Friday, June 14, 2013

Measurements of Time

Throughout my life, I have constantly changed the way I measured time based on my life at the time.
Adam and I each have our own Google calendar which we started to use a few years ago.  Switching our family calendar into electronic form saved many disagreements and miscommunication.  At a glance, we can tell when the other will be busy and when we are committed as a family.
I currently wear a $5 watch and had a history of always wearing one until Paul was born and I quit work.  Becoming a stay-at-home mom meant I wasn't tied to a clock any more.  We ate when we were hungry, and went to bed when we were tired.  My alarm clock made sure I woke up in time to get Adam up, but in general, our schedule depended on what suited our fancy at the time.
Now besides the traditional clock which I have to use for work and school, I measure my time in chunks.  I aspire to wake up at 5:00 every morning and usually get there.  That means I have three 30 minute chunks before Adam has to get out of bed.  Lately I've used one chunk for running, one chunk for Bible study and the other chunk is taken up with housework, sleeping in, or checking Facebook.
Once Adam is off to work, we have a long chunk before lunch, the chunk of lunch, and the chunk between lunch and dinner.  After dinner it's baths, stories, and bed.
While my day is measured in chunks, my week is measured in other ways.
Every Sunday or Monday morning, I bake Adam double chocolate chip muffins.  Each one is stored in a plastic container, which I stack next to the kitchen sink.  We start the week with five muffins, and I always look to see how many are left to remind myself how close we are to the weekend.
Weeks are measured by trips to the grocery store.  Every two weeks when Adam gets paid, I plan a menu for the next two weeks and get all my shopping done.  I usually don't have to return to the store until two weeks later.
At the start of every month I change our air conditioner's filter.  Our month is measured by when I have to buy the filter and when I have to change it.
Currently we are also measuring time with boxes.  Since we're getting all our floors redone, each room has to be packed up in turn.  Our contractor should finish the kitchen floor today, so we can slowly start unpacking and will be 1/3 the way to a normal home.
I also measure time with laundry.  "Whew, that was a two load day!" Or "Man, I had so much time today I folded and put up eight loads!"
I am curious others measure time in unique ways.

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