Trininista - Day in the Life

Who wakes up at 3am? I do.

Life happens. Most days I am too tired or indifferent to blog. It's also been pretty routine lately. So routine that I can share a "Day in the Life" type post with you.

So every morning, whether I am going to workout or not, my alarm clock goes off at some variation of 3.00am. On non-workout days it is 3.45am and sometimes as late as 4.00am. But generally, as I fight the bulge, the alarm goes off at 3.10am.

It is at this point, I drag myself off the bed and change into my workout wear, brush my teeth, make sure I have everything I need. This last bit is very important since I workout near and in the office and so change there as well. In the past, I have left critical things behind - jewellery, shoes, mascara and even pants. Yes, one night I had ironed the pants and hung them on a separate hanger as I was too tired and the next morning, I drove all the way to the office and realised I had no pants. The options were slim - work in sweaty gym pants, sit in just my knickers, go home for pants or just go home. Taking into consideration the traffic in Trinidad after a certain hour, I called my then boss and said I had an emergency and would be taking the day. lol. But I had a great workout.

Queen's Park Savannah in the day
Photo credit: TTCS/D. Teelucksingh

So once I have confirmed I have everything - gym bag with toiletries, shoes, makeup, accessories, my outfit for the day, laptop, lunch bag - I get on the highway and head to the office. Park, go walk/run around the Savannah, praying I survive. Between my general lack of fitness, my knee and the carbon monoxide even at 4.30am, I am always grateful that I finish in one piece. Some mornings I take the workout to the gym, which conveniently is literally behind the wall next to my desk - these are the mornings it is either raining or I am strength training.

Shower. Change. Head to desk. Have breakfast - hard boiled egg white on whole wheat; coffee; a glass of wheat grass drink (blech) and my vitamins. Then I start working. This is usually at 6.30am by now and can involve a range of things - speech writing, report writing, endless calls to our creatives at our agency, endless endless meetings, editing and uploading intranet stuff, editing website stuff and getting the provider to action ASAP, social media stuff, newsletter stuff, internal comms stuff, external comms stuff, proposals, budget monitoring, chasing down stuff, proofing stuff, editing stuff, photo selection, strategy planning and writing, lately a lot of event chairing, which also involves external engagement and hob nobbing (which impacts the fashion choices the night before), endless teleconferences with other critical teams, and all usually running past 4.30pm.

If I leave at 4.30 on the nose, I then sit in traffic for a lifetime, listening to my fave radio show and laughing my head off in my air conditioned car. If I leave at 6pm or beyond, it is then an easier albeit later commute, once it is not raining. 

Get home, scrape up dinner which can be as good as a hot meal or as bad as popcorn or cheese balls. Go through the maddening process of choosing an outfit for the next day and making sure everything is packed, including my pre-prepared lunch and breakfast (I do this on Sunday - make and package both meals and stuff them in the fridge). Pack gym bag, making sure I have the right shoes for the outfit of the day, right accessories. Watch a little tv, pass out usually during said tv show. Shower. Get to bed anywhere between 9.45pm - 11.45pm. This is the part my doctor lectured me about, in addition to being too fat and not getting enough exercise. But I am also not getting enough sleep which also impacts the other two so I have been really working on being in bed by 9.30pm.

This is a typical day. On Fridays, we have happy hour, which involves a cocktail or 5, or which can be a day off as I do get every other Friday off as well. I am now actively trying to use these off Fridays for things other than errands - make them ME days. And I am also looking to add a workout in the afternoon - adding to the chaos that is already my life. Can you believe it? lol. I may never blog again! lol.