Last night, despite being exhausted and going to bed around 9:30, I got a whopping two or three hours' sleep. I was hot and sweaty and my heart was pounding so loudly I could hear it.

I'm sorry to report these symptoms aren't due to an extended bout of sexy time. This is my body's way of handling the stress the night before going back to work after Christmas vacation. Earlier in the day, I nearly spontaneously burst into tears more than once and snapped at hubby several times for no reason.

I'm not a doctor, but I am willing to go out on a limb here and say that doesn't sound very healthy.

Laying there thinking about work (as I clearly had hours and hours to do last night) I can't pinpoint what it is that agitates me so much. I have great clients, I like my coworkers and the people I report to...there are none of those horrible wonky relationships where you get sick just thinking about having to deal with that person. I like my desk. I have a new outfit to wear and fun new supplies--a brand spankin' new page-a-day shoe calendar and a fresh 2010 day planner just itching for new to-do lists to fill up the pages.

In the latter part of the year, the economy finally caught up with Atlantic Canada and we were hit quite hard in our industry, among others. I think part of my freakout stems from the fact that everything is so lean these days, and in the back of my mind there's a belief that if something were to go wrong at work, I have no options because no one else is hiring.

I'm also frightened of making a mistake at work, envisioning all these horrible scenarios where what starts off as a little error snowballs, clients get pissed off, work decreases for the agency, and once again I'm out the door.

Plus there's just the sheer laziness of Christmas break that's so hard to break out of. Since going to the Dominican in spring of '08 this was my first chance to take some time and relax.

Christmas break was wonderful--tons of baking, board games, reading, food, movies and downtime. There were snow days. There were successive days of no-pants wearing (even the stretchy skinny jeans I'm wearing to work feel like a ball and chain after blissfully soft leggings for days). Getting back into a routine is hard and this girl is not excited.

I wish I had tricks for handling these freakouts better and easing back into a routine, but I have no secrets to share. Instead, I will go into the office, settle in with a tea and my new calendars, and start by making the mother of to-do lists. I will have update calls with my clients bright and early in the day to make sure none of their needs are missed. In the afternoon I plan on plugging into last.fm and plowing through as much work as I possibly can. And tonight, I will repeat the going-to-bed-early schtick and pray that this time I'll actually nod off.

Am I the only one who requires hard drugs to return to work after a fantastic holiday?
What are your tips for staying sane?