I’m no stranger to citing the lack of vacation time as one of the biggest drawbacks of freelancing. My family is leaving for our Christmas trip in less than a week, and while we’ll be spending the holidays back up north with family and friends—which I’m really excited about, by the way, as it will be our first time back since moving this summer—I do not, and cannot, view this as a vacation.

Because I’ll still be working. Of course.

The icing on this particular cake is that I had really hoped to amp up my productivity this week and perhaps lighten my load for next week, giving me a bit more time in which to enjoy the holidays and less time I’d have to spend in the corner, hunched over my laptop. But guess what! Go on, GUESS!

That’s right. I’m sick.

I keep telling myself that this is good news! It means I cannot possibly get sick over Christmas itself. But on the other hand, it means that this week—the five precious days during which I’d intended to get ahead—I’m struggling just to keep up. And of course in addition to the work crunch I’m now feeling, it’s the last week of school before break.

So in addition to my regular work, and blowing my nose every fifteen seconds, and all of the regular things the kids need, I also need to pack for our trip, wrap all of the Christmas presents, bring in food for the kids’ class parties, figure out teacher gifts, and attend the holiday concert.

Oh, and my son found out yesterday that he’s getting an award. We’re very proud of him. He brought home a letter inviting us to the award ceremony on Thursday morning. Which is splendid, because we have so much free time this week.

We also need to run my daughter in to the city for a doctor’s appointment.

This would all be busy and stressful under the very best of circumstances, but to feel sick and crummy and have all of this on my plate is just miserable. Wah wah wah. (That’s me admitting that I’m whining.)

Here’s hoping that I can get through this week, get it all done, and be back on the mend before Santa comes to town.