a day in the life

I'm always fascinated by reading about the "typical day" of others. So why not draft up my own?

So much of my day depends on how the night before went. Assuming I've slept at least 5 hours, this is what my best days look like:

6 am: Alarm goes off. At least 20 minutes spent hitting snooze.
6:30: Shower, make coffee, awaken slowly and resistantly. Check in on etsy; renew items as needed. Start a blog post or two.
7:00: Hila gets up after working on a couple workbook pages or playing with her laptop. Do some mundane tasks like packing lunches, picking out clothing. Hila picks out my shoes and earrings.
8:00: Leave the house for school and work (which are in the same place - lucky me!)
8:45: At my desk for my day job.
12 or 1: lunch! visit Hila!
5:30: Walk across parking lot to pick up Hila.
6:00: Arrive home. In nice weather, we eat by the pool and have a little swim.
7:00: final wind-down time for Hila - a show, quiet play, or a bath may be in the mix.
7:30: in bed for Hila. I begin my work! Check emails from work, messages from facebook and twitter.
8:00: the witching hour of crafting begins. Even though natural light has waned, this is when I begin new projects. I may do writing, or more likely will be spread out on the floor with beautiful fabric and at my sewing machine pounding away.
10 or 11 or...: Bedtime.

I've always been enamored of those who can follow a ritual-type day. I can't. I have too many factors: insomnia primarily, but add to those varying levels of creativity and drive and a sometimes irregular coparenting schedule and my wake-up time is as early as 5 or bedtime is as late as 2! Sometimes it's a matter of just getting through the day.

Here are a few etsy finds that are worth a look for getting through your day.

• Mini Desk Calendar from zany
• Farmer's Market Planner from mylavendarcottage
• Retro Mod Numbers Clock by sofacitysweethearts
• Peacock Post-it Note Holder by ragsnehali
• Curly Maple Pen by talltimbers

swaporama

I might be new to the swap game, but I have to tell you, swapping is the new black.

What's a swap? By my definition it's trading one non-monetary thing for another. In wiki-speak, it's more accurately described as a "barter," which is when goods or services are directly exchanged without money.

My newest swap du'jour? Child care. In the month of August alone, I paid over $100 in babysitting in order *to go to work*. Yes, that's right. In order to attend meetings and events required of me, and not covered by the other parent in my child's life, I had to pay $120. Ouch. (I know that nannies and childcare people are expensive - get off my back. It's just extra painful to pay to go to work, above and beyond preschool/daycare. And no, I don't get paid by the hour, so more working hours does not equal more money made.)

How I did it? Craigslist. Sure, it's creepy. But a phone call, followed by a public meeting, followed by reciprocal background checks and pointed questions (like, Will any other adult ever be around my child? Are there any times when your husband would be alone with the girls? Have you ever spanked your child? Do you drink when children are at home?), we were poised to give it a go.

Sunday was the first Emilie adventure into caring for two children, and I have to say, I fell into a lovely swap family. 5-month-old L was bubbly and had a droolly giggle that Hila adored. 5 hours with her flew by! And as each hour went by, a little cash register sound went off in my head. Another hour in the babysitting bank! (And luckily the other mom is very cool.)

Part of the value of a time swap isn't what you perceive as your "hourly rate." Over the past few years, I admit to falling into the "My time is worth so much!" trap. Sure, my time has a monetary value (See the article "How much is your time worth?" for some perspective), but only when I can actually make money. My time during the day is of high value, which is why I have a professional position. But the time at night... not so much. A single mom can't go get a night job without there being other implications. Even if I were slinging starbucks, I'd be in the hole for childcare. So yes, my time has value, but so does investing in saving time as well.

One of my favorite blogs, The Simple Dollar, inspired me to consider the swap, and they have oodles of other frugality tips. Among my other favorite frugality and money-saving blogs are the following:

• Bargaineering with our friend Jim Wang
• Money Tips Network - an excellent mash-up of all the blogs
• The Frugal Duchess with our friend Sharon Harvey Rosenberg. Female Expertise!

adaptations

I admit it: I find commercial patterns so, well, commercial. But I've learned to value them in their adaptability. "Adaptable?" You're thinking. "Ha!"

No, it's really true. I make a habit of once a month zipping over to my local Joann's for the cheapo pattern sale. Lately I picked up 10 Butterick patterns, half for little girls and half for women. But truth be told, I never make those patterns. I rarely even open the envelopes, yet I sit with a shelf full of them.

Why? Because they inspire me. My problem with commercial patterns is that they are rather uninspired. (When I say commercial, I mean the big ones sold at the fabric store in the deep drawers with the 3" thick catalogues. I do not mean the ones made by people like you and me.) Sure, they seem to look great on the package, but they lack flair.

But they are great for adaptations.

I love to use a good size chart on the envelope flap. And I will often take a look at the pattern pieces for a glimpse into their shaping and overall measurements before I draft my own. Cheating? Nah, just part of the learning process for me.

Try it sometime: spread out your patterns, and figure out what your *really* like from each. Take a square neck from one and match it with a pouf sleeve and bubble skirt from another. It's a truly original adaptation... you'll like it.

Here are some great pattern finds!

• Bonnie Reversible Girls Dress by emilierebekah (ok, shameless plug there... but it's a good pattern!)
• Fluerette Bubble Skirt by hyperart
• Very Easy Vogue Vintage Top and Culottes by patterncellar
• Vintage Nautical Vogue Top and Pants by sydcam123 (so cute!)
• Animal Outlines Pattern by beckarahn (embellish away!)