On your mark!
Get set!
Oh Christ! Are we done yet?
Once upon a time, December was a slow month when it came to architecture. Most contractors weren’t working at the end of the month. New clients were waiting until the first of the new year to call. With few exceptions – and I mean few – client work slowed down significantly.
Now I feel like every year I’m doing the hundred-yard dash towards Christmas. And I have no idea when that changed.
Maybe it was when James and I started taking the last week off each year to go to Key West? In the past, there was always that space between Christmas and New Year’s where you could be a bit more leisurely in completing tasks. No one was expecting a lot – everyone was enjoying the holiday – so you didn’t feel like you had a hard deadline.
However, knowing I will be out of town for a full week after Christmas, I now look at the calendar and see what day is my last in the office and what needs to be completed before I go. In all the time we’ve been in Key West, I’ve never taken work with me. Oh sure, I’ve had to complete some continuing ed courses. But with the exception of a contractor call one year, my clients know I’m on holiday and don’t bother me.
All the more reason then to make sure I am done before I go.
Funny thing is, I never liked doing the hundred-yard dash. In elementary school, we had a sports day each year where you had to do one event. That hundred yards was the simplest, and I always came in at the end of the pack. I was so happy the year they allowed those of us who wanted to skip to stay inside and do schoolwork. Perhaps a sign for my future?
My dad always did his Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve, and I never understood why. He would disappear to the mall around mid-afternoon – hours before the stores closed – and always came back triumphant from the hunt.
Perhaps that’s where this comes from. Give an architect a deadline, and we’ll either blow it or work our asses off to meet it. We’re on the hunt for completed documents. Best to get out of our way. The sprint to the finish line has begun, and woe be to the personal time, sleep, or spouse in our path.
Which means I should stop yapping and get back to drawing. At some point, I decided today was my last day for the year. And I have a massage at 3:30 I will not miss.
Time to get back to the dash!
Have a great holiday, everyone!
