To begin, I've been absent because my website decided that I needed a break and locked me out.  This seems improbable, but it is true.

This week has been great thus far.  The sun has been shining and everything feels a bit lighter than in weeks past.  My doctorate work still has a suffocating quality to it, but this course ends in three weeks and I can return to my happy place of dissertation denial.  With classes like this I tend to drown and whine and panic and not sleep or eat well until its over, which seems like it would lead to rational thought and behavior, right?

I always feel rushed.  The moment I sit down to breathe, guilt over what is not being done settles in.  Has anyone else been here before?  When I do grad work, a nagging feeling that I should be taking the time cook a real meal instead of cheese and crackers creeps in.  Finally, when I begin to cook, I then consider how much Spanish I could be learning if only I would work on it for an hour each day instead of making an elaborate meal.  And have I been taking the time to love those around me, or am I too busy editing a book to exist in the real world?  And so it goes.  The whole thing is exhausting and vicious, really.  

My priorities need to be redrafted and refined, which may mean letting a few things go.

Advice would be much appreciated, as this is an area in which I can never seem to get a handle.