Or as a bee. I’ve never understood why beavers, bees and baymen are considered to be the archetypes of frenzied activity. Every mother I’ve met could give them a pretty good run for their money.

Between trying to keep this household on an even keel and juggling (rather poorly just now) volunteer responsibilities, lately I’ve been feeling, “…all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread. That can’t be right. I need a change, or something…” to quote The Professor.

While I do not begrudge even an iota of the effort and time that has been given to volunteering over the past couple of years, I have come to the conclusion that I am within a hair’s breadth of emotionally and mentally burning out. If I can stagger through the next two weeks and finish off the current phase of things, I’ll be able to step back from major responsibility and breathe again. It’s not just about the time things take, but also about one’s ability to defuse stresses and keep perspective and I fear that I’ve lost those abilities temporarily. I’m not sleeping properly, I can’t think clearly, I don’t feel like running and I’m not enjoying the garden as much as I should.

When you cannot stop yourself from lying awake in the middle of the night worrying about budgets and people and the like for an organization for which you volunteer, you need to step back for a spell and get a grip.

And in two more weeks, I’ll be able to do just that. Hopefully it will do the trick and give me the ability to enjoy the work again.