Twas four nights before... They

Twas four nights before...

They say that you can overtrain for endurance events very easily, and it's a particularly tricky problem because you start to detect a dropoff in your performance, so you start training harder to compensate, and it's a vicious circle down from there.
I think it's the same thing with work. I didn't realize how mentally spent I was from this last stretch of two to three months until my last meeting ended today. I sat in my office for about five minutes looking at my monitor and I don't think I had a single coherent thought. I don't even think I had any incoherent thoughts. I need sleep. I need to stroll through a store by myself, and do some Christmas shopping. And for at least three consecutive days, I need to think about something other than difficult business problems. Every day I've had to stay a little bit later at work, because I think my brain has overheated.
For all its finer qualities, and Seattle has its share, one it lacks is a Christmas feel. I just can't imagine staying here in Seattle for the holidays. I always leave. Maybe it's a sign.
One thing I don't have as I leave this year is emotional baggage. In even-numbered years, I always leave this town with an unsettled mind, a restless heart. In odd numbered years, I'm just plain tuckered out.