I think I’ve reached it. This time of year is always busy, but for some reason I’m always blindsided by it. This week, the Summer Multimedia Institute began. The first week is an intense “boot camp” of teaching multimedia applications. It’s back to back training. I stepped out to help a faculty member who was returning his tablet and when I explained that I was in training all week. He said, Really? Yep, I said, 9-5. Really? He said again, incredulously. And the look on his face said, Wow, I’d shoot myself if I had to teach for that many hours. The week by itself would be enough to stress me out, but both kids’ birthdays are next week and so, belatedly, we are scrambling to arrange parties. I will definitely be glad when this phase is over. Plus, my father-in-law is visiting (as he does every year for the kids’ birthdays). And I’m on the committee that’s helping with the college web site redesign. There are meetings to attend and documents to read every other day. And I keep thinking about all the projects and tasks that are on hold this week and that I will have to attend to in a kind of frantic way next week. Sigh.

I’m thinking some stress management strategies are definitely in order. Meditation. Yoga. Calgon.