With this being my last few weeks at work in Carson City I figured it to be a good idea to document how our life has been for the past year, even if it hasn't been the most memorable of times. So, here's what our day to day routine has been for the past year.
First the day begins with Jake getting out of bed when the alarm goes off and diligently poking and proding me until I finally roll out to take a shower. We shower, I eat breakfast and then do my hair and put on makeup. This whole actually getting ready thing has been revolutionary for me. I enjoy wearing makeup and having my hair done for the day, something I very rarely ever do when I don't have an office to get to.
We wake Gwen up and she plays on our bed while we finish up getting ready. She's not exactly a morning person, which comes as no surprise seeing as her parents aren't either. We used to wake her up and bring her downstairs for breakfast but finally realized she just needs a little time to shake the sleepy off.
We eat breakfast and frantically run around the house until all our lunches and bags are packed, water bottles are full and Gwen is dressed. We then wrangle Gwen's hair, put the dogs out and barge out the door while hiding the Explorer from Gwen so she doesn't whine because she doesn't get to ride in the truck. We squish into our Subaru for what has become our daily commute.
First stop: daycare.
See that? Gwen running into daycare. This is a memory I hope to impart on anyone struggling with sending their child to daycare. When you find the right one, you will know it. Your child running to the door every morning? That's a good sign.
After we say our goodbyes and sometimes get our feelings hurt when Gwen snuggles with the woman who watches her, we squish back into the Subaru and get comfy for the rest of our commute to beautiful (ha) Carson City. I will spare pissing off anyone who is a fan of Carson City (is there anyone?) and won't share our clever nickname for it.
We drive past the mountains and through the valley until finally, 45 minutes to an hour later we get to my office.
Seriously, I had no idea it took that long to get to Carson City. It was always a half an hour in my mind, so when the husband began commuting and became disgruntled at the length of the commute I brushed him off. Then I began to commute, with the new freeway and the construction done at the spaghetti bowl, unlike he had to deal with before. I am here to tell you, it's no joke 45 minutes, boring and awful. It adds 10 hours to our work week. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It deadens your soul and develops a hatred for both driving and the community.
Anyways, Jake drops me off then soldiers on with an additional 15 minute drive to his office that is across Carson City. No photo here, as it's pretty much just an office building, not like the grandiose Legislative building I get to work in.
We head to our offices and work the day away. Jake does public relations for the State Insurance Division while I am a secretary for the broadcast & production unit within the Legislature. We both sit behind computers all day, I get the luxury of doing so in a dimly lit inner-room without windows. Jake has a lovely cubicle with a big giant window over looking the mountains but I'm not jealous or anything.
Then there's lunch. Most days I brown bag it, eat at my desk and spend the remainder of my hour break walking around Carson. I leave my phone at my desk and walk until the bells that ring out every quarter hour from the tourism building mark that it's time to go back.
I have learned to stay strictly to the west side of Carson Street. Venturing anywhere east of the Legislative Building proves to be a bit hairy at times.
There are historic buildings mixed with a few modern ones that are interspersed throughout the old neighborhoods. Streets are filled with trees that have been around longer than I can imagine, flowers I didn't know could grow in our area and houses with paint colors I like to imagine we'll paint our house someday.
Finally the clock strikes 5 and I meet Jake who is waiting for me in the parking lot. I hop in the car and off we go back to Sparks.
We pick Gwen up from daycare, head home and try to get a dinner on the table. We then hang out until 7:30 pm when the bedtime routine begins. Shower, pajamas, the reading of books and then bed time. The remainder of the night is spent picking up the house, packing tomorrow's lunches (which I HATE doing with a passion. Jake gets all the credit for his mad lunch-packing determination. That man will spend 30-45 minutes crafting his lunch. Meanwhile I whine and put it off and claim I can just do it in the morning, which never works).
Then we hit the sack and rest up for the next day where we hit that alarm clock and start it all over again.
While we never imagined ourselves working in Carson City, it's where the jobs became available to us. While mine is temporary and ending in two weeks, Jake's isn't and we've had to work with that. In the mean time our house was bought when we both worked in Reno and the additional 30 minute commute into Sparks and out to Spanish Springs wasn't a concern of ours.
So this has been our life since last July. It hasn't exactly been a cake walk and has made life a tad more difficult, but it has served its purpose.
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