Feeling all Ahoo

I'm feeling very off-kilter, un-organized, anxious. I'm getting back up but a number of things are driving this, and I have a number of strategies to cope.

1. Work is taking too much time. There is a lot of work to do. Much of it is good and challenging work that feels important. But we don't have enough people to do all of it well, my people are working their hearts out, and I just don't want to spend that many hours in the office. Actually, I do want to spend that many hours in the office, I just also want more hours out of the office, with sufficient energy to do everything else I want to do.
   Short-term strategy: Take a Break. There's a Lake I Know... (But this leaves my people even more in the lurch.)
   Long-term strategy: Haven't got one yet.
2. My girl is still unsettled.
   Not a crisis. Not going to say more.
3. My mother is not so on top of things. She needs time and attention from me.
   Strategy: Pay her bills, organize her healthcare, enlist other family members to spend time with her.
4. My garden needs serious work. This is mostly maintenance, the function of neglect for several years, and exacerbated by the work time crunch and incessant rain. Some few projects will require hiring someone, which is also time and effort to plan and carry out.
   Strategy: budget and keep to some time spent on the yard each weekend day. Mow the grass during today's window of sufficiently dry time. If work comes more into balance, during these long days, count on a half-hour or so an evening or two during the week.
5. Serious home improvement projects have made little or no progress. I want to refinish the basement, which will be a major undertaking. I have it planned out in my mind. The first step is to empty the basement of as much stuff as I can permanently.  I have made small bits of progress on this, but it needs time and focus. I also want a nice soaker tub in the upstairs bathroom, which still has the original, shallow, builder's grade tub installed in 1950.
   Strategy: Focus when I get back from vacation. Draft family members to help. Requires wresting back time from all the items above.
6. My kitchen is a mess, and other chores aren't getting done.  Work time is my ever-present excuse, but right now I also have ants. My galley kitchen has a long counter-top along the outside wall, with a pilot of dog treats at one end and Nan treats at the other. Along the way are a microwave, cutting board, sink, and typically dirty dishes being staged for the dishwasher.  The ants came marching in, and I've swept stuff off the counter (dog treats to a grocery bag, Nan treats to the fridge, everything else to the dishwasher) and sprayed. Now the kitchen is stinky from the spray, and ants are re-appearing. It's just another barrier to cooking and eating healthy stuff at home.
   Strategy: relocate the food more permanently, and deploy traps and spray ferociously until I leave on vacation, hope it's solved itself by the time I get back.
7. I'm eating crap. I realized driving home ravenously one night this week at 7:30 pm that I had no food in the house. By this I mean I had no food that could be made dinner-worthy in ten minutes or less - no leftovers, no convenience foods. I went to the McDonald's drive through for a bigmac and fries - the first time in probably five years I've done this. I'm buying lunch which is not terrible but also not perfectly healthy. The kitchen disarray contributes.
   Short-term strategy: I just came back from buying convenience foods. "Saffron Road" is a frozen dinner brand with good taste (and portion control). I bought fresh prepared food for today and tomorrow. 
   Longer-term strategy: recommit when I get back from vacation to cooking.
8. My dog is old. He is probably older than I thought when I got him. Also he's had a hard life. I made a rational decision this very hungry labrador is not going to have any more operations to remove things from his stomach. I doubt my ability to keep him safe, but I try and will keep trying. Our time together seems a bit more precious since I've thought this through.
   Strategy: enjoy our ambles together while we can.
9. I'm going sailing!  This is very very good, but not without stress. Sailing pushes me from comfortable life. I had major work done on the boat over the winter, which of course ended up costing more than I had planned. Tomorrow we're bringing her home to her summer berth. It'll be some hours, but not especially arduous nor dangerous - as long as nothing unexpected goes wrong. When a boat is 30 years old, the unexpected does happen.
   Strategy: sail my brains out this summer. Cultivate additional crew since my schedule and my boat partner's don't sync up that well. Ensure all my skills are sharp.
10. I'm going on vacation!  The astute reader will have deduced this already. This is also very very good, but it takes a lot to get things together. The vacation will be physically vigorous, and I've been training for it, but not enough. My laundry has piled up and because of work I am leaving no time to pack at the last minute, so I have to get to it this weekend. Because of going hiking in rural areas, my normal antidote to "did I bring the right stuff?" anxiety of "all I really need is a passport and a credit card" is not necessarily true. I also have significant aches and pains, and don't want to be a drag on the group.
    Strategy: pack drugs, electronic entertainment, credit cards and passport. Print physical copy of itinerary documents. Then chill. It'll be fine. 

Overall:  ensure having fun!  Thanks, Liz.  Got to make sure there is time for that. Like doing this - this is fun. But I'm off to mow the lawn now.