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A day in the life of

Nicole Santi

I wake, peel one eye open and see the lightest tint of blue out my window. Oh good, I think to myself. I haven’t overslept. I reach out for my phone and elbow my sleeping husband. Whoops. 5:53 the clock stares at me. I take it closer and shove it under my pillow. I have two more minutes until my first alarm goes off. I envy those people that can get up without hitting snooze 15 times or have to set multiple alarms. I am most certainly not one of those people. So I close my eyes and drift off back to sleep. 25 mins of snoozes later I finally get out of bed. My eyes aren’t open yet as I shuffle into the kitchen to let the dogs out. They don’t want to get up either but natures calls and they slowly make their way off the couch. They do at least 10 stretches before they finally exit the door. Note to self, do more stretching. I turn to make coffee and step on some sort of small, yet sharp tiny toy my 3 year old undoubtedly stole from his sister and left on the floor. Even though it hurts and I hobbled around on one foot saying all the profanity’s that came to mind, at least now I am a little more awake. With the coffee brewing and the dogs back on the couch I throw my clothes on, brush my teeth and run out of the house because now I am late. I check my pocket as I run to my car, keys - check, phone - check, coffee - shit it’s on the counter. That is worth turning around for even if I am late. 

15 mins later I am pulling into the school back parking lot where the big buses are parked. I say hello to the few people I see and get my bus checked and ready to go. I think to myself as I drive off, thank God for my mom this morning. 3 days a week she get my daughter on the school bus while I’m at work. Those 3 mornings she also keep my son at home so he can sleep in and not have to ride the bus. I check my clock and I’m ready for the first stop. A minute late, but never early is a bus drivers motto. They drilled that into my head as my old driving job would announce over the radio in a singsong voice. I would hear it and think, I’m definitely not getting paid enough. The morning routes are a lot easier. The kids aren’t fully awake yet and I don’t have to yell or use my PA system to get the students to follow the rules. 1 hour and 40 mins after I started, the elementary and middle school kids are where they need to be. I am on my way home ready for more coffee. 

I open the door to my home and I am rushed by two dogs and a very cute toddler boy who wants all the hugs and love. After he gets them he manages to finagle the phone from my back pocket and goes off to watch YouTube kids. Is it the best? No but I need twenty mins to myself as I eat breakfast, have coffee and zone out to reruns of friends or tiny house hunting. I get the run down from my mom on how the morning went and get two wet noses poking at my hands. The dogs want their love. I give them some attention, pour more coffee and settle in my chair for some me time. Within two mins my son wants to come and snuggle in the chair with me. “Not now bud, my coffee is hot and I don’t want to spill it on you”. He gives me a pout as he sandwiches himself between both dogs. As I finish my coffee I wonder if there is a way to just pump it straight into my veins. Alas, time to get up and hang with the kid.  If it’s nice out, we go outside or for a walk. If it’s crappy then we play play doh or hide and seek. Next is the very fun tasks of laundry, dishes, floors, or whatever needs doing. I check the clock 11 am. Better get my son down for a nap, if I don’t then I’m screwed because I know he will be a terror for the afternoon run. He already doesn’t like being on the bus anymore. I manage to get him upstairs to his room by racing him there. Book read, blanket tucked, and I think he might actually sleep. 

It’s about 11:20 as I make my way downstairs definitely ready for a nap but I push through. I have until 1:40 before I leave to go back to work for my afternoon route. In this time I must, work on a ring or rings, package up what needs to be sent out, answer messages, take pictures for clients, take pictures for social media, eat, make my son a lunch to eat on the bus, and sometimes I need to shower during this time too because I was too tired the night before to do it. If my son, doesn’t nap then he comes down and if I can get him to watch a movie I’ll get some of my stuff done, if not then we spend time and I’ll push my Blue Sparrow work back until after the kids go to bed. But now its 1:20 and he did nap and I was able to work on a ring. Woohoo, feeling good about that. Now I take off the sweats I put back on after my first run and get his bag together. I wake him up and pray he slept well otherwise I have a fight on my hands to get him dressed and in the car. Mom guilt sets in about this time. Using electronics, forcing him to be somewhere he doesn’t want to be, that I spend all this time trying to occupy him so I can do what I need to. But then I suck it up and remember that’s why I started my business to begin with and that’s where I get my drive. So that I don’t have to drag him around on a schedule that doesn’t fit him. And I know that if I go up there and wake him up with a juice box, don’t worry it’s one of those healthy ones then he’ll be too distracted to realize I’m getting him in normal clothes and not the pj pants he doesn’t want to take off from last night.

2:00 I am back at work and ready to bring the kids home. This part is trickier because not only are they fully awake but they are hyped up from their day and the warming weather and the knowing it’s getting closer to the end of the year. So I have to use my intercom a few times. I sound like a broken record, “Get in your seat, out of the isle, sit down, hands to yourself”. The middle schoolers aren’t as bad, but they need reminding every now and then. 3:45 I am done and on my way home. Time to catch up with my daughter, check homework, hang out with her, listen to her day, check in with the hubs, give the dogs attention as I get more wet noses to my hands. My husband does most of the cooking. So if I can swing it I do a little but of silversmithing as the kids play or I check messages and take pictures before the sun goes down. We all eat together and then it’s more play time for the kids, bath time, and bed time for them. Tonight is hubby’s bedtime turn so I get a few moments of peace to myself downstairs.

At this point if I have the energy to swing it I will work on jewelry. If not, I will plop down with ma dude and watch some tv with him. Some nights, my favorite nights we won’t turn on the tv, we will hang out together listening to music, having a couple of drinks and talk for hours like we did all the time when we first started dating. Now with two kids, two dogs, a house and yard to maintain and lots of other items on our list, chances are we end up both vegged out in front of the tv. 

This is a very typical weekday for me. It’s not working. I am not happy, my son isn’t happy. My husband is stressed because I am so stressed. Two weeks ago, after having a sit down with him, we have decided the best move for us is for me to quit my bus driving job and silversmith full time. I can not fucking wait. Friday is my last day. Going to be popping some bottles that night for sure. It’s going to be so great for not only me but my family. Tune in next week to see what a day in the life looks like after Monday. My first day as an entrepeneur!


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