I opened the wine at 4pm, on the grounds that I needed it for cooking. It has been a typical Monday:

Alarm goes off at 5.30 and I hit snooze a couple of times. Eventually I sit up and start the office of readings. This will take a while, as spouse and child(ren) will wander in and talk to me from time to time. They are welcome, don’t get me wrong—especially coffee-bearing husband 😊

Sometime later (7ish), I head out for a walk. I love this part of the day. Today I made footprints in fresh snow and spotted a couple of new birds.

Arrive home in time for the beginning of ‘school’.

9.30ish I begin arguing with Lucy (age 9) about the reading, English and math work she has to do. Somewhere between 9.30 and 11, she does a bit of reading and a few fractions. At some point in this same period, I hear some bad news about work. It’s always bad news, and it doesn’t bear talking about. I swear I will quit (which I won’t).

Lunchtime rolls around. People eat stuff and leave a mess. I try the chutney I made yesterday from the veg I rescued from the garden. It’s pretty good. Full disclosure: there was beer with lunch. It was that sort of Monday.

Afternoon: I discover I have one more essay to mark. I can’t do that. Nor can I prepare the material for my two hours of lecturing tomorrow. I’be got Lucy doing grammar and the kitchen rota to sort out. (It begins afresh on Monday. Maybe that’s a bad idea.)

Lucy is supposed to do RE this afternoon. We watch a video about St Josephine Bakhita (pray for us!) and I manage to hold her until about 2.40. Then school is out, for her, anyway.

Next up, Anna wants to read Cat in the Hat. This is brilliant, as she’s finally starting to read—really READ. I’ve looked forward to this day since she was a book-mad toddler (she’s 19), so this is great. But the timing is bad. I’ve got this essay to mark and the lecture to prepare.

Around 4, we have to set the book aside to cook. Anna is in a cookery club, and this week we are making mince and dumplings. Thank goodness the recipe calls for wine.

That takes me to 5pm, when Anna has a zoom meeting for which my attention is required. I’m not really giving it, as I have nothing left.

Soon it will be dinner, and cleaning up, and saying goodnight to everyone. And then, when it is quiet, I might just write some notes for my lecture. Notice I don’t say ‘do some work.’ I’ve been doing that all day. It’s just that nobody who doesn’t benefit directly from that work actually gives a shit.

St Jerome Emiliani, pray for us.

St Josephine Bakhita, pray for us.

And if you’re still reading this, please pray for me.