Married for over 18 years Shelby and her husband, Michael, have two children (John 16, Mikayla, 1). Shelby is a published author, having penned Opening the Door to Your True Purpose. She currently works full time for a healthcare technology company. The Griggs live in Frisco.
5:45AM Alarm goes off…I push the snooze button. Ten more minutes please.
6:00AM Roll out of bed exhausted from the weekend trip. I think this will be a jeans day at work. It looks like everyone is still asleep so I’m headed to the shower.
7:20AM Mikayla is now awake. Mike puts her in the play saucer in front of the TV to watch Mickey Mouse Playhouse. He’s getting her bottle and bag ready. I kiss everyone goodbye and rush out for my one-hour commute to work. The Tollway will surely be a parking lot at this hour.
7:30AM My cell phone rings while in route to work. Mike asks me to look behind me. I tell him I can’t because I’m driving. He says, “Well, reach behind you.” I put him on speaker and reach behind my seat. Well, that’s just great. Mikayla’s car seat is still in the truck! So I turn around to go back to the house. I’m thinking to myself, ‘I really need to make time to purchase an additional one.’
7:50AM I get back to the house to “quickly” drop of Mikayla’s car seat and my son, John, wants to talk about a project he has coming up. I’m thinking that there is no way I’m getting to the office at a decent hour.
8:50AM I arrive at the office. I quickly grab my purse and reach for my laptop bag. Seriously? Tell me it isn’t so! I left my computer at the house! After getting off the road so late, I didn’t think to put it back in the truck. There is no way I’m going back home so I decide to check with my IT guy for a loaner. I finally begin my day of madness. This is going to be a fantastic day. Yes, it will be a good day, I keep telling myself.
9:15AM I check my emails. There are 100+ of them. I absolutely hate leaving the office even just for one day. In this case, it was for two and it took me most of the day to catch up.
12:15PM Its lunchtime so I run to the break room, warm something up and go back to my desk. My cell phone rings and it’s Mikayla’s pediatrician to remind me that she is due for her second dose of the flu shot. I quickly call the babysitter so see how she’s doing and she tells me that Mikayla has been a bit irritable but fine. I continue going through emails.
2:15PM I get a reminder that I’m scheduled for a meeting with my boss. I’ve got so much on my plate right now but I try to prepare for it. I then receive a call that he’s rescheduling it. Hallelujah! I really need to get through these emails today.
5:15PM Headed home. I’m dreading the traffic but it’s inevitable. I arrive home and receive a text from Mike. He’s working late to catch up on reports since he took off for our trip. Mikayla is extra irritable and wants to be held the whole time. Oh, this will be fun.
6:45PM Need to start dinner but Mikayla won’t let me put her down. Mickey Mouse Playhouse isn’t working tonight. So, while still in my work clothes and Mikayla on my hip, I’m cooking dinner. After a few minutes of that, it was getting difficult so I plead with John to take her and have him attempt to rock her to sleep. He pauses on homework to help. I am reminded once again that the gap between them really rocks in times like these!
7:15PM Dinner is ready. I can’t believe it’s after 7:00pm. Feeling guilty once again because my mother worked too but dinner was always ready by 6:30PM. Mikayla is asleep with her mid-evening nap. John has the Midas touch. I reluctantly grab a saucer instead of a plate. I’m really trying to control my portions to lose this baby weight. I have a little time to go through the mail so I choose to multi-task and do that while I eat…standing up.
7:45PM Mikayla is now awake so I feed her dinner and she’s now in a better mood to play. We sing, dance, and practice her walking. She takes off when you’re holding her hands. I then give her a bath to prepare for bed. She’s sucking the soap off the rubber duck but I’m thinking, ‘It’s Johnson & Johnson, surely they knew babies would be doing this.’ I choose to keep it moving rather than fight her the whole time. She doesn’t swallow much. I think.
9:15PM Believe or not, it takes me twenty minutes to get Mikayla back to snoozing and I expect her to sleep through the night. The babysitter said she didn’t nap at all today.
9:40PM John wants to talk to me about his classes. We also discuss his plans for his upcoming Homecoming dance, and other random topics. I’m really thinking about all of the stuff I need to get done but I stay in the moment and listen to him. Being a teenager is hard enough and if he wants to spill his guts about everything on his mind, I’m all ears! Mike texts me and says he’s on his way home.
10:15PM John goes upstairs, at my urging and I begin my third job. I need to make some minor changes to my website and begin checking my emails from devoted readers. I book my hotel, and iron out details for my book conference in Houston next June. This will be my biggest one ever. Mike comes in and we chat about the usual while I’m on the laptop. I get his opinion about my online talk radio show for 2011. There’s just so much to do and not enough time. I remember that I need to also check my Facebook page. Geez, I honestly don’t know how I’m going to keep up with all of this. I seriously need to consider hiring an assistant. Seriously.
11:30PM I’m exhausted. It’s time for bed. I grab my cell phone and put it on my nightstand just in case I need to add something to my calendar I totally forgot about. Trust me; it happens in the middle of the night.
