typical tuesday: Rachel Clarke

Hey all! Today one of my friends, also named Rachel, is sharing her tuesday with us. I met her at church one Sunday, we invited her over for dinner, and now we have "FHE" (Family Home Evening) together, which basically we just pick a religious topic and discuss...and by discuss I'm not kidding, she's over around 8 and has yet to leave before 11! We enjoy talking with her. Rachel is very smart, has a good perspective and is a very "real" person. I like her. Any ways, here's a glimpse into her life:

Hello Playing House readers! My name is also Rachel and I'm this week’s lucky guest blogger for Rachel’s Typical Tuesday post.

I live in beautiful Seattle, Washington. But wait, though. Before you settle in and get all ready for that kinda stuff, I work as a consultant for one of the “big 4” firms, which often sends me to companies around the country. I kinda feel like a female version of George Clooney's character in Up in the Air.  This week (and for the foreseeable future) it’s northwest Arkansas, which is how I had the joy (seriously!) of meeting Ms. Rachel and her lovely family. They're so cool.  They let me hang with them after the kids go down for bed and we talk about everything under the sun (er, "FHE").  Anyway.  I am working on a hush-hush project with a hush-hush team at a hush-hush client, so sadly you won’t see the stuff that makes up most of my work weeks. But don’t cry for me, Argentina. I adore my work. Probably means I have a few screws loose but whatev.

My travel schedule has me flying out on Sundays and back home Thursdays. However, this week I had a work event in Seattle on Monday, so this Tuesday became my travel day. My “Typical Tuesday” (today, anyway) began around 5am in spite of a long, event-filled and sleep-deprived Monday. I wake to a music call alarm on my phone, alternating between such gems as All of the Lights (Kanye) and Dog Days are Over (Florence + the Machine). Confession: sometimes, I just stay in bed and listen to the song all the way through (or 3x?) before finally hitting dismiss and dragging my sorry self out of bed. This morning was a 2x through kind of morning.

Confession: I listen to dance music and I'm not ashamed!

It’s now 5:35am. Agh. I roll out (um, literally), throw on my clothes, wash my face, brush my teeth, rub on some foundation, quick swipe of mascara and drag my stuff (for once, actually packed the night before) out to the car in my garage. I probably look ridiculous as I'm scrambling during my self-imposed fire drill, but nobody's around to see me and I manage to roll out.  Traffic’s pretty light today, my drive from downtown to SeaTac ended up being under 30 mins, so instead of parking on site at the airport, I figure I have 10 extra minutes to spare and opt for one of the MasterPark lots. I’ll probably hate myself for doing this when I get home at 1am and have to wait for the shuttle instead of hop right in the car, but for now it’s kind of nice to pull up, hand over my keys and peace out.

blue cars must be the new black?

After mr toad's wild ride from the north end of Pacific Highway on into the airport, I arrive at the terminal with roughly 45 minutes to spare.  This is what I have had to deal with in the past:

ugh.

but LUCKY for me I have FIIIIIINALLY eked my way back to elite status with the airlines, so this little flag

oh, delta... i love to hate you.

allowed me to hustle on past that yucky line and jump on in line right before the security checkpoint.

booya! toooootally empty up in here.

Of course, that empty little line still feeds right into the same security checkpoint chaos, so after waiting behind a bunch of slow people and then getting some smokin' hot xray pictures of my privates taken, I get to the gate with plenty of time (cough, 2 minutes) to spare before boarding, 

hello, my old friend.

then settle in for the first leg of my trip (4 hours) spent in a free upgrade to first class (hellooo, omelet and fruit breakfast!) with the wireless access and my actual work, which again, I won't bore you with those details.  I will say this, about that: thank you, baby Jesus, for inventing the internet, and thank you, baby Jesus, for letting us use the internet while above 10,000 feet.  

After I land in Minneapolis, it's now afternoon due to central time.  I have about an hour and 20 mins before the next flight, and I'm a little antsy and pent up, so I hike around the terminal in the meantime.  I guess deep down I hope the brief bouts of activity will counteract all those hours cooped up in an airplane seat and cooped up in the office.  FYI?  Not exactly workin'!  Considering how dang heavy my laptop bag is and dragging around the rollerboard, this isn't a bad workout though.

landed in F, flight out in A

Here I am munching on a stick of jerky, checking my messages, fb, google reader, and tossing back a couple of neverending (at my pace, anyway) words with friends with my sis in law before hopping onto my next flight.

Um, basically I suck at words with friends.
my SIL has me beat by almost double.

My next flight is a small plane and a quick flight (hour and a half) on a little regional jet. 

hello, little CRJ!

This flight doesn't have wifi, so I settle in with some fun reading, and doze off a bit as well.

I think in flight is the only time I will ever choose a spicy tomato juice.

I land in Arkansas a little after 5pm central time, so there you have today's "8-5 workday".  Pretty strenuous, right?

welcome to arkansas!

I didn't get a rental car this week, as my colleague arrived before I did, so I got a ride from the car service (sadly, no pic of the guy at the bottom of the escalator with my name - he was a gem too, with his Hawaiian shirt and all) over to the hotel.  As I walk into my hotel room, it's a little after 6:30pm.

you may think it's nice to have a maid, but...

I opt for a liquid dinner... protein shake in a blender bottle that I can chug while unpacking, then at 7 I hop on a half-hour turned hour-long conference call (west coast colleagues – they’re a couple of hours behind).  I paint my nails while on the call. I keep it classy that way.

pathetic attempt, I know.

After the call, I head downstairs with my Kindle to read today's NY Times while on the elliptical.  Didn't bring my phone for that picture.  I head back upstairs, throw in my favorite yoga dvd, and spend the next hour unwinding.  FYI, for those of you who don't like yoga, this is a really good option.  It's not frou-frou and/or annoying and/or super metaphysical or whatever.

candlelight yoga, sans candles

By this point, despite the fact that I love technology I’m all technologied out for the day. I dump my Mary Poppins (seriously, it doesn’t stop) bag o’ technology out onto the desk, plug everything in to recharge, take a quick shower, crank the A/C down to near unbearably cold (here's a little trick I picked up a few projects back – 1) ridiculously hot shower + 2) oyster shell calcium supplement + 3) ice cold bedroom = guaranteed sleep within 10 minutes) crawl in bed, and crash. Last peek at clock says 11:26pm.

I know my day wasn't all that exciting or family-filled, but I hope you all enjoyed reading my typical Tuesday anyway!  Thanks for having me Rachel!

No, no. Thank YOU Rachel.

Check out Rachel's blog HERE.

Wanna share a typical tuesday with us?

Please do! Just email me k?