Caught up with term - or not

 I had started term already quite worn out. The combination of the dissertation module, the fieldwork and welcome week had left me cranky and stressed before term had even started. That is not ideal! And it meant I had to prepare everything in the last minute. And I kept feeling that I was behind, and needed to run to catch up. And every week I hoped that I would have caught up and that I could be a bit more relaxed. And it never really happened. It happened a little bit; in the weekend I got my bike finished (with help)  I made a bit of progress in my book for the first time in months. (Also helped by having been put on standby and therefore being a bit limited in my activities.) It lasted about two weeks and then I was already back to working until bedtime pretty much every night. When I had published the dissertation allocations and finished a big batch of marking, I felt so relaxed I went for a hike. But when I got back from the hike I was reminded of the next big batch of marking I had to do. That had been lying there for weeks while I was doing the other marking. That meant that for this batch, the deadline was looming already! And I still had to prepare for all my teaching sessions with the students. That can be a bit of work as well. So by the Monday it was all hands on deck again. I don't think it will end until Christmas! The marking will just keep coming in. And I have quite a lot of lectures still to do. I can only hope I can find more balance in the new term!