When I say that I worked all day Sunday, what I really mean is that I put in four hours, nonstop without any breaks (and without any food). I tell you I gave up my Sunday because that’s what it feels like. And even though I didn’t work “all day” in the classic sense, I got more done in those four hours than I do in a normal working day, because (a) the phone didn’t keep interrupting me, and (2) the aforementioned lack of breaks kept me from losing momentum.

I started the weekend with nine specific items left to do before the Tuesday deadline. I knew I didn’t want to leave many of them (or any of them, really) for Monday, because Monday has its own list of demands. I spent yesterday afternoon doing three of the nine items, but they were the three easiest ones. That left me with today to do Everything Else.

There was only thing that kept me from throwing my hands up and telling myself how impossible this all was. In two days all of these tasks have to be completed, no matter how impossible they are. That’s what kept me going, and it’s also what kept me from getting distracted. And now, it’s done.

That doesn’t mean my work is done. It just means that I can sail through this particular deadline. I can promise myself that next time I won’t push it so close, but we all know that’s not going to happen. The best thing I can say is that today reinforces the fact that I can do what I have to do — but only when I really have to do it.

To be perfectly honest, I did take one brief break today, when Tammy and Aiden dropped by. They didn’t even get out of the car, so I walked out and talked to them for a few minutes. It might be that this visit is what actually made it possible for me to keep working the rest of the time. I know it made it more palatable.