Word Wednesday: Burning The Candle at Both Ends

I suppose this won’t come as a surprise to those who know me well, but I’m at the stage of the summer where I’m just about done – both physically and mentally.  It seems that every time I plan on a few days of R &R, something comes up. Sure there’s the cottage, and I had a lot of fun this past long weekend with friends old and new up there, but when you own the cottage, there’s always work to do.

Before my guests arrived, I spent 5 hours scrubbing, sweeping, vacuuming, making beds, and making ice for them. Even once they were here I was unable to completely relax – partly because I wanted them to have a great weekend; and partly because I was the one who knew how to use the fancy Margaritaville drink machine, knew where everything is stored, and could open the really big jugs of water to decant into the smaller ones that I swear emptied twice as fast as usual. Plus there was the constant worry that something would break (please not the septic… I did that last  year and it sucked huge) and I had my adorable but high maintenance elderly dog up so sleeping in wasn’t an option. I had a great time, but it wasn’t exactly a relaxing getaway.  Since my guests left, I’ve been at the cottage but working – both my day job (writing) and fixing / finishing things that didn’t get done before the weekend. Plus I’m already working with some of my clients with Autism on back to school strategies and helping them adjust to camp so that’s quite busy too.

It’s been hot this past month too – far warmer than I prefer. I’m not a fan of extremes when it comes to weather – I like 24 and slightly overcast is fine with me. This 34 degrees plus humidex stuff is totally for the birds, except they don’t seem to be enjoying it much either.  Hot weather makes me sleepy – I just want to find a nice cool spot and curl up and nap all day. The fact that it hasn’t been cooling down much at night means that I haven’t been getting a great night’s sleep which isn’t helping much. We have A/C at home and use it in the evenings to cool down the house but the set temperature is still a few degrees north of my preferred sleeping temperature. We’re not even quite halfway through the hot part of summer so I suspect it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

Which brings me to my word for today – a word that completely describes how I’m feeling right now: Weary. Weary has been one of those words I just enjoy saying – it perfectly conveys the  way I feel. I’m not just tired; tired can be fixed by a few nights of uninterrupted sleep, what I am is weary. I need to figure out a way to disconnect from everything and go somewhere where I’m not the host and just decompress for a few days.  As much as I LOVE being able to work from the cottage, I miss the days when that wasn’t an option: when I couldn’t always be reached by friends, clients, or family. Sometimes, we can be too connected.

I think one of the reasons I like the word weary so much is that it’s an old word. Dating from before the year 900 AD, weary is considered to be Old English in origin: the root word was wērig; cognate with OldSaxon -wōrig; akin to Old English wōrian –  to crumble, break down, or totter. From those, we got the Middle English word wery and the modern English word weary. So, if you’ll excuse me dear reader, I’m off to rest my weary head. 

Weary ( wea·ry ) Adjective

1. Physically or mentally exhausted by hard work, exertion, strain; fatigued; tired.
2. Impatient or dissatisfied with something (often followed by of)
3. Calling for a great amount of energy or endurance; tiring and tedious.