other years down to the orange chair to look at while he listened to music. It was the 2014 album, which is the year Agus went to Galapagos. Nico made him show him the Galapagos pictures before he went downstairs. He was surprised at the number of sea lions we had seen that time. (There are a lot of sea lions on San Cristóbal, not so many on Santa Cruz or Isabella - that we saw of course.)

Nico eventually went downstairs to wait for me so that we could read. We are currently reading Harry Potter #5 before bed. We usually get through about 8-12 pages a night. 

I found him in bed under the covers snuggled up with Daddy. He was telling Andrés about all of his past nightmares. I let them talk for awhile before interrupting them.

Meanwhile, Agus was on the orange chair. This is a typical scene (minus the album). He listens to music while me and his brother read (he is no longer interested in reading before bed with us). While he listens he bops his head and taps his fingers in tune to the music.

Later, after night prayers, Agus told me that he loved me (and Daddy) so much, and not because we are his parents, but because we protect him, feed him, take care of him, etc. and that we are "really good people". It came out of nowhere but was the best thing of the day. Such a sweet, awesome kid.

It never warmed up. Not that I would it expect to be warmer at 9 p.m.

I ended the day watching a couple episodes of Brooklyn 9-9 with Andres in bed (on Netflix on our iPad). Our Netflix (Ecuador) account got updated with some new shows and movies we are interested in, so I expect for the next few months we will be using it more.

I hope to get each day up on my blog in order to make the album come together easier in the future. I will be documenting this whole week, and then work on the album. I've never actually completed a Week in the Life album, although I've played along many years. Hopefully by getting things documented each night I will set myself up for success.

The posts may be a bit long this week, because of that. I'm also filling out the Story sheets each day, where I can record hour by hour and also record some of the shorter stories and surprises of the day.

Here's to a great week!