A Day in the Life of… Anneli

In all honesty, to me, this post does not seem all that exciting, but I have had several people ask me:

“What does a typical day look like?”

So here is your post!

My “work schedule” is Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (with 1 –1 1/2 hour lunch break typically). However, often times we will have teams, visitors, or a surgery scheduled for a weekend, where I would be “working” on weekend. I say “work” with quotes because it really doesn’t feel like work to me. I LOVE going in to the foster home and I often times will visit on the weekends anyways, although it may only be for an hour or two. One of the things I have tried to establish from the beginning, is boundaries. Oh how we all love that word right? I know how easy it is to get burnt out when doing the work that I’m doing. Now that is not to say that it is at all stressful when I go to the foster home, but I’m trying to give myself a break and set those boundaries so that I do NOT get burnt out quickly. Believe me, it’s hard as those kids are so darn cute! Hey, at least I’m trying!

Okay, back to MY DAY.

My alarm goes off at 6 a.m. and I stumble out of bed somewhere between 6:30 and 6:45 (although I am definitely becoming more of a morning person that initial “get yourself out of bed” is still tough). I make my way to the kitchen where I start my coffee (some things haven’t changed). I am trying very hard to walk in the morning so this would be my time to go for my 30 minute walk (in which case the coffee would be started upon my return… no need to worry). The weather is beautiful here and there are so many gardens and pools around, that I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible. I mean I wont live in a place like this forever! Walking is the perfect time to spend in prayer and to start my day off right. The other option (if I’m too lazy to walk) would be to take my coffee out out on my balcony (yes, I have a balcony) along with my Bible and journal. If I walk, this happens AFTER.

Some views I may come across…

In order for you to not get TOO mad or jealous of my “home,” I’ll stop with those pictures for now. : )

And my beloved balcony…

I’m hoping to one day get patio furniture… but for now, it’s a kitchen chair.

I then head over to the foster home where I’m greeted by some wonderful young people all under 3 ft. who for some reason think the world of me. I’m bombarded by hugs and “good mornings” and “bao bao” (pick me up!). After hugs and kisses go around I venture into my “office” to put my computer and purse down before going back for a few more minutes with my precious kiddos. Then email is checked and plan out preschool for the day.

My desk

Preschool is more of a “one-on-one” session with the three oldest kids. These kids absolutely LOVE this time. They just crave the one on one attention. It varies based on the ages, but the basis is to do some music, puzzles, reading a book, a craft, and some sort of “lesson.” After which they head back to the playroom. Between the 3 kids, this takes up my morning. In between I’ll hold the little ones or work on the social networking which is another one of my roles.

These are my 3 “little charges”

Afterward it’s spending a few minutes with the kids until they eat lunch and go down for their nap, at which time I head back to my apartment for my own lunch.
I’m back around 2 p.m. at which time I take advantage of the kids still sleeping (hopefully) and get caught up on emails from home (I have very limited internet access from my apartment). I may be interrupted by this little one crying, but I usually don’t mind holding her on my lap while I finish reading. : )

After the kids are up it’s going for a walk, helping out with some of the medical procedures that need to be done on the kids or just playing with them.
Then it’s headed for home to make dinner, read, watch a movie, laundry, or whatever else I decide to do to “relax.”

Of course if we go to the hospital, the WHOLE day changes… but that’ll be a post for another day. : )

Anneli