It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...marking, books etc etc

Christmas used to mean lots of performing. Now (other than the beautiful obvious) it means lots of catch up work. I have a pile of marking to do. Today I finished all the Musicals essays which at least makes a dent in it. The Wicked and Newsies soundtracks (neither of which I have listened to since week 5 as I was getting a bit sick of musicals by then!) kept me company. Other than that, the next few days will look something like this:

Finishing the Book. Yes, I have just two more days before my self-imposed Book deadline. It is nearly there actually. I just need to check that everything is sorted.
Cleaning the house. If you are an academic reading this then you will understand exactly what I mean when I say that my house looks like a week11 house! I sorted my office out yesterday. Tomorrow I tackle the house!
Reading inspiring blogs. At this time of year, thoughts turn to new year goals. I'm working my way through some really interesting blogs right now from folks all over the world. People do some really amazing stuff!
Wrapping pressies. A job I am utterly rubbish at!
Writing a guest blog post.
Finishing GSP. Yes, Saturday is not only the day I finish the book; it is also the day that I finish my GSP fitness schedule Rushfit. It has been pretty tough and I had a bit of a gap in the middle where my body decided that it would only cope with cycling and walking for a bit. But I will have completed it on Saturday.
Riding Tommy. Last time before Christmas.
Watching the end of Borgen. I am going to be so sad to goodbye to Birgitte.

And that's about it. Quietly determined to have a proper break over Christmas. I have a pile of work to do (mostly fun) but I think I need some time out. Even when you really like your job, you still need to switch off for a few days and come back refreshed. To be honest, the thought of not having to wake up at 5.20 each morning is rest enough for me.

Whether I'll post before Christmas or not will depend on whether I get all my jobs done so I'll say 'Happy Christmas' now just in case.
CSW