Full Time, All the Time
with Britt Reints
Forget the 9 to 5; Full Time, All the Time is a blog about the mobile working life - when you have the freedom to work from anywhere and the responsibility of always having your smartphone turned on. Britt Reints works as a freelance writer while traveling fulltime in an RV with her husband and two kids. She explores balancing real-life bills with an unconventional work life, and finding time to maintain relationships with family and friends.
You can also find Britt at InPursuitOfHappiness.net.
Can we just commiserate for a minute?
The holidays are kicking my butt.
My family celebrates Christmas, and I absolutely love everything about the holidays. I love the lights and the trees and the gift giving. I love the magic and the anticipation and the planning of special surprises.
I am not, by any means, a Scrooge.
But holy cow do I need a holiday break!
Juggling family, friends and work in a normal week is a challenge. Throw in the extra to-do lists and holiday distractions, and my balance has been lost somewhere at the bottom of a pile of shipping boxes and garland.
I’m trying not to resent the holidays. After all, it’s a privilege to be able to celebrate with my loved ones.
Instead, I’m channeling my resentment toward the fact that I still have to work. Because, clearly, the holidays would be perfect if we all got a good old fashion Christmas vacation. One of those lengthy several week long breaks like we got in college, right? (Never mind that a month or two without work would make paying for the holidays tricky. Let’s just leave those practical details out of this fantasy.)
And it’s funny, because I know the holidays are coming every year - and every year they catch me completely by surprise and scrambling to get everything done.
(By the way - today is the last day to ship your packages Parcel Post through the US Post Office for Christmas delivery.)
What about you? Is the stress of the holiday season starting to get to you yet? Are you one of those balancing geniuses who find time to take a moment and reflect and be totally zen about the reason for the season?
Photo by Dave-F on Flickr.
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I love the photo that you chose.
Avitable | December 16th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Once this week is over I’ll be fine. It’s been stuffed with meetings, first of all, and a horrible yawner of a Christmas “party” for my husband’s job that consisted of 3.5 hours of bullshit speeches over Old Spaghetti Factory slop. Friday, I’m hosting my 3rd grader’s holiday party, which means tonight we’re going to the grocery store for cookie dough and frosting so I can make the fixin’s for 10 dozen cookies to decorate. And Friday is my Mom’s birthday, which means dinner at her house. Her present, which I ordered online with expedited shipping 2 weeks ago just arrived TODAY.
So yeah, the holidays so far have stressed me out. But on Saturday, the stress will melt away.
lynn @ human, being | December 16th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
It doesn’t help that my workload is heavier than usual, and it’s usually pretty heavy. So the balancing will be that much harder this year, but I am pretty confident that I’ll make it work. Well, as long as I don’t catch any new “bugs” for the next couple of weeks. I need the stamina to stay awake at night, long after the kids go to bed, and still get up in the morning. Haven’t really had that on an extended basis for months.
Can you believe there is only ONE weekend left for Christmas shopping? How did that happen?
SKL | December 16th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
@SKL - I don’t know how that happened either. I thought we were doing okay, but dang, we’ve still got a decent amount to do!
This year, we opted to do what made us happy more instead of what we “supposed to do”. Do I have the bajillion decorations up? No. We won’t be home much, its a ton to do, and though I like them once they’re up, its stressful on the up and down side of things. The tree is up, we have garland up around the house (that’s an old family thing), and our little tot is just fascinated by that alone.
Baking? Yes. Baking hubby and my favorite treats. Baking shortbread for the neighbors because its their fave, and it makes me happy to do.
CV | December 17th, 2009 at 7:25 am
My holidays got much easier once my semester was over, but yes. I think, like another commenter said, a lot of people are dropping some of the long time traditional things they have done - like decorating every inch of the house - because they started thinking, myabe, about why. And what makes them happier.
The holidays are a big deal, and there’s bound to be a lot to do to get ready but oh, the activities are just so dang FUN!
Nanna | December 17th, 2009 at 8:00 am