Routines no. 3

This is the last lot of routines. I have found them fascinating. We are all trying our best to live simply, we all over the world and yet despite the many differences, our routines seem to me to hold a measure of similarity. I hope you have enjoyed reading how some of our readers live their 'normal' day.

From Margaret in Maryland USA
Get up at 5:15
Make coffee
Read Bible and pray
Take care of the dogs
Put in a load of laundry
Wake up 15 and 19 year old daughters
Drive 15 year old to meet her car pool to Baltimore
Wake up 5 year old son
Take 19 year old to college
Eat breakfast
Son on the bus (it is now 8:45)
Pick up house
Clean for about 30 mins.-whatever needs to be done
About three days per week I bake bread and other goodies
Start dinner, work on laundry
Go on line for a bit
Work on a project (usually knitting)
Eat lunch
Pick 19 year old up from school- Take her to work
3 days a week drive to Baltimore (35mins) to pick up 15 year olds carpool
Meet son's bus
Homework
Dinner
Little guy to bed
Knit and relax
Bed at 10:00

From Keth in Manchester England
12.00 (yes pm) - get up, have multiple coffees while we wake up in front of the computer, reading blogs and whathaveyou
2.00 - breakfast, walk the dog
3.00 - do something for the afternoon (may be baking bread, may be shopping,may be making something - this afternoon i'll be getting the sewing machineout to make a christmas present for a friend)
6.00 - back to the computer, talk to friends who are coming home from work foran hour or so
7.00 - go cook dinner, although i've usually planned it from the night beforeso i have options to spend more or less time on it according to what it needs
8.00 - we sit down to eat dinner
8.00 to about 11.00 - watch the box. If there's nothing on TV i potter around with things that need doing.
11.00 ish - washing up, cleaning up the kitchen and making a quick sandwich if i'm hungry. after that, back to the computer or pottering around (I'm makingchristmas cards at the moment)2.00am - put dog out for final pee in the garden, get ready for bed, snuggledown in bed to read for a couple hoursbetween
3 and 4 am - sleep
neither of us are really morning people, and we don't work (for a living i mean) so our hours tend to be forward of what most other people's are.

Mama K in New Jersey USA
As far as routines go... I'm not so good with sticking to a schedule. On an average day I'd say I get up around 8am. If my son (14mo) is still sleeping I'll check my email and grab a shower. If he's not I'll get him up and feed him breakfast while I check my email. We do some preschool activities, like word flashcards, in the morning. I do some chores like making the bed and straightening up my nightstand. I have some coffee and do the dishes.
Around 11:30am DS goes down for a nap and I go check my email and bloglines. When he wakes up we eat some lunch and if there are any errands to run we do it then. If we stay home, I turn on the soap operas and either fold laundry or do something crafty.
At about 4 I straighten up the living room and start planning for dinner.
At 5 I usually start dinner. DH comes home and we eat around 6pm.
All three of us play together until my son's bath time at 7pm.
From 7-8 is daddy time and I can do whatever I want... ususally get back on the computer! LOL
We watch TV or clean the kitchen or I do some crafts or whatever else until bedtime at 10:30-11pm.

Paula in Ontario Canada
(Paula, I love that you listen to your husband watch TV)
7am - wake up
7:05am - shower and get ready for work, check Meal Plan and make sure there is nothing that needs picking up (ei milk etc)
8:00 - leave for work
8:30 - arrive at work, eat breakfast and have coffee at work
9:00 work
1:00pm Lunch
2:00pm work
5:00pm leave work and drive home
5:30 arrive home (or stop at store if needed something), make coffee and have a cup while winding down for 10 mins.
5:45pm - make dinner and tidy up
7:00pm - eat dinner while watching Coronation Street (not good I know LOL!)
7:30pm - move dishes to kitchen and take dog for a walk
8:15 pm - clean kitchen, put on dishwasher if needed, make lunches, do one cleaning chore, check email
9:00pm - get out sewing or scrapbooking or crocheting and do it while listening to hubby watch TV
10:00pm - make tea and might have a small snack with it
11:00pm - bed

Tam in NH USA
5:30 am wake up, make bed, get dressed
5:45 wake kids up, change baby, do kid's hair (I have girls)
6:00 breakfast for all 3 of us
6:30 start bus (if it's cold, which it is), pretrip etc.
6:40 double check 10 year old's bag, kiss her goodbye and lead baby out to bus
6:45-9 am school bus runs 9-2 various chores, laundry, housekeeping, gardening, errands, barn chores, mixed in with baby's (20 months) play time, walks and Mommy's computer time in between - lunch at noon
2-4:30 afternoon school bus runs
4:30 start right in on dinner prep
5:30 dinner6:00 clean up
6:30 knit (or spin)
7:00 bedtime for baby
8:00 bedtime for 10 year old
9:30 bedtime for Mom
Doesn't look like there's a spouse but there is...he starts work at 3am and is in bed by 7 pm - he does afterschool stuff w/10year old. He's why we eat so early.

Jayedee in Florida USA
make bed
i begin each and every day by sitting outside on the front porch for a few minutes
fire up the computer and download email scan email to see if there is something important
go out to the chicken house and let the girls (and boys) out for the day
check food and water for all the poultry and change the water for the geese
spend a few minutes in the garden
back to the house to feed and water the dogs and my parrot
start first load of laundrybreakfast
get daniel started on school
rinse dishes
read some email
plan dinner and set the bread to rise if i'm baking
tidy dining and living roomswipe down bathrooms
more email if i have timeblog if i have time
errands if i have anyput the poultry up and do my afternoon feeding
start dinner
wash up
final walkthru
watch cooking shows or read while dh showerssleep ( i hope)

Pam in Tennessee USA
8:00 ( I am trying to get up earlier) Wake: get out of bed and make it right away (unless I have to go to the bathroom then I do that first and them make my bed).
Get dressed.
Go into the kitchen and look outside to see what the day looks like.
Take my 3 dogs out for bathroom break
Start a pot of coffee for my husband (I don't drink coffee).
Make myself a glass of Ice water. Take my vitamins.
Go to bathroom and wash my face and brush my teeth, put hair up,
Go to the kitchen and: Put in some toast or bagels. For me and my husband, Eat breakfast
After breakfast:Unload dishwasher from night before and load up morning dishes.
Start a load of laundry. Take out something for my husband to eat for lunch (Dinner) and food to pack his lunch with.
If we have errands to run we do them now.
On Monday, Wed, and Friday we have dump day where we take all our recyclables and garbage to our dump.
Start lunch (Dinner for him) We eat dinner together after eating I pack his lunch and set it by the front door.
Take the dogs out again. My husband and I share this job.
Put in a new load of laundry, put clean load into dryer.
When he leaves I start the cleaning running the vacuum every other day, dusting, sweeping the floors daily.
Once a week I scrub the bathtub and wash the bathroom floor and kitchen floor.
I go through the house wiping walls and picking up things I see on the floor (lint, dog hair). I try to keep up on the dog hair it can get out of hand quickly.
After cleaning is done I relax with my crocheting, or sewing, or reading until the evening. Or blog reading.
Around 10:00 P.M. I shower and get into bed clothes and wait for my husband to get home around 12:00 A.M.
We watch a little TV or play on the computer until around 2:00 A.M. Sometimes it is 3:00 A.M. Then we go to bed

Mary in Oregon USA
7:30ish - get up and shower to get to work by
8:00 AM.I know I should have breakfast, but I generally favorsleep over food. My job is at a computer, and I'mbored out of my mind most days.
Lunch break at 12:00, which I may use to browse the local thrift shops for craft supplies and Winter clothes (amazing what people "throw away"!) but latelyI've been trying to go home and heat up some leftovers for lunch.
Work until 5:00 (and not one minute later ;-)
Home to feed the cats and dog and sit for an hour or so reading or watching TV or just relaxing.
6:00 - 10:00 is my time to clean house or cook or work on various projects if I have no work for Job #2 to do on the computer. Lately it's been sewing aprons and knitting on a sweater.
I try to be in bed by 10:30 with a hot cup of tea and a good book. Lights out at 11:00 at the latest.
Rinse, repeat.

Coleen in PA USA
wake up at 6:00 take pill ( need to do that 1/2 hour before I eat) make bed
get washed, do hair and makeup, get dressed,head downstairs to make lunch
eat breadfast
straighten family room
sweep kitchen floor
put away any dishes from nite before
leave for work at 7:00
arrive at work by 7:25 I'm there till 3:30
4:00head home do any errands that are on the way home
arrive home either clean bathrooms, bedrooms or downstairs depending on the day
do some wash or take down prior days wash and fold and put away read mail fix dinner and clean up
make phone calls if needed sew,read, watch some TV,get bath and go to bed to do it all over again the next day!

Delores who I think is in the USA
First off, I have coffee and read e-mails. Then 15 minutes on treadmill and 5 minutes stretching.
I eat breakfast, (usually hot rice cereal with soy milk) and try to read at least 1 chapter in Bible while eating.
I unload dishwasher, make beds, start load of laundry.
Now I bathe, get dressed for the day and pray a few minutes.
I take something out of freezer to defrost or get ingredients together for whatever I'll have for dinner or that I want to cook.
I walk my daughters dog and take treats to her birds and usually wash any dishes she has in sink. (She lives next door.)

I hang out clothes or dry them in dryer. (Only hang out sheets and heavy things like towels and use dryer for rest.)

I read blogs, check bits in my hometown newspaper online for as long as it takes the clothes to dry and then I either hang them or fold them and put them away.

I try to do some house work everyday such as vac or washing windows or dusting or simply organizing something but if I'm involved in a study or project or good book or in this case reading your blog from beginning to end (I am still reading in August right now) sometimes these things wait except on Fridays (which is today) when it can't wait and I work my butt off cleaning and cooking for sabbath.

I usually have soup for lunch that I have cooked and frozen so no cooking at noon but I do spend an hour or longer cooking dinner. I kinda cook two different meals as my husband eats meat and I stay away from meat, eggs, and dairy products. After dinner I often go visit with my daughter a half hour or so and on Tuesday and Thursday I do watch 2 television shows in sucession that I like ( a total of 2 hours each of those nights.)

I load my dishwasher (dishes soak while I put off doing them) I read on computer or play a game or call my sister or other daughter on nights I don't watch tv. Lastly, I do my facial and brush my teeth and go to bed. I also have 2 dogs and 2 cats that I tend to during the day and before I go to bed I usually open the dishwasher so the dishes will air-dry.

Sometimes I put beans in soak or if ready ( I sprout them before cooking) in crockpot to cook overnight. I, now, since reading your blog, have a garden started...just greens but it is a start.

Melinda in California USA
Wake up
Let the dog (and cat) out
Feed the dog and cat
Harvest some veggies or fruit for breakfast (if I haven't the night before)
Make breakfast
Read the paper and/or blogs
Research and post an entry in my blog
Research and work on various media projects
Take breaks from the computer every couple of hours to work in the garden
Have a bite of late lunch
Tidy up the house, do the dishes
Pick food from the garden for dinner
Feed the dog and cat
Greet my husband (who gets home from work in early evening) and debrief about our days
Make dinner
Eat relaxing dinner and talk about new plans, thoughts Matt cleans up after dinner, then studies while
I work on various media projects
Sometimes we watch a movie together
Get ready for bed
Read in bed

Carla in Idaho USA
get up anywhere from 5am-6am take a shower every other day
get the newspaper off the front stoop
feed kittiesmake coffee
put oatmeal (w/chopped dates) in saucepan w/water on stovetop read newspaper & drink coffee
get partway dress (bottom half) finish cooking oatmeal/make luncheat oatmeal, drink juice, finish newspaper
pack lunch & anything else I'm taking to work (varies -usually some paperwork of some sort)finish dressing, finish hair
after I'm all ready, depending on how soon I have to leave, I'll usually start something to finish in the evening. For example, today I cleaned everything off my bookshelves that was not books, and also took off books that were not standing upright. The project is cleaning off/out bookshelves in preparation for holiday decorating.
put on coat, back car out of garage, lock door, come back through house, grab purse, tell kitties to have a good day& behave, lock door on way out, leave for work.
My garagedoor does not have an automatic opener nor does it lock from the outside.
Saturday - laundry, general house cleaning
Sunday - relax: spend time w/family; get ready for work -oh, and watch NFL football if the (Green Bay) Packers are playing!
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Well, that's some of us up close and personal. I hope this will help our homemakers who struggle at times with their routines; for the rest I hope it's an interesting read. I really liked noting the similarities in us all, as well as the differences.

I hope you all take some time during your day, no matter how busy you are, for yourself. You need to look after yourself because when the mother and wife is sick, the whole family suffers. This is not slacking off - it's time you need to keep your mental, emotional and physical health in a good state. Having your own time will allow you to relax, think about your life and work through some of the things you want to focus on. We are all here because we are thoughtful people, people who want to make the best life that we can for ourselves and our families. So please be kind to yourself and be guided, and hopefully inspired, by these routines and step one small step at a time towards what you want your life to be.