8:59AM: It’s so much cooler this morning–a nice breeze hitting me on the patio as I enjoy my Chai and my book.

“He wanted your merely instinctive love for your child (tigresses share that, you know!) to turn into something better. He wanted you to love Michael as He understands love. You cannot love a fellow creature fully till you love God.” - The Great Divorce

9:08AM: “When your own heart’s been broken it will be time for you to think of talking. But someone must say in general what’s been unsaid among you this many a year: that love, as mortals understand the word, isn’t enough.” – The Great Divorce

9:41AM: “That [pity] sounds very merciful: but see what lurks behind it…The demand of the loveless and the self-imprisoned that they should be allowed to blackmail the universe: that till they consent to be happy (on their own terms) no one else shall taste joy: that theirs should be the final power; that Hell should be able to veto Heaven.” – The Great Divorce

I finish the little book and move inside, thinking about love, as I often do.

10:12AM: Time for proposals and content worksheets.

12:25PM: I take a very short break and enjoy some leftover pasta. Then it’s off to the library to drop off a giant pile of returns and pick up two new books.

1:33PM: Back home and tired as can be. I need to start sleeping through the whole night.

2:20PM: After a bit more work, I consider getting a free seven day pass to the nearby gym. I decide that this is a good idea and head out the door. At the gym, I hit the bike machine and start in on the next Dexter book.

4:30PM: Home for dinner of a pretzel roll with roast beef and provolone cheese and a side of chips and salsa.

5:01PM: Back to strategy revisions, lengthy proposals and an inbox full of emails. Feeling revived by my time at the gym.

8:39PM: Researching Boulder restaurants for our late-week excursion to the Boulder Shakespeare Fest.

8:59PM: Time to relax, take a bubble bath and read some more Dexter.

11:00AM: Relaxing in the backyard. It’s unfortunately going to be a scorcher. Yuck.

12:00PM: BonBon calls to tell me that it’s too hot and she’s going to come to the Cherry Creek Arts fest naked. I reply that she’d probably get a lot of free stuff, but would probably also get arrested. Also, Pookie the Raven might feel uncomfortable.

12:05PM: My conversation with BonBon turns to the Crazy People who live in Florida and think it’s okay to import Anacondas and Pythons as pets. Obviously, illegally importing predators from Africa and South America is a FANTASTIC idea. I’m moving to Europe.

3:35PM:
Gigi – I think I’m going to put on the sprinkler and just run around in it like a little kid.
Pookie the Raven – Or we could have a cold beer on the back patio.
BonBon – I’m wearing a g-string.
[Long pause.]
Gigi – And, what does that have to do with beer on the patio?

6:45PM: I boil some round pasta in chicken broth, water and spices, heat up garlic tomato pasta sauce, add artichoke hearts and red onions, saute some chicken in truffle oil and mix it all together. Served with a baked piece of sourdough brushed with truffle oil and a little Gouda on top…and viola! There’s your dinner.

10:30PM: BonBon heads for home while Luna and I get ready for bed, reading just a little of C.S. Lewis’ Great Divorce before drifting off.

10:18AM: Baking two whole grain waffles and boiling water for my chai…

10:37AM: Work time! No rest for the weary, people.

11:11AM: I finish tweaking the strategy document I’ve been working on and decide to let it sit for another hour or so before running over it once more and sending.

12:13PM: In an attempt to show off my amazing new haircut while simultaneously reading the next Dexter book, I head over to Barnes and Noble. I get distracted by the travel magazines…and learn that Laikipia in northern Kenya has just as many of my favorite animals as the Masai Mara…but it’s half as crowded.

1:31PM: Home, I catch up on emails and send off my strategy document.

1:41PM: Lunch time! I toss oil-marinated artichokes, black beans, mushrooms, provolone and some tart vinaigrette sauce in a wrap. I would have added chicken, except the chicken smelled funny. A bad sign.

2:30PM: I’m in bed contemplating a nap, but really too hot to sleep.

4:19PM: I head up to Whole Foods for some salsa and end up with a loaf of fresh Sourdough bread, fresh strawberry preserves, Ginger Ale and truffle sauce.

5:34PM: On goes The Social Network in the background while I research what it would take to live in Switzerland for a summer. Mostly because it’s SO HOT right now. Yuck.

8:19PM: I do a light house cleaning that mostly focuses on the bathroom. Gross. Things I wish I had the money for: a maid. Oh my gosh, I wish.

9:15PM: My mentally challenged neighbors start sending off fireworks over my house and yard. I run outside and yell at them to aim for their own stupid house. Their fireworks stop (probably scared that I’ll call the cops on them, which I admit crossed my mind), but several more go off around the neighborhood.

10:31PM: Oh my gosh, it’s hot.

4:03AM: Did I mention that it’s hot? Wait, why the hell am I awake?

9:23AM: Ready for the day in my small black skirt, pink tank top and black, somewhat-see-through t-shirt overtop, I head out to the patio with Chai and Darkly Dreaming Dexter in tow.

10:59AM: I attempt to drag myself away from Dexter, as I have things to do, you know. Then again…I could read just a little longer.

11:31AM: I drag myself away just long enough to chop up some red onions and toss them–along with black beans, provalone cheese, strong pesto sauce and red-pepper-marinated chicken–into a spinach wrap, which I then paint with truffle oil and bake on top of the stove. The tasty, crunchy wrap and my Dexter book compete for my focus.

11:49AM: Truffle oil, as it were, is my favorite smell in the world.

12:11PM: I finally pry the Dexter book from my fingers and sit down to work. A good book is very much like an addiction.

2:38PM: Draft one of my strategy document is finally complete. My normal process now is to let it sit for about 24 hours before revisiting, polishing and sending tomorrow. I find this produces the highest quality of work and lowest number of I’ve-been-staring-at-this-so-long-that-I-no-longer-notice-them typos.

2:42PM: I obsessively begin checking the library website to see if maybe the second Dexter book is at the hold shelf for me. Unfortunately, it seems not to be. And I’m certain that I’ll need it before the library re-opens after the holiday.

4:00PM: BonBon arrives at my house and we have some more yummy spinach wraps, go dress shopping at the local cheap clothing store and then get ready to head over to Beloved Roommate’s 4th of July BBQ all the way out in the suburbs of Denver.

6:45PM: We hang out in the backyard while people consume large quantities of hot dog, sausage and chips. I opt for cantalope and half a turkey burger. I ate beforehand because BBQ food is often so greasy it makes me sick. I was happy to discover the turkey burgers.

7:35PM: I participate (indeed, lead) in a conversation about douchebag haircuts. I can’t get past them and thus don’t think anyone is cute when they have one. The others try to convince me that one of the guys at the party is attractive. I just can’t see it.

9:50PM: Finally home, I sink into a warm bath with scented bubbles to get rid of the BBQ smoke smell. Then it’s into bed with the Dexter book, which I finish before drifting into sleep.

8:35AM: Tea is officially seeped, so out I go for my morning tea and reading on the patio. Luna, afraid of trucks in the alley, declines to join me.

9:16AM: I finish the second part of the BTK serial killer book and move inside to put together my June social media reports before diving back into my keyword/site map project.

11:23AM: Lunch time! The final third of my burrito leftovers (those big burritos from Chipotle or Qdoba are a good three meals for me…I have no idea how Americans have gotten to the point where they can eat the whole thing in one sitting) is calling my name.

12:01PM: I realize it’s time to leave and drive down to my therapy appointment…scramble around grabbing keys and directions and my book, and head out the door a few minutes late.

12:50PM: My therapist (who just happens to be the Best Therapist in the World) and I discuss dealing with emotionally chaotic people and intrusive, boundary-less people. She’s always so insightful.

2:38PM: Feeling like I’m constantly on the go this week (and realizing that there’s no way this strategy document is going to be finished today anyway), I return home and retreat again to my back patio. My sanctuary. I’ll just spend some more time reading and give myself permission not to be a workaholic overachiever.

3:30PM: I finish Inside the Mind of BTK, which was mostly intriguing and fascinating (with some interspersed boring parts about the author being up in the middle of the night and imagining corpses). It’s time to move on to my next serial killer book (I’m sensing a theme in July’s reading schedule): Darkly Dreaming Dexter.

5:01PM: A call from my graphic designer/developer partner interrupts my Dexter bliss and we go over estimates for our lengthy non-profit proposal, which I’ll be somehow finding time for this weekend. Yikes.

6:45PM: BonBon arrives for a night of white wine, then cold beer on the back patio (until the spiders and wasps drive us inside). We talk about all the usual things:
The road they’re talking about building through the Serengeti (can you believe that? Giving poachers direct access to the animals, cutting off migration patterns…all for what? Easy access to the mines…?),
The ways childhood trauma affect people in their adult lives (particularly in relationships)
How sad it is to see so many people settling for less than they want from life…
Etc.

8:44PM: BonBon, in a fit of passion, exclaims (about men who have nothing going for them and thus are hiring prostitutes): “Go to the gym. Lay off the weed. Quit drinking so much. Quit smoking. And try to be something a woman might actually want to touch!”

11:35PM: I’m alone in my house again (except for a very sleepy Luna). As I climb into bed, I make sure all noise-making devices in my house (phone, alarm) are set to silent. It’s a Saturday tomorrow and I’m going to sleep in. Well, maybe.

8:00AM: I don my black pants, respectable green button-up and hoop earrings and make my way to the back patio for my morning Chai, muffin and reading. Luna chases and is outsmarted by our neighborhood squirrel until I drag her inside.

8:19AM: I move back inside to work on website navigation maps for the early part of the morning.

9:21AM: I wrap up my initial site map research and get ready for a morning prospect meeting.

11:40AM: After a very productive prospect meeting with some fantastically nice people (have I mentioned that I love working with non-profits? Good people. Such good people.), I ride a somewhat scary, noise-making elevator down to the lobby of their offices and head back to my car.

12:10PM: An enthusiastic Luna greets me at the door.

12:25PM: I settle onto the patio with my leftover burrito and guacamole. Unfortunately, my settling is short-lived, as a Very Large Wasp wants to sit at the table too.

1:12PM: Back to work! More navigational structures, content channels and key phrases to comb through.

5:30PM: Feeling a little overwhelmed and tired out by the day, I force myself to take a break from the head-down computer work and make my way to the local print shop to print out another new contract. It’s a good week for new business, it would seem.

6:06PM: With Luna in tow, I walk the newly printed contact to the client’s home, which is (happily) in my neighborhood. Hoorah for saving on scanning costs at the print shop. Along the way I run into three separate groups looking for a lost dog. Sad.

6:30PM: Back at home, I warm up some leftover pizza (with real tomatoes and mozzarella. Mmm) and attempt to relax with my serial killer book (relax = oxymoron in this case?) while eating on the couch and then taking a warm bath.

8:30PM: I’m jolted from the serial killer book (which I should not be reading after dark, as I am a sissy and won’t sleep well) by a phone call from my Well-Traveled Friend who talks to me about all the interesting transitions and turns her life is taking.

10:08PM: While watching some episodes of Samantha Brown’s Passport to Europe, I type up this account of the day. I feel vaguely stressed, wish I would have gotten a little more done…but overall it was a really good and mostly productive day. Though in the future, I think I’m going to try and schedule meetings for the late afternoon. Morning meetings throw my schedule for a loop.

9:30AM: I’m awake after a hot night of fitful sleeping. The fitfulness I attribute to A. uncomfortable temperatures and B. reading books about serial killers. Am totally a scaredy-cat.

9:32AM: It dawns on me that my alarm didn’t go off this morning. This is the second time this week. Perhaps my 10+ year old alarm clock is on its last leg?

9:35AM: I’m up and boiling water for my Chai and feeding Luna who is, as of yesterday, officially two years old.

9:40AM: I turn on an episode of Loveline (from the Adam Corolla days) for background noise while I don today’s sassy green dress and tame the rat’s nest of curls on my head.

10:00AM: I retreat to my shady back patio with my Chai (complete with rich-tasting honey from the farmer’s market and a little milk) and a contract I need to read and sign.

10:15AM: I realize it’s time to go, grab my Chai and jog out the door (after compulsively checking the door locks). I have a haircut at 10:45 and need to get a muffin before that.

10:45AM: My brand new stylist and I decide to try growing my hair out. I walk out with a half bang and straightened hair. Next appointment, I think the color is going back to red.

12:28PM: After a quick bank run I’m home watching Luna eat (and by eat, I mean lick and chase around the floor) a dog brownie I bought for her birthday. I realize that I forgot to stop by the local print shop to scan my signed contractor agreement–so back out the door I go.

1:15PM: Home again with a burrito in tow…I start washing my bedding, as something creepy and crawly has been biting me at night (gross) and I think it’s a spider that lives on/near the bed. Everything is getting dried on high today.

1:21PM: I settle into the office to get some things done, feeling slightly annoyed that the alarm didn’t go off this morning…which means I’ll have to put in more time tonight or over the next few days to catch up.

1:45PM: I finish my social network management work for the day and start sifting through emails, sending off invoices and confirming appointments. I didn’t realize when I started the business just how much of this I’d be doing. Emails are plentiful these days.

2:00PM: The landlord’s wife shows up unexpectedly to take a look at the garage roof (of which, a piece is falling off and has been like that for a good month plus.

2:11PM: Back to reviewing contracts and agreements, balancing this month’s books (I know, it’s not the end of the month yet, but I don’t expect anything to come in or go out tomorrow…so why not hit the books today), etc.

2:54PM: How is it almost 3:00? Yikes.

3:38PM: I finish typing up a few things and debate on whether to start on one of two large projects. I have less than two hours before I have to leave for tonight’s Content Meet Up and I hate starting projects I can’t finish. Also hate stopping early when there is work to be done. Hmmm.

3:47PM: I decide to work on (and hopefully mostly wrap up) the content worksheet I started this week: “What should I put on my Economic Development website?” A worksheet that will hopefully be followed by some other industry-specific worksheets.

4:14PM: Heat and humidity from the dryer drive me to the back porch, which is slightly cooler. It’s shaping up to be a brutal summer, unusual for Denver.

5:00PM: I pack up my book, notebook and wallet and walk to a restaurant down the street for pizza and talk of content strategy with the content pros in the area. Tonight we’re talking about self-branding in the content space.

9:00PM: I make my way back in the slightly cooler evening to my still-quite-hot house. Luna is trying to get cool by hiding under the bed. I wonder if this strategy works…

9:20PM: One semi-cool bubble bath and one chapter of Inside the Mind of BTK later, I remake my bed with the freshly laundered sheets, fix my alarm clock (which didn’t go off because the dial got turned off the radio station) and put on a documentary about New Zealand.

10:03PM: This documentary is boring. Instead of paying attention, I have a conversation with Relatively Dashing Roommate regarding Macs, independent contracting and AOL.

10:05PM: Now it’s time to try and cool down, relax and get some sleep. The next couple days promise to be busy.

8:42am – Remind self to go over credit card bill, as I noticed some suspicious charges and need to pay soon.

9:07am – Editing world! Tomorrow is National Philanthropy Day, very much looking forward to that.

9:34am – I lurrvvs Zucchini Bread.

10:18am – Phone interviewing the world’s happiest Realtor.

3:07pm - Today’s lunchtime goals: go to bank (fail – bank is closed for V-Day); mail things to my mother (check). Today’s after-work goals: email client with copy questions; put together directions and itinerary for tomorrow.

3:45pm – 7 email campaign copy docs later…

4:03pm - Devouring articles. Mmm, tasty content strategy.

4:06pm – Figuring out what to call Content for Do-Gooders. Content marketing agency? Content agency? Content strategy firm?

5:15pm - As usual, it’s LOUD.

7:00pm – Very frustrating in LinkedIn groups when people use my question as a platform for self-promotion and don’t even get around to answering it.

7:41pm – Snuggling a tiny Luna in my lap and typing up my day.

7:48pm – I may put off that content commentary until first thing manana…man, oh, man am I sleepy.

6:01am - Okay, don’t really die, just SHUT UP.

6:22am - Fine, I had to be up anyway.

8:42am - Ahhh, meeting time. Hoorah mornings.

10:23am - An editing morning. Trying to push through all the proofs and get to the awesomeness known as content strategy.

12:23pm – So many legal disclaimers…

12:57pm - 100 pages later…

2:00pm – Content strategy slows toward a stop as I wait for Big Brother (aka. the IT department) takes 300 years to get a chart–making software installed on my machine.

2:47pm – The boys who work here are way more giggly than the girls.

6:00pm - Home sweet running around like a chicken without a head…

6:21pm - Arrive at The Tavern Wash Park for our monthly content meetup–hoorah!

6:45pm – Learn things about email marketing, how to get clients to “own” content and such.

8:31pm - Head home to a house full of puppies and one dog trainer. Roommate has a plan for training Evil Genius. Thank goodness!

8:04am – Car clock does not auto-change for daylight savings time. Rarely think this, but boyfriend would come in handy right about now.

8:17am – Come up with brilliant ideas all the way to work. Wouldn’t it be neat to teach a class on content strategy? We could find a deserving non-profit and have the students to a full content strategy for said NP.

9:15am – Marketing is a whole lot like dating: just like tooting your own horn all date long will make the date unsuccessful, so will tooting your own horn as a business. Customers want it to be about them (and so do dates).

11:00am – While deep in contemplation about editorial calendars (something I know you all contemplate deeply with some frequency), my stomach begins making loud complaints about daylight savings time and how we’re supposed to be eating lunch right now.

5:02pm - Headache = ugh.

6:30pm – Finally home. Hate snow.

7:31pm – The Massively Sucky Puppy is upstairs barking. When I go to investigate, I find that she’s been up on the table eating napkins, then in the recyclables eating newspaper and finally in my roommate’s things eating a sock. She finally listened when I yelled, though. Progress.

7:39pm – Planned on looking over a social media strategy, but am so beat. It’s funny how sometimes writing consumes my life and other times I’m neck-deep in strategy land.

7:52pm – Decompressing with, you guessed it, 24.