I went out to dinner tonight with some friends, all of whom are fellow Geography-Anthropology majors at the university from whence I graduated last spring. And all of whom asked me, upon hearing that I am still living at home and working my regular weekend job, “So…what do you do now?”

“Everything,” I answered. But I could see from the looks on their faces as I briefly covered ‘doing school with the kids’ and ‘cooking…a lot’, they didn’t really understand how I managed to pass my time.

So, here it is. What I do.

Most mornings I wake up to the alarm at 7 o’clock. And most mornings I hit the snooze button, at least once. I don’t ever sleep in much past 8:30, because by then the cats are starting to glare at me with hungry eyes.

So I roll out of bed, shuffle into the kitchen and feed the little monsters. At this point, if I’m feeling very motivated, I’ll go for a jog. If I’m feeling not-so-motivated, as is more often the case, then I start thinking about breakfast for the kids and myself. I try not to drink coffee during the week, but sometimes Stephen and I will indulge as we sit down to watch The Colbert Report. We tune in faithfully, every morning.

Hannah is usually awake at this point, and has had her breakfast. Since she is naturally a night owl, we’ve worked out a schedule that allows her to get a full night’s sleep in addition to taking a morning shower, both of which preserve her sweet nature, before we start school in the late morning.

During this time after breakfast, Stephen is usually doing his schoolwork. He works almost entirely on his own and only rarely do I have to get on his back about completing an assignment. So while he studies and Hannah showers, I sit down to read e-mails and catch up on blogs. As I am now considering the likelihood of a prolonged internet fast, who knows what kind of useful things I might be able to do with that time. Sometimes, if I haven’t yet taken my jog, I try to squeeze it in before school.

Once Hannah is dressed and ready, we sit down and go through her schoolwork together. We work mostly one-on-one, though she does the reading and writing all on her own. I’m mostly there as a guide and motivational support. By the time she’s finished with schoolwork, it’s time for a late lunch, and then chores.

Sort of.

The chores are really more the kids’ domain. They make sure to straighten up the house before Mom comes home from work, meanwhile I haven’t seen my coffee table in a week under the two-foot high mountain of laundry. I’m not really such a great example with chores.

In the afternoons, we do our own thing. The kids and I might watch a little TV, like an episode of The Office or King of the Hill, but more often we settle into our own activities. Stephen spends a good chunk of the day listening to guitar music, watching guitar players online, and practicing his guitar. Hannah tends to put on her headphones and listen to music while she paces and thinks. Sometimes she draws, or writes a story.

I might take my shower now, or work on some photos that I’ve taken, or browse through the blogs again. Around mid-afternoon, unless I’ve thrown something in the crockpot that morning, I start to prepare dinner. I find a great deal of joy in cooking. While photography fuels my creative passion, cooking centers and relaxes me. Hence, I tend to take a lot of photos of my food.

We eat dinner early, around 5 o’clock. After dinner is more down time, during which we might listen to music or read. We tend to congregate back in the living room around 7 o’clock and select what our nightly viewing pleasure will be. We don’t really follow any TV shows, but our DVR is often filled with interesting documentaries, movies and public television programming. Or we might watch a new movie On Demand. Either way, most nights we’re together and I really love that about our family.

All of us, except Hannah of course, tend to head for bed around 10 o’clock. We hug and kiss goodnight, another nightly ritual that I love, and climb in bed to rest for another day.