Christmas vacations and illnesses

Why is it that the time of year when many people want to take time off for vacation is also at the height of cold season? This makes it very difficult to keep businesses running as usual. Take the library, for example. We had one employee out on vacation this week, so I was scheduled to work extra hours to cover for her (yippee!).

Then another employee came down with what we thought was the flu, but is actually pneumonia. So she can't come in either. We had to shift the schedule around again, call in some extra volunteer help, and ask an employee from the administration office to fill in for a couple of hours tomorrow night so I wouldn't miss the elementary school's Christmas performance at the Auditorium.

We are very fortunate at the library to have such wonderful and understanding employees, volunteers, and board members who are willing to step up and help during our times of need. I am still so thankful to have "won" a job there. I say "won" because sometimes I just sit and think, "Wow, do I actually work here? How can I be so lucky?" That is a great feeling.