If one more person says, "At least you don't have to do any homework for awhile!" I WILL SCREAM. Shall I make a list of everything I have to write and submit in the next month? Book review, conference proposal, a research bibliography, fellowship application... It makes me wonder, am I doing this all wrong? Should I not have a stack of work to do over winter break? I think it's less that I'm doing it wrong and more that people outside academia don't realize that "vacation" is a synonym for "a time for working without the usual interruptions."

And do you realize that Christmas is only a week away, and I haven't done one single thing to prepare for it? Other than starting to drink rum in the evenings, I mean?