new year, new smear

well. it is the new year. i've been officially very busy for the last three weeks preparing for and executing (haha) christmas. every spare second, and many that weren't spare at all, were devoted to holiday *stuff*. i love the gatherings with family and friends and i love gifts--giving and receiving--but man am i glad it's over with!
my gorgeous and amazing husband has been off work for --ahem-- several days now (a week plus) and i am so ready for him to go back!!! i don't know why, but i cannot get anything done when he is here. all my routines go down the tubes, i build up expectations of what i'll be able to do with the extra adult present and never get any of them actually done and then i get annoyed and it's all very ugly.
though i actually did get some very satisfying stuff done, including the clearing of some blackberries near my herb garden and a spot of sewing, mostly various small projects designed to further familiarize myself with the machine and the various stitches and tensions and etc.
i'm feeling very overwhelmed today, i'm hoping it's a sort of hormonal blip--or something!--that will go away, leaving room for the return of the confident superwoman feelings i had before the christmas tornado hit my life. it's not the best feeling to start the new year with, but it's what i'm feeling. over cluttered, over taxed, over stressed, over demanded of, overly overwhelmed. pretty normal actually for a wife and mother of three!
now that the holidays are finally over, i still plan to attempt to get the office cleaned and organized with the remaining days of winter break. wish me luck and godspeed.
and one more thing adding to my negative mood: i've been having continuous back pain for about three weeks now. we're verging on chronic, it feels like. varying degrees from mildly uncomfortable to so painful i have trouble moving around, picking up jubal, doing anything. and of course i'm a mother of three, so i just do the things anyways, because they need to be done. but i have not gone to the gym for a couple of weeks and i think that is definitely contributing to my feeling irritable and overwhelmed, so i am going back today. i'll just take it easy and do what is comfortable and hopefully it will help.
if anyone is actually reading this (!) i hope you had a great holiday season and i hope you have a new year that is blessed with what you need.