Where Does the Time Go?

Today was one of those rare days when I didn't have to work and Alex's daycare was open. I shamelessly brought him in. He had to stay home Friday since he wasn't feeling well, so I figured it would be good to get him back into the routine. Besides, I can get more done when I don't have to worry about him. I had a lot of plans for today, but as usual, I overestimated what I could get done in a day. My day went something like this:


6:10--Woke up (before the alarm), checked my computer, and exercised.
6:55--Came back upstairs to get ready.
7:20--Alex started to fuss. Eugene checked on him while I finished getting ready.
7:30--Went downstairs and prepared breakfast for the three of us. Wrote out grocery list. Kept Alex entertained and finished getting him ready for school while Eugene took his shower.
8:35--Finally got Alex bundled in the car.
8:55--Dropped Alex off at daycare.
9:10--Arrived at grocery store and bought a cartload of groceries.
10:20--Arrived back home. Put groceries away. Vacuumed upstairs. Realized I didn't have time to clean the master bathroom. Prepared a casserole and a frozen dessert. Warmed up leftovers for lunch.
12:15--Headed out for a spa appointment, leaving dirty dishes in the sink.
12:30-2:00 Had my eyebrows waxed and got a facial. It was very relaxing and long overdue.
2:20--Returned home. Cleaned up and unloaded dishwasher. Made tea and brought computer upstairs to my office.
3:00-5:30 Worked on Across Two Universes while surfing the Net, checking out stories to crit on OWW, and other things. Despite goofing off, I still wrote nearly 600 words, which is pretty good for me.
5:30--Left to pick up Alex.
6:10-7:30--Returned home. Finished cooking dinner while trying to find something Alex wanted to eat. Made French toast for him, but he refused it for plain bread and part of an apple. Set up a loaf of bread in the bread machine. Watched umpteen zillion episodes of Busytown Mysteries with Alex.
7:35-8:30--Eugene came home from work. He washed the salad, served dinner, and cleaned up while Alex occupied my lap. Ate dinner while watching umpteen zillion more episodes of Busytown Mysteries. Alex nibbled on a few wafer cookies.
8:30-9:30--Brought Alex upstairs and gave him his bath. Eugene helped him say "goodnight" to various things around the house and changed him into his pajamas. Alex finally decided he wants to eat ham. I brought some upstairs and watched him devour several deli slices while Eugene read several bedtime books. Helped Alex brush and floss his teeth. Finally get him in the crib.
9:30--now. Came downstairs, made more tea, checked a couple of my favorite sites, and finished this blog post.

What's the point of listing my day in so much detail? To show how much time goes into everyday chores like cooking, cleaning, and childcare. The sad thing is there were several other chores I had planned to do, like clean the bathroom, organize my office, and run a couple of errands at the mall. If I had done them, then I doubt I would have had any time to write at all today. (I was also hoping to critique a story on OWW today, but I haven't found one I want to do yet.) If you're not careful, chores can expand to fill all of your time. Some chores have to be taken care of, but sometimes you have to ignore them and carve out time for yourself.

So, dear readers, how do you allocate your time? What's your chore/writing ratio?