Strategic Vacation?

As I mentioned in my other post, sometimes I wish I'd started in the Fall. The reason why? I have had to "strategically" use my vacation, and that way I would have had 3 calendar year's vacations.

Maybe I'm not as disciplined as others, but I had to use vacation to get my summer paper done. I also just entered in 2 half days to catch up on normal homework for this week, which means less time off in December.

To my credit, I just started this job in March, so it has been harder to juggle w/ starting school in January. I am getting a lot of "opportunities" in this department...keeping my life interested. There are also a lot of exciting things going on in my personal life, but again that is a drain on my time. So, this weekend...instead of catching up on homework, I caught up on sleep! A few friends & my SO were coming down with bugs, so I took the opportunity to drink green tea, OJ & listen to my body saying, "I NEED LOTS OF SLEEP".

Even though it sucks to use vacation to do other work, I am at peace with it, and at least I don't have kids yet. I really can't imagine juggling that, too, but I know people do it! Since my SO is an engineering related job, too...I know I can't count on that schedule being any calmer than mine...so, we also broke down & hired someone to come do light cleaning every week & a deep clean 1x/mo. I feel silly having someone do this at my age, but it makes more sense than doing poorly at work or losing my funding by going under a 3.0...Do I sound spoiled?

I've had some interns live with me, before, and I actually told them to consider getting someone to do the yard/house chores if they can afford it and put more effort into establishing their professional reputation. This is against the way I was raised, but I have become more and more convinced that this is the way to go. One lady I know is moving up the ranks very quickly. I realized she could work so many hours because she takes ALL her clothes to the cleaners & never cooks. I don't want to give up cooking completely, but oddly this was a light bulb moment for me. I realized I was trying to have my father's career but keep house like my mother...not going to happen! So, I still cook nice meals when I can, and maybe I get a little behind on things, but hopefully this 1x/week housekeeper will really help us out & maybe even improve our relationship! (bc we all know arguing over laundry or toilet cleaning chores does NOT spice things up)! ;)