Somewhere along the way I lost another month

One of the not so fringe benefits of travel, especially for work is that I seem to lose months. Not lose as in don't remember but lose as in, "What? It's already almost April? Wasn't it just the end of February?". I think part of it is that when I'm away from home I'm forced to take a break from all of the activities and most of the responsibilities that I have at home. In that way, even work trips are a bit of a vacation. But it always seems when I add up the time I spend preparing for a trip (2-3 days prior to departure) and the time it takes me to recover and catch up with everything that didn't get done while I'm gone (3-6 days, depending on the length of the trip), that the actual impact of the trip is extended by a week. For a one week trip, that's not a huge deal. For a 2-3 week trip, that comes out closer to a month.

And that's where I am tonight. This afternoon I got home from 2.5 weeks in Atlanta. My bags are unpacked, the mail is sorted through and I've been to the grocery store. So, for an arrival day, I'm doing okay. But when I was buying milk, I noticed that the expiration date was 30 March. While I know that's still a bit away, it just seems like we were just starting the month. And with a list of things that need to get done in the next week or so seeming to grow longer with every passing hour, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

I know a lot of it is just travel shock. I think my body is convinced that something that is fundamentally wrong with waking up in one state and going to bed in a completely different state (different time zone even). Hopefully that will be better tomorrow. But, as it stands, I've got a long, busy, emotionally expensive four days between now and Monday. I'll get there, by the grace of God. And, if my lawn has to wait until next week to be mowed, that's probably okay. The weeds don't seem to have unionized just yet.