Overwhelmed.

 Three days after we got back from our annual family beach vacation, we brought our mom to a nursing home about fifteen minutes away.  She was getting to be too much for her assisted living facility, even too much for the locked unit for residents with dementia.  My sister, aunt, and I brought her there with a small carload of clothes and mementos to get her settled and to complete the intake paperwork, and then the next day, on the Fourth of July, I watched my nieces and nephews while Todd, my sisters, and their husbands packed up and away the belongings and furniture that had been left behind.  I went to the nursing home later that day, and I left wanting to book an emergency session with my therapist.

The next day, we left for a planned trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire with friends for our first visit to Storyland.  And four days after coming back from that, I feel as though my summer is over and just starting, simultaneously.  It's a little bit overwhelming, and I'm having a hard time summoning the energy to accomplish much of anything.

 The things I need to remember are that: my family is lucky enough to travel to places like Cape Cod and the White Mountains in the summer; my mother is in a place with around-the-clock nursing care and the majority of my duties as her health care manager, especially bringing her to dozens of doctors' appointments a year, are over; and (mostly) Todd and (a little bit) I have successfully expanded Curb Appeal 2011 into a three-year project.  Just about halfway through, our front yard and side patio are two of my favorite places to be, especially when I'm feeling overwhelmed and just want to look at growing plants or watch my kids playing in the driveway.