A day in the life.

Before the semester began, I plopped down at the kitchen table where Mom was sitting and Dad was lounging behind the kitchen counter, and declared that I was going to have to come up with a hobby. I had already plunged through 4 books in two weeks, and I was having a hard time focusing my eyes on anything outside of a one-foot radius after squinting at book after book for hours on end.

So I agreed to teach Extended Day as well as extend my substitute teaching range to the elementary schools. And then I took up violin. And joined the gym.

Then there's my practicum hours once a week when I'm the counselor's intern at the middle school. And there's the drive to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday mornings, class from 4-5 and clinic from 5-8 and individual supervision meeting from 8-9 on Wednesday nights, and the drive back home on Thursday mornings.

And it just so happens that Alex and I have joint-custody of our relationship, swapping weekends back and forth between Birmingham and Guntersville with a few trips to Nashville, Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, Muscle Shoals and so on thrown in here and there. These little trips take away from the general "relaxation" feel of a weekend-- somehow driving hours on end never seems to give me that good rest I need. Although, I do often find it hard to keep my eyes open once I hit those county roads.

When you add football season on top of that, I'm just all booked up. Even weekends when Al comes to me are filled to the brim with tailgating galore-- cooking, baking, traveling, and making merry with friends from all around. Auburn games with my friends, Bama games with his. And it is truly, truly very fun-- but, again, not exactly restful. Although, I may or may not have snoozed through the second half of the Bama-Florida game at Eric and Molly's house-- but trust me, they did more than enough cheering with or without me.

So tonight is a rare night when I didn't have a dinner date with a long lost friend or a hair appointment or work out buddy to meet. Since I took care of getting my oil changed and tires rotated yesterday, I thought I would make tonight equally as productive. Yesterday, my plan for tonight was to come home from teaching Extended Day, put my workout clothes on, work on a sewing project that's taking up a considerable amount of our basement floor, and then hit the elliptical while I watched Biggest Loser (fitting, yes?).

Well, my intentions were good... and they say it's the thought that counts.

In reality, I came home, shed my dress pants and let the exhaustion of 7 hours of teaching kids about bullying and 3 hours of managing the zoo extended day classroom roll off my body. I hopped into my work out clothes-- intentions still good!-- and sat down to dinner with my mom before heading down to work on my sewing project. I sat down on my bed for a minute-- just ONE minute!-- the next thing I know, Macy is snuggled up next to me and we're halfway into Biggest Loser's NFL week. My man Tebow is leading the workout, and I'm lost in an internal struggle of how I would break it off with Alex in the even that Tim Tebow asked me out (just kidding, dear... or am I?). I did get out of bed just long enough to guide my mom-- rookie gym rat-- through a workout, during which time I ran on the elliptical. So it wasn't a total waste-- but it wasn't even a third of what I had planned.

But you know what? I'm seriously enjoying a little down time with my cat and my favorite reality TV show. And if it wasn't for the presence of sweet Alex, I would think this was a preview of my future: cat lady with a reality television addiction.

Who am I kidding? This is a preview of my future. It just happens to include Alex. Lucky guy.