Sharing details of our family’s day-to-day in his column has often been a go-to for my father. Growing up, random strangers would come up and recount something that happened in our kitchen the week before as if they were there.

As a kid I often hated it.

Now, as someone who writes a column every other week, I get it. 

So here’s a little bit about my family to fill these two columns of space and give you a little peak into my life.

I typically wake up around 5am. Not by choice, but I think as I get older, my body just hates me and this is my new normal. I either have to pee or have enough stuff racing through my head that lying in bed just isn’t going to happen.

I begrudgingly walk downstairs and make my first cup of coffee for the day. It’ll be hours before anyone else is up, but I enjoy the quiet.

I open my e-mail and delete a dozen promotional messages instead of just unsubscribing from them. Why? I don’t know. I should really unsubscribe. Oh well.

I open one of the many stupid apps I shouldn’t waste my time on and scroll until I feel like I’ve wasted my entire morning watching snake plant propagation videos. It’s only 5:15.

I step outside to smoke my first cigarette of the day. It’s a terrible, awful, disgusting habit and I am definitely going to quit. Eventually. Probably.

I decide I’ll write another column about that later.

The coffee is cold, because I got distracted scrolling but I drink it anyway. I pop a Pepcid in anticipation of some future acid reflux and head down to my office in the basement.

I check the other e-mail accounts I can’t bear to have on my phone. Beyond the paper, I’ve been a web and marketing consultant for many years and that business comes with a bunch of other apps I loathe like Slack and Asana that I must check.

More scrolling.

I read an article about some scientist discovering a new deep sea creature and get distracted by an ad that pops up at the bottom of the page for sneakers. 

I buy the sneakers.

Though having accomplished very little, I feel like I’ve had a productive little morning.

It’s 5:30. More scrolling.

Son Eric will need to be up by 6 to shower and get ready for school. It will take at least two attempts to wake up the teenager who already had his own alarm going off during attempt number one. It’s fine. I remember being that age… vaguely.

Wife Christy is typically up and about around 7. She makes a cup of coffee. Beyond putting up with me, she runs the business side of the paper as the office manager/master of all things. If you call or e-mail our office you’ll likely get her, so be nice!

Our daughter Sadie is up next and is out the door by 8:15. Christy settles into her work while our dog Addison begs for attention. I’m currently watching her hold the phone in one hand and a chew toy to entertain the dog in the other.  

Her office is in our kitchen, so I linger around to distract her for a few minutes before once again descending to my basement bunker.

There are more e-mails to answer followed by, you guessed it, a little more mindless scrolling.

Now it’s work time. My days are typically a mix of newspaper-related tasks and consulting work. I jump from pages to a zoom meeting, then back to writing. My ADHD brain actually prefers the variety.

Throughout the day are several more trips up and down the stairs to bother my wife and refuel my snacks. Another few cups of coffee to keep me running.

Sadie gets home around 3, but immediately leaves to play with friends on the street. Eric has track practice and will need to be picked up around 5.

We all sit down for dinner around 5:30/6. I digest before one more trip down to the dungeon.

I’m typically in my office until around 8pm. I ascend back up to the first floor and tell wife Christy that it’s time to call it quits for the day.

We watch a few shows and recount the day’s happenings before eventually passing out. If it’s a Friday, we breathe a sigh of relief that another issue is done and assure ourselves that the weekend will be a welcome reprieve.

Unfortunately Saturday and Sunday go by way too quickly.

Monday morning arrives and it all begins again, only this time at 4:45am.

I boldly unsubscribe from two of the random promotional e-mails that have been clogging up my inbox and decide that this week will be better.

Eventually. Probably.