Caught a Light Sneeze

So, had me a couple of days off. I’ve been ill, folks: ill with a horrible fluey thing that would take me in its grips, back off just enough to make me think I was OK, and then descend upon me once more. Gah. Because I am a hypochondriac, this has made for a pretty hellish time of it.

During my darkest moments, I tried to self-medicate with a pile of trashy chick-lit (and yes, OK, children’s books. Nothing like the Famous Five to make you feel better when you’re low. Amber’s top tip of the day.) designed to take my mind off my imminent death. What happened, though? Well, instead of the usual “girl meets boy/boy is BAD/girl meets other boy who is nice” plotlines, I somehow managed to choose, not one, but TWO books in which major characters developed brain tumours. As this is one of the hypochondriac’s most feared situations, and as I, myself, had a bit of a headache at the time, this wasn’t exactly the best reading matter I could have picked, and, you know, it really didn’t cheer me up AT ALL. The third book I read? Had a character who died of leukemia. No more books for me, then.

Somewhere in the midst of all of this (i.e. on Saturday, while the plague was still in its earliest stages), I had another wedding dress fitting, and this one, you will no doubt be pleased to know, did not leave me in tears. It’s always a good thing when your seamstress doesn’t insult your wedding dress too much during a fitting, I find, so this was the one good thing to come out of the weekend. The dress now fits me at the waist, but not in the length, so I’ll be back in January for more fun and games, in which I get to walk around in my underwear in front of someone I’ve met twice. What a great way to start the new year, no?

During the time I’ve been on my sickbed, and even although it’s December and therefore people should be too busy preparing for Santa to even think about commissioning tedious writing projects, my clients all chose this week to ask me for things. Difficult things. Time-consuming things. WHY? Why did they think, “Hey, the week before Christmas will be the best possible time to start a marketing campaign/revamp my website/start a new website?” Why can’t they just slob out and eat eat chocolate, like everyone else?

This additional workload, plus the fact that I’m now seriously behind with the existing workload, means that although I’m now back on my feet, I’ll probably soon be off them as the pressure of catching up with the backlog, plus simultaneously spending all my money on Christmas presents, catches up with me. Merry Christmas, one and all!

Other than that, I’ve been mostly lolling around on my bed like a rag doll for the past few days. You?

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books by Amber Eve
COMMENTS
  • Same here – I had clients wanting more than was in the original deal, but I felt I had to oblige them. It’s had repercussions in the rest of my life – like you, I have backlogs, and haven’t even had time yet to put up the Christmas tree. It couldn’t have come at a worse time.

    Still, I hope you’re feeling better!

    December 13, 2006
  • Oh, much better, thanks – or I will be once I get the backlog out of the way, anyway! What is WRONG with people, I wonder? Why must they do this to me?!

    December 14, 2006
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