You know, there are times in our lives when we’re on brain-overload and just getting through another day requires super-human effort.

Life has been like that for me for the past six weeks or so.

It started in August with a new Web Design project. Can I ever admit I’ve bitten off more than I can chew? Nope, not gonna happen. So I buckle down and deal, cursing that I’m not a programmer, trying to educate myself on code, and wishing for simple solutions to complex problems.

It continued through Domer’s first semester, when he was juggling Band, classes, projects, job applications, and interviews. Having your only son travel ’round the country via plane, bus, and auto isn’t easy, but at least he was putting forth a concerted effort. He could have been like his mom, who at his age embraced Scarlett O’Hara’s “I’ll worry about that tomorrow” philosophy.

It increased in the  Fall, when my mom started having trouble with her hernia. Every few days, I had to take her to the emergency room at the hospital or an after-hours clinic when she complained of pain. It seemed a portion of her bowel was beginning to poke through the abdominal muscle — a complication from surgery she’d had years before — and it was creating a hernia. They’d fix her up and send her home, only to have it happen again and again.

Finally, someone told her she needed to have surgery to repair it. You don’t want to wait until it’s an emergency, they said.

Three weeks later, they scheduled surgery. And that, too, was hectic, from the actual procedure to the recovery. Released after just two days, she developed extreme pain from the buildup of air in the bowel, which “hadn’t woken up” from anesthesia; they readmitted her.

That crisis, too, passed, and she came home again over the weekend.

In the meantime, I’ve found myself shouldering the lion’s share of work — decorating inside and out for Christmas, buying and wrapping presents, chauffeuring her to appointments, and so forth. My sister would do the same, if she were here. Which she’s not.

My novel-writing has suffered. So has my blog. In fact, there have been days when I haven’t even turned on my laptop.

And the other day I turned on the TV to hear of yet another senseless shooting. This time, of innocent children while they were in school.

So I’ve been AWOL. Trying to gather my bearings. Trying to heal my heart.

I call it brain-overload. And it’s best not to keep shouldering on when it happens, but to take a break.

Before I break.

The holidays seem like a perfect time to do just that. Call it paring down. Or taking a siesta. Or lightening my load.

Recharging.

Best wishes to all my blogging friends for a Happy Christmas and New Year’s Day. I’ll miss you, but I’ll be back in early January.