Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Not Enough Hours In The Day...

Or at least in MY day anyway...where DOES my time go? This seems to be a question I ask myself more and more lately.

Some people have blogged about the Spoon Theory in relation to Multiple Sclerosis...the wise notion that we only have so many "spoons" to use in a day and then we run out. I suppose this applies to me as well. I am constantly considering just staying in an eastward course to try to outrun the sun dipping over the western horizon.


Today was one of those such days...not enough HOURS or energy in the day to complete everything I had good intentions to get done. I DID go to an appointment this morning followed by having all five of the hairs left standing on my head whacked back (aka, haircut). Today was one of my few days off from work, so I wanted to take full advantage of the hours and get some things crossed off my list. I have SOOO many tasks to complete before my sister arrives for her visit the first week of July...I'm starting to get a little panicked!


I came home from my haircut feeling "lighter" (my hair has gotten out of control...it seems without Novantrone influencing the mop, it is growing wildly from all directions) and with full intention of getting out the paint brushes and continuing my maddening journey of painting my kitchen...with only 4 fingers among two hands that can even FEEL a brush, this is no easy matter! And, as I stepped out of my car on a rather not-so-typical sunny day in Seattle, I heard the faint cries of the lawn screaming at me. We've had some nice spring showers the past few weeks and my lawn has taken full advantage of the moisture...growing like a jungle. The forecast for the rest of the week "may" include more rain, so I sighed a heavy sigh and decided I would HAVE to address the crop of tall weeds (I said lawn, didn't I?...I meant WEED PATCH).


I changed my clothes and got out the super duper yard tools and tackled my upper goat grazing pasture (I left the hillside...not THAT stupid...this time!). I worked for about 2 hours on this, with sweat running so heavily into my eyes, my glasses became bowls of pooled water if I bent my head forward. My back began to ache fiercely and my forearms became numb (to match my hands), so I decided I HAD to stop...still planning to simply rest and then go inside and try to paint.


Resting became another matter...I felt exhausted to tell you the truth. I had spent too much time in the bright sun and my body was yelling at me to become supine...which I did...laying on my couch and staring hatefully into my kitchen that STILL needs to have coats of paint slapped on it!


After some time on the couch, I decided I had to shower off the yard grime (and dried sweat) from my body, so I gimped into my shower. I ran a tub of warm water and promptly fell asleep in my private whirlpool without the "whirl". I was awakened by the Princess O' Darkness pawing at the door and yelling at me it was time for her evening meal. STILL planning to dip a brush in paint, I dried off and went back out to the kitchen to feed the starving beast...but not before I realized I needed to complete a few loads of laundry before returning to work tomorrow! Oh, and there was the matter of feeding myself as well.


I pulled a load of wash out of the machine and tossed it into the dryer, reloading the washer and headed to the kitchen to forage for food. And this is when I noticed the stack of teetering dishes that needed to be washed and put away...hmmm...must feed first, I thought.


After fixing a reasonable evening meal, I then proceeded to wash each of the dishes I had stacked up over the past week (where's the MAID?!?) and continue with the laundry patrol. Now, in bare feet at this moment, I traipsed across my living room rug, only to discover I had tracked in so much dirt from my yard excursion, I would need to vacuum...it was making the bottoms of my feet hurt!


Vacuum out, I chased the cat with the whirring sucking machine. Neither one of us was "thrilled" at this point...myself OR the cat. I happened to glance over at the windows and noticed it was now dark outside. Forgetting it is almost SUMMER in Seattle, I imagined I MUST have a good 3-4 hours left of my day before I would need to hop in bed. My body ached horribly, but I tried to encourage myself to override its signals telling me to STOP. I checked the clock and shook it...battery must be dead...it read 9:45PM! Surely it could NOT be that late?!? I checked another clock...those dayumed Energizer batteries NEVER die...it was almost 10:00PM.


Once again, I have managed to thoroughly exhaust myself in routines...something I will surely PAY for tomorrow. But there always IS tomorrow...isn't there???...

4 comments:

Lisa Emrich said...

I'm exhausted just listening to your adventures. Hair, lawn, rest, bath, laundry, dishes. Good thing you managed to feed yourself somewheres in the middle of all that. And good thing you had enough spoons.

Anonymous said...

Oh man, you're just making the rest of us look bad. You actually finished the dishes and the vacuuming? Did you also have clean clothes this morning to wear to work? Yea team!

I usually measure my accomplishments by how close I came to finishing something.

I would say more but my dryer is beeping at me so I need to head in that general direction - only to be distracted on the way I am sure....

PennyAnn

mdmhvonpa said...

Here's a time-saving tip or 2:

1) Use paper plates and then in winter months, put them in the fireplace. That counts as 'recycling' in so much that you have used them twice! And you did not waste water to clean them.

2) Teach the cat to use a can-opener.

3) Get rid of the cat, buy a goat ... female, you could milk her and she will mow your lawn too!

Spaz Attack said...

Hey Mouse Bait

Me thinks Ur sis just wants to see you and doesn't give a rat's ass if your kitchen is freshly painted or NOT.

I'm a hyprocite though -- having visitors does seem to give one that extra push of energy to get things done..
Fun reading your post ... while you're working away I'm going to mow my weeds now