My newspaper used to do a monthly Day in the Life series. It was one of my favorite assignments each month as I got to learn all about people’s special stories.

I witnessed a grape fight in the cafeteria of an area high school, which made it into print despite pleas from an assistant principal.

I met a local vet who showed me the bullet that was his ticket home from Europe in World War II. (He proudly kept it, by the way.) And I even interviewed an enthusiastic autistic teen just days before he wowed the world by sinking six 3-pointers in the final four minutes on the basketball court during his only varsity game of the season. Yep, I’m talking about J-Mac.

Yep. DITLO has a special place in my heart. But still I wasn’t sure how to go about my own.

I couldn’t decide whether to share a weekday or weekend, so I went with my behind the scenes on a workday. After all, I know you’re dying to know what happens at a newspaper.

On days when I don’t run before I head to the office, I snooze my alarm until the last possible moment before I launch into my pre-work morning routine.

And what’s the item I can’t leave home without? You guessed it- coffee.

I make myself not one, but two travel mugs of coffee each morning.

I’m at my desk by 7:30, unless I’m called in earlier for an assignment or sent straight to a crime scene. I’ll regret saying this, but I haven’t been woken out of a dead sleep by an editor yet this year. I’m long overdue.

My home away from home: The Democrat and Chronicle newspaper. It’s in a pretty sharp old building in downtown Rochester.

I make calls and gather info for breaking news stories. Then I run over to court to get some more info, interview people and so on.

Headed to court, with a letter to mail to Meri!

I can’t take photos inside court, but here’s the view of from the front doors, just outside Rochester City Court.

That’s the Hall of Justice on the left. I spent lots of time there.

Sometimes I cover a news conference, as I did with this one about the lone unsolved homicide for 2014 in Rochester.

Family of a city man  killed in January and Rochester police before a news conference.

As I worked Tuesday, runDisney announced their newest race – the Star Wars Half Marathon… And the interwebs exploded. Holy Moly! I quickly wrote about it for work before the workday was through.

After work, I hurried over to my salon to get my eyebrows waxed. I get defuzzed every few weeks and today was my day. Otherwise I could double as a wookiee for an upcoming race!

Waiting my turn in my fave pink chucks

After my appointment, I popped into a drug store. But first, traffic.

Jamming to my jams in a jam

Then I headed toward Wegmans to get a few staples – milk, yogurt, bananas. I also got English muffins. I am currently obsessed with them. Never heard of Wegmans? I live in the land where the popular grocery store is based, so I have more than a dozen stores to choose from. My neighborhood store is a mile from my house.

And yes, I go almost daily. Take my money, Danny.

Got yogurt?

Nanas! The greener the better.

Once home, I found that our new screen door was partially installed. Hubs and I live in a 190-year-old farm house in suburban Rochester. And an old farm house, while pretty damn awesome, also means a lot of work. This summer we are tackling some work that we had been putting off. This door was long overdue – the old one was literally crumbling and has been since we bought the house 9 years ago.

view out the new screen door

I was greeted by my two kitties, who turned on each other shortly I after I fed them. But hey – progress! Old cat has started fleeing the loft and stealing food from new cat. She’s tiny but feisty.  I have the scratches on my hand to prove it.

Old cat strikes a pose. or pouts. Not sure which.

To help clear my head, I went for a quick run around dusk. Not my best mileage, but it felt good. (and I looked cute in some Oiselle gear)

 Creepy leg shot, but I love the brill blue Big O burnout tank and poppy rogas. The bright colors will lift me out of any funk.

Each day is different and that’s so much what I love about my job. As I type this, I am working a split shift, and will run a local road race in the evening with a go-pro camera attached to me. You’ll hear about THAT next week!

I’m a true mobile journalist. Photo by Tina MacIntyre-Yee

How much coffee do you drink each day? Do you have a Wegmans store near you? Any suggestions on how to repair an old farmhouse?