Monday Maintenance

I hate Mondays! There, I said it. I just needed to get that out of my system. I freaking hate Mondays! (oops, that one just slipped) Yes, I had a great, although tiring, weekend. Now it's Monday again and I'm staring at yet another long week of work. I've decided that the only way to get through crappy Mondays is to focus on my week's plan, what I'm going to get accomplished each day, what I want to have done by the next Monday etc. That way I'll have a plan and not just be feeling...blah!

So what brought this on? I'm exhausted. I don't want to complain. I really have no right to complain, but this is what I've realized about my new life: being pregnant is difficult. Being single and pregnant comes perilously close to impossible. Yes, I realize tons of women do it, blah, blah, blah. I don't care on an emotional basis. I can handle the nightmares and tears on my own. I care about the physical aspect. Because the physical aspect affects my child.

For example, the bedroom needs to be painted. The people who lived in this house before were idiots. They literally screwed on some drywall and painted. No mudding, no taping, no nothing! Obviously, it looks like crap. So this weekend I spent hours mudding over the seams and screws, sanding it all down, cleaning up the sand, up and down a ladder, all this just to get ready to prime the walls! I did most of it on Saturday then crashed for a long nap.

It's the every day things that get to me though. The dogs need to eat right? Well that means heavy, heavy bags of dog food need to be brought into the house. No one else to do it, so that leaves me dragging them in usually. The lawn needs to be mowed, weeds need to be pulled, groceries need to be carried into the house, car needs to be cleaned etc. There is no one, no one, to say: "No dear, you're 5 months pregnant and shouldn't be lifting/doing that. Let me." Those are just some of the things that come up. There are, of course, all the weekly things. Housecleaning, laundry etc plus working full time.

Added on to all of that is Jake. I love my dogs more than I love most people, but right now they are alot of work. Since Jake's accident I've spent countless hours working with him to get his strength back. Because of that, Shai has been getting less and less attention (something she is becoming very vocal about!). An average evening for me is to get home from work at 5:30pm, let both dogs out - Jake has to be taken out on a leash in case he falls. Feed both dogs and give Jake his medication. Feed the cats (don't ask, that's a post for another day!). Make my own supper and feed myself. Clean up the dishes/kitchen and then usually start a load of laundry. This takes usually until around 7:30pm. Keep in mind I leave my house at 7:00am each morning to go to work. So 12.5 hours later it is finally "my" time. However, at this point I still need to work with Jake. I usually take him for a walk (we're up to an entire block now, yay!). Which shouldn't take that much time, but he's not very fast yet.

So now it's usually around 8pm and Shai wants to play. I can't blame her, she's been alone and bored all day! Play with Shai, chase her around the yard etc for another half an hour. Switch the laundry or put it away and now it's getting close to 9pm. Normally that's not a big deal but I am always, always asleep by 10pm. So an hour to myself before I crash. Oh wait, still need to make sure things are organized for the morning, wash my face etc, let the dogs out one more time and suddenly it's 9:30pm. So half an hour to relax - although I usually just end up falling asleep while watching a dvd.

It's not the weeknights that get to me though. It's the weekends. There just seems to be so much to do and it's all fairly physical labour that by the end of the day I'm wiped. I would kill to have someone say: "you've worked hard today, don't get up, I'll get you that glass of water!" Then, just when I start having a pity party, I realize I have no right to complain because I'm having a healthy baby. That is truly all that matters, so I'll just suck it up now that I've had my little vent! Do any of you super organized people out there have any advice for me? How do I squeeze just a couple more hours into the day? Any ideas at all?

Oh, and don't even suggest the Sperm Donor. He's been out of town working for the last couple of weeks and even if he was around, as if I'm going to ask him for anything!

I really freaking hate Mondays. Oops! Slipped again!