Well, Christmas here was lovely. And I’m pleased to be able to report that as per my vow from last week, I actually did a pretty good job of not working through the holiday. We drove 1,100 miles in two days, and I took just a few minutes during that night in-between to check my email at the hotel (while the kids slept). Once we arrived, I did no work until after Christmas was over. It was somewhat liberating, actually.

Of course, today was a little bit stressful, what with the rebound effect of realizing that “Oh my gosh I haven’t done any work for days and I have how many assignments due this week??” But it’s amazing what a couple of cookies can do for your outlook in a pinch. At least, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Read the rest of this entry »

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! Read the rest of this entry »

I’m fond of saying that I’m fine whenever I can get out of my own way. My propensity, however, to needlessly complicate matters or otherwise make mountains out of molehills is somewhere legendary. This dubious talent extends to my mental health, wherein I’m easily stressed out or grumpified (totally a word) by whatever the downside of a given situation is, regardless of whether or not the predominant atmosphere is, you know, good.

That’s pretty much what I was doing last week. Allow me to paraphrase that entry: “Wah wah wah, it’s a holiday and vacation and I’m cranky because I still have to do some work. Woe is me.”

This weekend I realized I needed to tell myself the same thing I say to my kids: “Awwwwww. That’s a pretty rough life you’ve got there.” Read the rest of this entry »