Morning Routine

It is safe to say, that I am not a morning person. Even after coffee. In fact, I am just not an any time I am outside of the house person. I like to be at home, everything I could want and need is there.

I usually dive in the shower, brush my teeth, get dressed and run out of the door. Make up does not exist for me Monday to Friday – or at weekends unless we are going out anywhere other than a quick food shop.

Monday to Friday Routine

The 9 to 5 (or the 6 to 8, most days), I am a Compliance Manager for a car transport company based in the Midlands.

For the most part, I enjoy what I do. It can be stressful. It is a very easy job, it’s the obstacles within logistics that make it difficult. What I do can be seen as a hindrance but ultimately, it is just ensuring that our vehicles and drivers are safe to be on the road.

Unfortunately, breakdowns and problems happen – so there are occasions I need to make calls or do things out of hours.

I live about 40 minutes away from our office, but I don’t mind this – the drive helps me segregate work from my personal life – and vice versa. Although, Jubs does work for the same company as me so there are some blurred lines (not that we argue, but obviously sometimes I get frustrated about decisions made by other parts of the business when it comes to things around drivers, or specifically him!)

Evening Routine

In the evenings, the first thing I will do is go home and get into PJ’s. There is absolutely no shame.

I usually just have something to eat – I don’t eat breakfast or lunch so I am usually so hungry by the time I get back. And I think if it wasn’t for moving back with my parents to save for a mortgage and on occasion, food being ready for me – I think I wouldn’t eat dinner either! I usually read a chapter of my book before I head upstairs.

Because I have moved home with my parents – I have had to squeeze what I have from my house that I loved too much to let go of into my bedroom. So it’s usually quite chaotic. The plan was never to stay, it was to look to rent somewhere else but then we decided to make the most of the situation and save for a mortgage – and it makes sense. I have started to declutter things – I decided I would like to start again.

If I have laundry to do – I usually sort this before settling down for the night with one of the hobbies – whatever the obsession is at the time.

• Gaming
• Binge watching TV
• Reading
• Scrapbooking / Journalling
• Drawing / Painting

If I have put laundry on – and I haven’t forgotten, I’ll go and hang this to try. And I’ll start getting ready for bed. I am usually in PJs already – but cleansing, teeth and journal and my usual.

I have multiple journals but the two I use daily are the Hobonichi Weeks and the Hobonichi Cousin. I use the Weeks to pre-plan and habit track and the Cousin to write about my day, what has happened, what made me sad, what made me happy. I spent a long time on anti-depressants, I bottled things up and let it get me down. I would dwell on things. Ever since I started writing daily – I feel like I’ve had my vent, I’ve said my piece and made peace with that day – regardless of how I feel. Tomorrow is a new day.

Every night before bed I do try and have 30 minutes to an hour reading a book – I do sleep so much better when I don’t spend time scrolling on my phone but this doesn’t always happen – sometimes, just sometimes – I am asleep by 7pm and I won’t wake up until the next morning!

Weekend Routines

I am not going to lie – I love my bed. I love sleeping or napping – and I love being cosy! I drive Jubs mad with the amount of blankets I have at his house and at mine.

If we are at mine, we usually end up trying to work out how I can fit X amount of stuff into my room the most efficiently. I usually get stressed and buy something new; clothes, shoes, make up, storage… but he has now said he will no longer help me move my room around if I decide one more time that I do not like it – so it’s staying how it is!

If we are in Somerset with the kids, we try and get everyone out for a dog walk but most of the weekend is entertaining Cooper – the 5 year old and cooking food. No one eats the same, so prepping meals is just chaotic.

The 5 year old doesn’t eat anything but Mcdonalds hash browns, Greggs sausage, bean and cheese bakes and Wotsits – and no alternatives are allowed – he will know and refuse to eat them! Chocolate, sweets and brioche rolls are on the approved list.

The 12 year old will only eat what he knows he likes and very reluctantly try other food. If he had a choice, we would have McDonalds breakfast, lunch and dinner – I did wonder if it put him off McDonalds if we did it for a duration but knowing hes either going to ask for pasta bake, spaghetti bolognaise or steak and chips at a weekend means I know it probably isn’t going to make a difference and he is just going to be one happy kid!

The eldest is a dream and eats 99% of what is put in front of him – and does better than his dad for what he eats!

Jubs hates vegetables – most of the textures ick him out more than the flavour but it makes it difficult to cook for him. I tend to just leave veg out or cut it so it is chunky and I can pick it out when I dish up for him! He will eat peas and that is as good as it gets!

When we do have the kids – we used to play Fortnite together, but they started playing other games with their friends. Now one night over the weekend, can be either a Friday or Saturday we have a night where the eldest two come off their consoles at dinner and we do something together. If we have no plans, they are on them all day – from the moment they wake up until they go to sleep unless they’re eating or in the bathroom! So encouraging them to spend time away from their PlayStations has been a challenge – BUT there is less kicking off when it’s time to go to bed and we actually do have a nice time together. We play board games, card games such as What Do You Meme? or do things like virtual escape rooms or murder mysteries (that has been one of the recent ones! And the kids got really involved which was great!)

Sunday evenings are getting ready for work – Jubs packs his bag for the week and I just make sure I have everything I need together. If we have been shopping, we will cook or put everything together in the fridge so it is ready to grab in the morning!

I don’t remember what the end of a night out looks like – and to be honest that suits me just fine. I do not miss hangovers, or getting in at sun-rise. How life has changed…