A day in the life of a full-time working-lawyer- mom married to a fire Captain.
Plan for today:
Work
Family Time!
Romantic dinner
Friday
6:15am(ish)
Beep Beep Beep. Alarm goes off – Husband is home, so no Snooze button this morning. Time to start the morning routine… I shower and get dressed. Another jeans day, Yeah?
7:00am (or thereabout)
I come downstairs to the kitchen and am welcomed with two dozen roses and chocolate covered strawberries for breakfast! My valentine truly knows the way to my heart! It doesn’t matter if the calendar reads February 14th or not; today is the day we are celebrating “our” Valentine’s Day. We don’t get hung up on celebrating holidays, birthdays, or anniversaries on the actual calendar day. If a holiday falls on a shift day, we just celebrate it when he’s off. I am so looking forward to tonight! Husband is making a lobster dinner!
7:00am-7:15am
I start making my lunch (yes, it’s the only meal I actually prepare for myself) and brew some amazing chocolate raspberry coffee. (Note who isn’t awake yet?) I sit down and eat a banana and a chocolate covered strawberry which I have officially deemed a breakfast food! Trust me; it really pairs well with the chocolate raspberry coffee! I pack up my lunch and my coffee and get ready to head out to the office. Husband is trying to read the paper, but I’m like a little kid and just want to talk to him and enjoying being awake and in the same room with him for 15 whole consecutive minutes.
7:20am
Well, I guess Kid is not going to wake up before I leave. Husband recites his morning mantra “Better hurry up; you’re going to be late!” OK, I’m off to work. I give him a kiss and a long hug. “Bye! I love you.” Bye, I love you too! Thank you for the roses and strawberries!
8:00am-10:00am
Work. Work. Work. – I’m still trying to get caught up from being out of the office and now I’m trying to get ahead of the game since I know I will have to travel again in 10 days.
10:00am-11:00am
A break from our ordinary business day! In honor of the Olympics, our company arranged for Gold Medal Olympian Sarah Hughes to give a presentation about her road to success and attaining her gold medal in Salt Lake City in 2002. She is truly an amazing and brilliant person. And, seriously so sweet! We chatted about being from big families, ballet and having first responders in our families (her brother is a police officer!) – and the problems encountered in construction jobs (she’s now a real estate developer). What a fun morning! Corporate America does have its perks!
11:00am-1:00pm
Ok, back to the grindstone! I ended up eating lunch at my desk today, in an effort to get out of here early or at least somewhat on time today! I can almost taste the lobster now!
1:00pm-2:00pm
Time for my annual review! I always needlessly stress over my performance evaluation. One of the greatest advantages of being an in-house lawyer is that I don’t bill my time anymore (which usually took a minimum of 10 hours/month to do). But, without billable hours to use as a benchmark for performance, it’s so much more subjective. I walk in the conference room preparing for the worst – but, I am pleasantly surprised! A great review! Sigh of relief – now back to work so I can get home on time for our romantic evening!
2:00pm-4:45pm
A few more calls, letters, work completed. I tie up some loose ends and it’s time to go home! Yeah – Friday! Yeah Weekend?
4:45pm(ish)
I head on out into Friday evening rush hour traffic! Yuck! Chicago traffic really stinks! It always the worst when all I want is to just get home to spend some real time with my husband! At this point, between my work travel, his work schedule and union meetings, we haven’t spent more than a few consecutive waking minutes together in the last five days!
6:00pm (ish)
Uggh, traffic was exceptionally brutal this evening… but, I’m home now! Finally! I come upstairs to the kitchen and greet Husband with a kiss! He asks how my day was and how my review went. Kid interjects “So, Mommy, how was work today?” He is such a miniature version of my husband. I sit down at the kitchen and we all chit chat while Kid eats his dinner that of course, Husband has prepared for Kid. We are waiting until after Kid is in bed for our romantic dinner!
7:00pm -8:00pm
Kid and I run off to play as Husband starts preparing our lobster dinner! Dance Party number 2 of the week! Kid is seriously hilarious! I love the laughter and joy that our “singing and dancing shows” bring him. But, all good things must come to an end – for bedtime! Husband takes Kid up to get ready for bed. I come upstairs to say prayers with Kid and give him a hug and a kiss good-night! Husband reads him a story and… Now it’s OUR time!
8:00pm
Finally, Husband and I get to spend real quality time together with grown up conversation and everything! Husband opens a bottle of California red wine – Hook & Ladder Tillerman – and pours me glass. Husband cracks open a bottle of beer for himself. We toast a Happy Valentine’s Day to each other. Then, just as we are about to start dinner, I take a closer look at his beer bottle. “Two Women” by New Glarus Brewery. Wait a minute, you get Two Women for Valentine’s Day and I just get one Tillerman? Hmmm – awfully sneaky! Who’s this other woman? Husband rolls his eyes – apparently, he doesn’t think I’m as hilarious as I do…
Hey, let’s have a romantic candle lit dinner? Ha ha! Yeah, right… not in this house. Lit candles need not apply – Safety first! To start off our romantic dinner, Husband serves (makes me eat) a salad. And, for our second course – Claim Chowder! Yummy! Followed by mini crab cakes! Wow! These are amazing!
Next up, Lobster tail?
And, Molten Lava Cake for Dessert! Husband warmed the cakes in the oven on the same plates he served them on… “Be careful, the plate is HOT!” Ok, I take one bite and then go for the second bite and – “OUCH! Why did you serve it to me on a HOT plate? I know you told me to be careful, but I forgot – after one bite… you know I can’t pay attention that long – it’s Chocolate after all and this is me we are talking about!” I grab an ice cube out of the freezer. “You should really run it under cold water; it will work better than the ice cube.” So, I toss the ice cube in the sink and run my finger under cold water. I’m being a total baby – I know this.
The cake was so so so good, though!
Dinner was amazing – spending quality time with Husband was the best part. It’s not the quantity; it truly is the quality time that matters! I’ve been looking forward to this all week… just being with him. It doesn’t have to be fancy; just him – just us.
I clear the table and wash the dishes (I’m not a total princess; I do have one chore!). And, now it’s time for a bit more romance…
Later o’clock pm (I didn’t keep track of the time during our romantic evening)
We cozy up in front of the fireplace… and the rest of the evening is – CLASSIFIED!
It’s not a fairy tale life; but it’s our happily ever after!
Thanks for spending the week with us!
Until next time!
Reggie
Jessie -
Latest posts by Jessie - (see all)
- Fire Wife Wisdom {On Duty Communication Plan} - July 11, 2021
- New Traditions in the Face of a Covid Thanksgiving - November 19, 2020
- Fire Family Protocols: Lessen the Spread of Contagions from the Firehouse to Home - March 19, 2020
Useful info. Hope to see more good posts in the future.