I'm finding that digging my way out of the end of the school year is a lot like digging one's way out of depression -- getting back to "normal" isn't the end of the work -- it's just the start of catching up on everything I fell behind on while I was down there... At least a couple times a week I get overwhelmed by how much I still need to do -- outstanding phone calls, email, errands, etc. -- or the memory of something else I flaked on while I was so busy. Everytime I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel through my piles of ToDo lists, something else seems to happen to tip the piles back over into Overwhelmed! And then I have to pull back to a manageable "okay, just get three things done every day, and don't worry about the rest of it righ now" or I'll just hide under the blankets and do *nothing*.

This week, though, I finally feel like I really, sustainably, see the end of playing Catch Up. I can see that, even if other stuff comes up, I will still be able to keep slowly moving forward. It's really good to be able to see an end to the chronic waves of guilt over stuff I've forgotten or flaked on or just never finished. I can see from here what a relief it'll be to get out the other end of this weekend...