the direct supervisor of my group was out for the 5 weeks on holiday and getting married back in india. i had been covering for him during that time--while still performing all my other duties. needless to say i was happy to have him back. but i promptly found out that he was going to take a leave of absence and i would be picking up his responsibilities. its good news, and at least this time i'll be able to offload some of my other responsibilities.