Trying to relax

The last few days I have been hyperfocusing, which is usually a sign of stress.  This is undoubtedly coming from work, where I have two critical projects, both in a state of major crisis.  This is totally not unexpected – I saw it coming ages ago – but it’s finally arrived, like a slow train crash.  And unfortunately, as the project manager, I’m at the buck-stops-here center of it.  Fortunately nobody is blaming me for the crisis, but it’s my job to get us out of here.  It’s taking up more of my mental energy and focus than I’d like to admit.

At any rate, I finished only a small fraction of what I had planned yesterday, but I did manage to do prep work that should make things go quicker today.  I’m trying not to hyperfocus on getting everything done – unfortunately, my response to stress is to work harder and obsess over accomplishing everything on my (arbitrary) list.  So I’ve marked off on my Autumn Splendor schedule the items that are really critical, time-wise, and moved the rest to the “parking lot” (some I’m-not-going-to-worry-about-that-right-now time).  That means that today I’ll try to dye the dark panel wefts, and not worry about the muslin fabric.  If it gets done, great; if it doesn’t, it can wait for the four-day Christmas weekend.  B. and I are not going anywhere for Christmas, so I should have plenty of time for playing then.

The only other thing on the slate for next week is making candied citrus peel.  Bergamot and Seville oranges are in season again, so I have ordered six pounds of each and will start the candying process as soon as they arrive (probably on Tuesday).  With a four-day weekend coming up, it will be the perfect time to finish candying.  I’ve also bought about eight pounds of mandarin oranges, to go into marmalade.  (They don’t have the bitter tinge that Seville oranges have – I like my marmalades sweet and sprightly, and this one is delicious.)