Stressed but going on

Though my time at home has largely been pleasant, I end up having to deal with certain stressors more when I'm here than when I'm up at school. Without getting into too much detail, the past year has not been a good one for my loved ones, and the various troubles press on me a good deal more when I'm physically with the family and seeing the effects of things with my own eyes. But we're a close family and we love each other, so we're still pretty happy, thank God. I just feel a little bit more stressed out by things now than I do when I'm not in the thick of them.

I need to get to work now. I just took a nice shower-- love that shower at home! --and I'm having a hard time getting myself to put on clothes and buckle down already. I need to write a paper on a book I love, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, so probably once I overcome the difficulty in getting started, things will go pretty smoothly. Maybe I'll make myself some tea, and then reread the last chapter of that book which will be the subject of my paper and see if I can't make some real progress. I have not been as efficient as I'd hope I'd be since I'd been home, so it's important that I don't waste today.