I was wondering if every woman is just like me. I woke up this morning knowing that Rob had to go to work. So- I planned- I would clean the house, do my homework, go grocery shopping, do the laundry, take the dog to the park, and then shower and do my hair and make-up all before Rob got home from his 4 hour shift. Now you have to realize that our house doesn't get cleaned during the week because we are so busy with work and school that when we both finally make it through the door we are ready to crash into bed and spend the little time we have awake chatting and preparing for the next day. So by the time Saturday comes along there is a weeks worth of dishes, laundry and cleaning to get done. Not that we are messy, but it is still quite a bit to handle. I know all of this and yet I still make these completely unrealistic goals to get it all done and look spectacular before Rob comes home from his unfortunate Saturday shift.
So- I start laundry, load the dishwasher and sit down to do 30 minutes of homework feeling like a master because I am cleaning (dishes) and doing laundry and homework all at the same time!!! I so totally rock!! Then my timer goes off and I have completed only a fraction of the homework I have slated for the next week.
Feeling a little irritated about math I switch over laundry and reset my timer. 30 minutes to clean my bedroom. I rush around like a mini cleaning tornado!! Putting away cat toys, dog toys, stripping the sheets off the bed, taking apart the dog bed, feeding the cats (cuz their food dish is in the bedroom), folding laundry that I just took out of the dryer and just when I pull out the vacuum the timer goes off. Sigh. Didn't get it done and now I am a little more irritated.
Timer resets and I sit back down to do homework. I decide that I need 45 minutes instead of 30 and I will just have to clean faster since now I only have 3 hours to finish my complex list of things to do.
15 minutes into homework the dryer buzzes and it is silly to wait another 30 minutes to continue the laundry so the timer gets paused. I switch the laundry. While beginning to fold the laundry I notice that the dishwasher has stopped. Feeling like I am not getting as much accomplished if the dishwasher is not working on the second load I pause the folding and go to the kitchen to unload and start another load of dishes.
Happy again that I am mastering the skill of multitasking, I finish folding that load of laundry and then return to my friendly math book. and restart the timer. Of course it goes off before I finish my 4 chapters of homework..... frustrated once again that I don't have the ability to speed through trig problems like a robot I close my math book and reset my timer for 30 minutes noticing that I am down to 2 hours... sigh. Better get the bedroom and kitchen finished before this next 30 minutes. Aaaaannnnnddddd GO! I vacuum like a mad woman, rush into the kitchen and hand wash the remaining dishes, scrub out the microwave, attack the stove top, clear and scrub the counters and just as I am pulling out the swiffer the dreaded beeping starts. Ugh. Lame. I totally suck.
I switch the laundry, fold the dry towels, and decide that during the next 30 homework minutes I am going to read my sociology homework instead of doing math, because, I explain to myself, I am a super fast reader and I can get more done with reading then I can with math.... Have I mentioned that I hate math? Timer starts and reading begins. I love reading. I hate reading textbooks. It is boring and I keep looking at the timer wondering why this particular 30 minutes is lasting FOREVER!!! I could be cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, but no. instead I am reading about different sociology topics. dumb. FINALLY the timer beeps and I have 35 minutes to finish everything. Kitchen, Bathroom, office, living room, laundry, grocery shopping, taking dog to the park, cleaning litter boxes, homework for 4 classes, shower, hair, make-up.....
right. I acknowledge that I made an completely unrealistic goal and that there was no way I could finish all these things within 4 hours. However, while my brain says that it was not logical to even try to get all this done, my emotional crazy woman part says that I am the worst girlfriend ever if I can not clean the house, do the laundry, finish my homework, get the shopping done, take the dog out and look fabulous by the time my honey gets home from working on a Saturday so that he doesn't have to do anything else and I have free time to spend with him.
How did I get so crazy??!?! Why am I berating myself for trying so hard to do something that is impossible and why am I now so irritated with myself for both making unrealistic goals and not meeting these unrealistic goals?? You would think I would learn from this experience to not set such insane goals and to be proud of the amount of things I did get accomplished within 3.5 hours. but no. The very next day when Rob gets a call and has to rush to the office after I just made him his favorite breakfast in bed (which he totally loved and it was completely worth it) I think of all the things that I didn't get done yesterday and roll up my sleeves to finish these crazy goals before he comes home within the next 2.5 hours.... sigh. I just my need a straight jacket and a rubber room soon.... but first I need to do one more load of laundry, dishes, clean the rest of the house, take the dog out, feed the animals again, go grocery shopping, plan dinner, and get lunch ready in 2 hours so I have 30 minutes to shower and fix myself up!
Gotta run !
