Overwhelmed Irritations

Marvelous Mamakat's Prompt:

2.) Share a moment when you felt overwhelmed.
5.) Tell us about the last thing that irritated  you.

Monday morning, I woke up at 6 am, the same way that I always do, fighting every inch of the way out of the bed. Then I realized that it was Monday, remembered our scheduled events, and I stumble downstairs to start the day.

And I then:

Let out Zena, Inside Cat #2.
Filled coffee maker with water.
Fed and watered outside cats, Smokey and Lalo.

While outside, located 5 tasty blades of grass for Pounce, Inside Cat #2, who is too persnickety(meaning: insane) to go outside herself.

Held blades of grass so cat could eat them.
Located Zane's lunch box and filled it with lunch and two snacks.
Found and folded Zane's blanket and mat cover and put in school backpack.
Put school backpack by the door.

Located Zane's soccer shoes, shinguards, extra pair of shorts and place in soccer backpack.
Locate the "correct" soccer ball and place in soccer backpack.
Put soccer backpack next to door.

Filled a small cooler with Gatorade, water, and ice for soccer practice.
Put soccer cooler by door.
Cleaned out litterbox, put bag in trash.
Gathered all trash, carried outside.
Rolled can to curb for pickup.
Brought in newspaper.

New trashbag in can.
Drank a cup of coffee.
Scarfed down breakfast.

Showered.
Dressed.
Makeup.

Dressed Zane in shirt and shorts while he was still sleeping.

Hair.

Gathered my purse, jewelry, glasses, etc.
Turn all upstairs lights out, opened the curtains so Pounce doesn't eat/shred them

Gathered up Zane's two backpacks, my briefcase, my extra bag, my purse, the cooler, and Zane.

Herded Zane to the car, carrying everything.
Load the car with all the stuff.
Locate Zane in the neighbor's yard.
Herd Zane back to the car and into his seat.

Turned the car on, moved the seat back for Larry and put the steering wheel up where he likes it.

It is 7:25 am, and we are, of course, running late.  Larry gets in the car, looks at the gas gauge, and makes a sarcastic comment.

"You couldn't manage to put gas in the car yesterday when you were at the store?" 

And that was when I became irritated. 

Overwhelmed

Streams of Consciousness Sunday is here again.  The Notebook Sisters have this link, and I am participating.  You should too!  I don't know about everyone else, but I have a tendency to agonize over every sentence and worry about the nuance of every word.  It all has to be perfect!  This sort of an exercise, in which you just set the timer and start typing, is great for getting out of a writing rut. 

The prompt for today is: Overwhelmed.

Women seem to feel overwhelmed more than men. I am not sure why, but perhaps it is that we tend to "take on" the issues or projects of those closest to us.  For example, when my husband is running around like a chicken with his head off because it's the day before school and he can't find his favorite pair of pants, I tend to experience his emotional distress, even if I pretend that I don't.  I don't want to feel stressed by his lack of planning or his tendency to never put things back where he found them, but he's my husband.  I love him and want him to be happy.  That marriage thing is about sharing burdens, instead of pointing and laughing. 

My son is the same way.  He will forget where he put something, or he will leave something upstairs and want me to rescue him by getting it for him.  Part of me wants him to be happy, so I put a foot on the stair.  The other part of me, the one that wants an independent child to become an independent adult, points upstairs and tells my son to go and get it himself.  I still feel his distress. I seem to collect the distress of my loved ones. 

It is Sunday before the first day of school for my husband and I, and the first week promises to be overwhelming with new routines and new tasks that must be completed.  I want to start the week off right, so Monday morning is not completely overwhelming. I will put all of my things out that I will need for Monday, and I will tell my husband to do the same.  Maybe this will alleviate a little of the stress, and I won't feel so overwhelmed. 

Want to play?  There are just 5 steps...

1. Set your timer and write for 5 minutes.

2. Publish! (No editing. This is rough, unrefined writing.)

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5. Stop by the other blogs and say hey!