Busy all day, but still not caught up??

How is this phenomenon even possible? 

I've been neglecting the blog lately, as the weeks have been packed full of work, schoolwork, and TRYING to keep up with the most basic household maintenance... and the weekends have been full of festivals, which is awesome, but time-consuming.  This weekend is the last festival of the season for us, and while we've had a great run of it, I have to say I'll be relieved when it's over!  I want to stay home, tend my garden, and bake bread!

I have most of a bushel of peaches sitting on my dining room table right now, waiting to be canned... a task that will *hopefully* wait until Friday, when I have off from work again.  Today I reduced a full colander of Roma tomatoes from the garden to a single tray of oven-dried-to-slightly-leathery-but-still-succulent-perfection for the freezer.  I got a handle on the laundry situation, swept all the floors, and cleaned the kitchen.  Then I went food shopping, and gave our skunk, Flower, a bath and a manicure.  I did some class work, and (I admit guilt here) watched a documentary about ballet.  I helped Hubbybunch make a set of wicks for a fire hoop.  Somehow, this consumed all 14 waking hours of my day until this very moment.

There must be some way to become more efficient with my time spent at home... but I've been striking out these past few weeks.  Any tips, big world?

Also, dug all of the taters from the garden last week... I let the plants get too dry, and certainly did not hill them up frequently enough to maximize our harvest.  However, we got a good bit despite my hands-off gardening technique (ha!), and damn they are delicious!

The garden in July

Oppressive

That is the word I would use for the heat we've been experiencing all week.  It is draining the life out of me.  I had off from work today (well deserved, after dealing with a violent and drunken patient who tried to beat the crap out of me last night at work), and had the very best intentions of getting a lot of housework done.  Unfortunately, I found myself exhausted and overheated after completing just one task, and ended up retreating to the bedroom to cool off in the A/C.  That made today a most unproductive day.

I was fascinated to hear that a new subatomic particle was recently discovered (they think).  I got the gist of the story while listening to NPR, but found this little video very helpful in explaining what exactly the Higgs boson is and putting into context why it matters if they have really proved its existence.  I thought I'd share!
http://vimeo.com/41038445

I start my BSN program on Monday, and have already completed the first two week's assignments in an attempt to get ahead of the game.  I'm not looking forward to this, but I know it must be done in order for me to advance my career.  I've resigned myself to this reality.  I'm going to do my best to improve my attitude and try to learn something useful as I progress through my classes. 

The pumpkins have crawled over the garden fence and are making their way across the lawn.  There is a marina di chiogga pumpking out there the size of a steering wheel.  I'm a little frightened of them, honestly... if I don't post for several weeks, I may very well be being held hostage by the pumpkin patch.  Send help.