November and December, 2008

November and the first three weeks of December have been a strain. I have this equilibrium where as long as I don't have anything extra, I can get through my life. But since the beginning of November, I've had a series of extras.

First I went to a conference. Then my landlord decided to paint my apartment. It was a lot of work to pack up all my stuff so the painters could paint. Then came Thanksgiving break. Four days in a row off from work. I was feeling so worn out, and really looking forward to having those four days to rest. I also wanted to spend the time putting my apartment back in order after the painting. The first two days of Thanksgiving break, I got some things done, but also felt really worn out and felt like I was coming down with something. On Saturday, I came down with it. I was in bed with a fever and cough Saturday through Wednesday. Thursday, one week after Thanksgiving, I got up and returned to my normal life, but I was still weak and coughing, and even now have not fully recovered.

Then last weekend, we had the power outage. That was also wearing for me, running around town looking for food and shelter, going back home to check whether the electricity was back, and when I found that it wasn't, packing up some stuff and going somewhere else. I slept one night in my office. It was not the restful weekend I needed.

This week, having not had a restful weekend, I felt all week like I was at the point of collapse. Monday night after work I got groceries. Tuesday night I went over to my friend's house to write Christmas cards. Once those obligations were out of the way, I rested as much as I could on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings. I had a lot to get done, but I knew I was too much of a wreck to be productive. I felt raw and worn and tearful.

So the past few days, when I got home from work, I retreated to the cozy comfort of home -- reading novels, watching TV, drinking herb tea, wrapping myself in blankets. And now it is Saturday. I'm not recovered yet, but hopefully I can get enough rest in the next few days to start feeling like a normal person again.

I'm taking the next two weeks off from work to visit my family for the holidays. I figure I'll be home Saturday through Tuesday doing all the things I need to do, and then leave on Wednesday. I don't know if four days is really enough. Here is my agenda for those four days:

• Get rested, so I stop feeling so raw and worn and despondent.
• Prepare for and do a radio show.
• Revise and submit my article about folk music.
• Apply for the class I want to take next semester, withdraw from the program I've been taking classes with, and figure out about my future studies.
• Put my apartment back in order. Since I move things for the painters, it looks like a tornado hit it.
• Make sure all my bills and other such things are taken care of before I leave for my travels.
• Go into the office to take care of all the loose ends at work before I leave for my travels.
• Finish Christmas shopping and wrap Christmas presents.
• Finish sending Christmas cards.