Bekah's Bits

Day in the Life: A Friday in May

Last month I told you about a random Thursday in Shafferland. This month, I thought I’d follow along for a Day in the Life again, but on a Friday instead! I actually picked this day on purpose, because I had a speaking event that day and thought you might like to see what a speaking day looks like!

A Friday in May
Ryan is 45, Bekah is 45, Braeya is 18, Lexi is 2 (Two of us have leveled up on age since last month!)
Weather: Sunny with a high of 64. It might be chilly for May, but it’s rained for several days, so I am just happy to see the sun.

MORNING:

Here’s a fun fact to start the day: I totally forgot, when I woke up, that today was a Day in the Life Day. Whoopsie! So I failed to record the morning routine, but you’ve already seen it four times this year, so I’m sure you won’t be brokenhearted to not see a bunch of repeat photos.

Ryan gets up first and does his morning prayer time/coffee/Bible reading, and Braeya and I hang out in bed just a little bit longer. I finally get up, have some water, pour my first cup of coffee into this sweet mug. (It was a gift from Tim and Justine when we worked at WillowBridge. The quote was from one of our tenants.)

I sit down to write in my journal and do my morning Bible reading. As usual, I love the insights from Nancy Guthrie in Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament. I also do my Sunday School passage study, and today it’s from 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22. The theme this month is unity and community!

I make our bed while Ryan showers and then pack Ryan’s lunch with the last of the leftover chicken salad sandwich recipe from a couple of days ago. I throw in an apple and love note and call it a Friday!

I get ready while he unloads the dishwasher and cleans out litter boxes. The sun is out, and the morning is shaping up to be just beautiful!

Ryan leaves for work, Lexi heads to our bed for a morning nap, and I sit down with yogurt, mixed berries, and some sliced almonds for my breakfast. I send an email to my friend while I eat, and then it’s time to start working. And THAT is when I see my sticky note about documenting the day. So now I can pick up from there! 😊

Ryan sends a picture from work. He’s recording the daily announcements. This isn’t normally his job, but the person who usually does it is on vacation, so he’s filling in. He actually really likes doing it, so it’s a fun “other duty as assigned” for his day.

I clear my inbox and send some messages that are pressing. Then it’s time to refill the coffee cup and settle in for a meeting with one of my Steering Committees. They have just advanced to the next step in the process, and I need to tell them what is ahead for them!

After our meeting, I send follow up emails and notes – and while I do so, I eat my morning snack of cottage cheese.

One of my jobs is to mail packets for my Steering Committees to present to school administrators when they meet with them, and I have three sets of packets ready to mail. It’s a GORGEOUS day outside, so it’s a perfect time to make a quick drive to the post office. I get them sent off, log my receipt in the expense app, and then head back home. I also file my paper receipt in my work file and then get back to my computer to resume answering messages. (Might also refill the coffee again. Small cups = more refills.)

Shortly before lunch, I have a “water cooler” meeting with one of my coworkers. We do this every week just to catch up on our jobs and lives. It’s one of my favorite meetings each week! When we’re done, I have just a half hour left before I’m done for the day. I have the afternoon off because of my speaking engagement tonight. So I clean up the rest of my tasks and prepare my out-of-office reply.

Ryan sends a picture of himself holding vintage gum. The activities department at work is doing a fun thing for residents – teaching them about the history of gum. His coworker found all these cool vitage gum flavors and bought them for the adventure. He knows I hate gum, so he sends the picture just for friendly picking on me. 😊 Then he FaceTimes me for about five minutes while he eats lunch. Lexi enjoys her lunch while we talk, and then she’s back to sleep!

AFTERNOON:

At noon, I put on my out-of-office responder and fix my own lunch of leftovers. I’m having the same leftover chicken salad with homemade bread, and today I add an apple to the mix. Ryan also brought me a cookie as a treat yesterday, so have that to look forward to! While I eat, I go ahead and post the Saturday Suggestions blog for tomorrow. We won’t get home until very late tonight, and all I want to do then is add in the final capsule wardrobe picture and fall asleep! I’ve been curating the post all week, so it’s ready to go.

I finish my lunch and the blog, send a quick Marco to my sister, and then I put away the dishes that have been drying on the counter all morning since Ryan emptied the dishwasher! The kitchen is all nice and clean now! I remember that the clothes I washed yesterday are still sitting in the dryer, so I go turn that on to fluff them. I want to have all that put away before we have to leave.

While those fluff, I change my clothes out of the work wardrobe into the capsule wardrobe outfit of the day. When I speak, I try to dress up, and for a tea like this one, I would ordinarily wear a dress. But they have indicated I will be wearing a mic, which means I need to wear something with a waistband so I can clip on the battery pack. So I go for khakis and a dressy shirt and sweater.

The clothes finish up, Lexi lays on the bed, and I start putting everything away. I listen to a Marco while I work and have just a couple of minutes to send a quick response at the end. Lexi is ready for her snack, and right after she finishes it, I hear a car in the driveway. Ryan ends up coming home a whole hour EARLY – YAY!!!!!! – and brings with him the Mother’s Day cards he bought while he was out and about. I still have some final packing to do before we can leave, so while I work on that, Ryan takes Lexi out for a quick walk. I am so grateful for this blessing, because we’ll be gone a while, and getting the wiggles out will be so helpful for her!

I have an info sheet for every speaking engagement I do. It includes all kind of practical information like the name of the location, the time to be there, the door to enter, the contact person’s name and phone number, what to wear, what to take, etc. Normally I have these printed out well in advance, but I got behind this week, so my first order of business is to print my info sheet, hole-punch it, and put it in my speaking binder. I double check my binder to make sure it has my talk and Ryan’s copy of the talk inside.

I grab my tote bag and throw in my table items. A tablecloth (in case they don’t have one, business card holder, brochures, change bag, signs for my book prices and QR code for payment. I also toss in a couple of table decorations borrowed from the dining room – just to spruce up the look of the table. I put my laptop in my bag, just as a precaution, in case something went wrong with the Power Point I sent a few days ago.

I pack protein balls for snacks, wrap my coffee creamer in an ice pack, and put it all in my insulated lunch tote. We don’t travel without snacks and creamer!

Ryan has already put my book boxes in the car – one box for each of the two books I’ve published. I double check to make sure they’re in there, and then it’s time to add my items for the night, so the car is packed and ready to go when Ryan and Lexi return.

They come back, Lexi gets a drink, and Ryan brings in the mail. I have happy mail! One of the young ladies from the Bible study I’ve been leading this spring has sent me the nicest, most encouraging card. I tear up reading it! I also decide this world needs more encouraging mail.

We’re all ready to go, so Ryan takes my capsule wardrobe photo, and I go to the car while he gives Lexi her dinner (really early) and locks up the house.

We are ready to go about an hour ahead of schedule, and I’m so glad, because we’re going to hit Indianapolis at rush hour. Lord, help us all!

It is a GORGEOUS day for a drive. Look at those clouds! I love having Ryan drive me to my events. I grab a quick nap while he drives, and I wake up in time for…coffee! Ryan tells me he got a message that today is half price day at Starbucks, so we stop to get a little latte treat.

Freshly caffeinated, we head into Indianapolis, and while we never come to a standstill, it’s not pretty. We pass lots of accidents, weave through lots of construction, and Ryan begs me to just go back to sleep until it’s over. Ha! Not a chance.

Eventually things get a little less harried, and I pull out my talk to review it again before we arrive. Right around the time I finish that, we find more slow traffic. Womp womp.

EVENING

I’m speaking in Greencastle, Indiana, which is about three hours from our house. We have never been to Greencastle, so we drive around a little when we get to town. We make our way to the church, which is a really pretty building!

When we arrive, we go inside to find the contact person, and she is a gem. She shows us around the church and offers to help us carry in our things. We carry in my books and set up the table in the corner of the beautiful eating space. They have done a wonderful job setting up this tea!

I meet the sound guy, get my mic, do a sound check, and start mingling with the ladies. Ryan is such a sport – he jumps right in and eats with all of us! The ladies at our table are so kind and welcoming, and we have the best time talking with them.

After dinner, we move into the sanctuary, where we enjoy some music and then it’s time for me to speak. This crowd is so attentive and kind. The topic tonight is “Pouring In, Pouring Out.” It’s over all too soon, and I spend some time at my book table, meeting the ladies.

Ryan helps me pack up and we load the car. Before leaving town, we stop at Casey’s for fresh brew for the ride home.

The traffic is much lighter going home, and we do a little car karaoke on the way! It’s dark by the time we get back to Indianapolis, and though my picture is lousy, seeing the skyline at night is always sweet. Know what is NOT sweet? Getting in the wrong lane in construction and ending up having to do a major back-track. Sigh.

I scroll social media as we drive and learn the Northern Lights are visible! We can’t see them with our eyes, but my camera picks them up! Once we exit the interstate, Ryan finds an empty country road and pulls over so we can take some pictures. What a cool bonus to the day!

About a half hour from home, we stop to get fuel – grateful for a gas card we were gifted earlier this month.

We get home just before midnight – tired, but thankful to have a safe trip behind us. Lexi is beside herself with joy to see us and is most ready for her snack!

Ryan gets the coffee pot set for Saturday morning and makes Lexi’s Kongs. I unpack my bags and put everything away.

We are so tired, but Lexi needs some time with us after SO many hours being away, so we settle in on the couch. I finish the blog and all three of us fall asleep. We stay there until about 2 a.m. when Ryan wakes up and suggests we head to bed.