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Sunday 23 July 2017

Week Ten: Keeping it Light this Week

I have drafted several topics so far, struggling to decide what is best. It's tricky because many of us are doing extremely well with TLQ while others are struggling. In the end, I've decided to keep things concrete and light this week. I have two questions:

1) What would you like to do in order to improve or brighten up your work space(s)?
2) What is a good book you've read this summer/winter  (or one that's on your TBR list that you're eager to get to)? It might be escapist leisure reading that helps you re-charge, or maybe it's a book about productivity that helps motivate you. I know several of you have listed "reading" as a goal, so I thought we might share.

Below I've listed last week's goals, along with some that are carried over from previous weeks.


Contingent Cassandra
--garden 1x, lift weights 1x
--continue vacation planning/making contact with people I might visit.

DEH
Self: organize second trip. Stretch every day. Swim 3-4 times. Do some shopping.
Teaching: Grade, be enthusiastic on field trip, organize the other tour.
Research: Review 500 lines of translation; continue editing/expanding MMP-3. Reserve MSS.
House: type the packing list.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Walk forty-five minutes a day. 
Keep track of hydration. 
One hour five days a week on the Prudence book. 

GEW
1) Clean out 1-2 bags or boxes.
2) Write 5x. (I guess I'll just keep putting it down on my list, hoping to do better. If I can do this, I might get other ideas about how to set better, more precise writing goals.) Get up early one morning to write.
3) Drop off items that need dropping off.
4) Swim 1x, yoga 1x, Walk (45 minutes) 4x.
5) Make plans for an outing or activity with my son.
6) Encourage some independence in the kids this week (activities, food prep), and encourage them to think about their own TLQ.
7) Settle dates for August trip. Book SF hotel. 

heu mihi
We're going to the beach for a week on Saturday (YAAAAY!), so I'll have to do a bunch of grocery shopping/cleaning/cooking/etc. to get ready. In addition:1) Enter current revisions into ch. 2
2) Complete teaching portion of tenure file (Tuesday, I hope)
3) Work through print-out of ch. 2 (after #1 is done)
4) Take care of admin stuff--conference proposal, guest speaker, etc.

humming42
1 follow up with co-author
2 determine status of Abandoned Project
3 submit Memory abstract
4 Read for Snow project
5 Start work on grant narrative

JaneB
1) look after myself kindly. Sleep, don't overeat, shower every day, all the simple/hard stuff.
2) finish writing up the notes from the ProblemChild meeting and circulate
3) Make an outline list of the contents from Giant New Modules for organisational thing
4) write the last of my sections of the Gallimaufrey thing.

Karen (from week seven)
1. Yoga - 3 home practices (even if little) and 1 class
2. Garden - plan 2017/8 vegetable crops
3. Office - 2 x 25 minutes of clearing the encroaching chaos of floor clutter
4. Read - one article
5. Write - 1 hour on messy first draft of grass text

KJHaxton
1. ethics application - complete
2. draft and create screencasts on 4 topics 
3. keep on knitting
4.

Matilda (from week seven)
1) Write chapter 2: continue reading the most fundamental sources, and accumulate 1000 words per day by write / revise. 
2) 5-minute-exercises several times a say.
3) Find ‘my own 15 minutes’ as many as possible.
4) Think positively, plan concretely, work practically.

Notorious, PhD
-Writing: 2500 words
-Research: One volume of ordinances
-Mind/body: 3 yoga, 4 morning meditation

Susan (from week seven)
1. Get rough drafts of syllabi done
2. Find out how to set up my personal website, start designing it
3. Keep moving
4. Keep reading

Waffles
1. Submit R&R
2. APA presentation (due tomorrow - gulp!)
3. Figure out where we are with the alc scoping review
4. Figure out answers for diss advisor's assistant on IRB closure



35 comments:

  1. Hello all, just popping in for a quick break before finishing packing for a few days trip to visit first Sister's family, then our parents - I should be leaving in 20 minutes, but the cat led me a merry dance (did not want to be boxed and taken to the cattery!) and then I dropped the kibble sack whilst trying to refill the smaller box I take for her (she has special diet kibble to prevent recurrence of a wee problem) so it took me a while to clear up, and I couldn't pack before she was caught as that makes her suspicious and even more uncatchable!

    Topic: 1) I just need to clean and tidy my work space. There is TOO MUCH STUFF on it and some of it is genuinely useless trash.
    2) I really enjoyed reading Jo Walton's "the Just City" for leisure, and I have "Air & Light & Time & Space: how successful academics write" on my to be read pile for August...

    last week
    1) look after myself kindly. Sleep, don't overeat, shower every day, all the simple/hard stuff. reasonably. Maybe 75%?
    2) finish writing up the notes from the ProblemChild meeting and circulate DONE
    3) Make an outline list of the contents from Giant New Modules for organisational thing DONE
    4) write the last of my sections of the Gallimaufrey thing.DONE

    Huh. I'm surprised I did that well!

    This weeks' goals:
    1) enjoy time with niece and Sister's family
    2) be the rock the water rolls off whilst with parents
    3) keep checking of work email to a minimum! (I have to check some, but once a day would be enough)

    Have a good week, everyone!

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    1. Kudos on a great week, JaneB! And I hope you have a good week with family with some time for a bit of solitude here and there, and that you find the proper level of resistance if others press upon you.

      Both of those books sounds good to me.

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    2. "Air and Light and Time and Space" sounds intriguing. I'll have to look it up.

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    3. And I seem from the Amazon description that Sword's book is descriptive as much as prescriptive, and recognizes that different approaches work for different people -- both points in its favor, at least in my book.

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  2. Topic 1: well my office at work needs tidied, a new desktop computer installed (you know, electrics checked, someone to futter around with windows and software so I can come in and redo it all), and for occupational health to do a workplace assessment. I may start that this week. It's pretty forlorn having been largely unoccupied since November.

    Topic 2: I recently finished Susanna Kearsley's 'Sophia's Secret' and that was really good. Similar ilk to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books (season three is coming soon - wooo!). I also quite liked (but not as much as the Kearsley) John Marr's 'The One' which is like a series of thematically linked short stories with various twists that hinge around the idea of genetic testing identifying people's life partners. Those are both leisure reading, there's nothing on my work reading list so I'm looking forward to any suggestions.

    1. ethics application - complete - nope, didn't do much, got tied up in whether I needed to do it.

    2. draft and create screencasts on 4 topics - drafted one but not recorded as I wasn't in my prefered screencast recording location (I've spent years trying to find the best recording spot and eventually discovered that it's standing in my dining room. My office and home office both have thin walls so my neighbours hear,

    3. keep on knitting - I finished the big blanket (been working on it since early May). I can't post a photo but perhaps a link will work: https://twitter.com/kjhaxton/status/889117019831971840

    4. - who knows what I meant this goal to be. Did I run out of steam before typing number 4? Did I get distracted? Did I just intend that I'd do other stuff and leave it at that? No idea :)

    This week:
    1. write exam questions, keep plugging on with lecture/class prep
    2. start the sewing project (skirt and shirt - never made clothes before, equally exciting and terrifying)
    3. work on the two posters for the conference at end of August (oral presentation wasn't accepted but offered chance to do it as a poster, other poster was accepted)

    Have fun!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I had thought #4 might be a clever way of leaving "margins" in your week. :)

      I looked at the blanket. It's gorgeous! As for the pending sewing, I tend to sew things that allow for imperfection: costumes, baby quilts, etc. Sewing can be truly maddening. I helped my daughter with a colonial dress about a year ago and warned her there would be crying.

      I did a Kearsley book on audio a couple of years ago and enjoyed it.

      Here's hoping your work office will be healthy and functional place for you!

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    2. Beautiful blanket! I love both the colors and the pattern.

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    3. I looked at the blanket as well--absolutely stunning!

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  3. How I did:
    Self: organize second trip. Stretch every day. Swim 3-4 times. Do some shopping. Mostly YES: I decided to bag the second trip (too complicated in circumstances); stretched 5/7, swam 3 times. I bought tea at the original Twinings store in London. :)
    Teaching: Grade, be enthusiastic on field trip, organize the other tour. YES to all.
    Research: Review 500 lines of translation; continue editing/expanding MMP-3. Reserve MSS. NO, YES, YES (manuscript research took over from translation, as something I can only do here, and I'm fine with that).
    House: type the packing list. NO. It's so nice not having to deal with that &^%$#@!! house. The husband is making progress, but continues to find it a hard slog, and I continue to feel relieved/vindicated that it really is this hard and it's not just me.

    Topics: my home study has for some weeks been cleaned up to the point I'm not sure I'll be able to work there! We'll see. As to reading, I enjoyed Margaret Forster's book (quoted recently on my own blog), and Drabble's _The Dark Flood Rising_.

    Next week's goals:
    Self: Stretch every day. Swim twice. Prep safe food for travel day.
    Teaching: Grade all the things.
    Research: Finish revising the MMP-3.
    House/Life: type the packing list. Pack for departure from UK.

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    1. Congrats on another great TLQ week (not counting the house stuff, which we will just ignore for now). You really seem to have been able to do good, deep TLQ work while in the UK. So fantastic. I hope, hope, hope you'll be able to bring some of that home with you.

      And the Forster book looks very interesting. I was not familiar with her until seeing her on your blog.

      I hope you're able to be fully present during the last UK week so that you can make the most of it (whatever that looks like).

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  4. Topic: There are a few things I would like to do in my various work spaces. First, I need an air conditioner in the home office, which is one of those attic rooms tucked right under the roof. Since we are having a central Florida summer here in upstate New York, it is unbearable between 6am and 10pm. I also need to unclutter said home office. Second, I need to pursue my she-shed office. There were two deals I struck upon purchasing this home--a fireplace and a separate building that would be a “room of my own.” I hope to get my she-shed next summer. I have plotted out the space and figured out how to get electricity out there. It’s too small for plumbing, and even if it weren’t, I dare not put it in, or I’d never come into the house proper!

    This summer’s reading so far has been primarily scholarly stuff for the book and/or the sabbatical proposals, but I have one book on my TBR list that really attracts me: Patricia FInney’s Firedrake’s Eye is about a plot to kill Elizabeth I. I enjoy historical mysteries of all time periods, but perhaps especially the medieval and renaissance period. A guilty pleasure, indeed!

    Last week’s goals:
    Walk forty-five minutes a day. Not by walking only, but lifting, carrying and dancing when no one was around.
    Keep track of hydration. Yes.
    One hour five days a week on the Prudence book. And yes!

    Analysis:
    I had a stubborn migraine from Sunday through Wednesday evening last week, which greatly impacted my ability to do much, so my progress is based on the last few days. Although I didn’t meet my walking goals, I did a lot of moving. I emptied three boxes of files and papers from the home office. Some needed to be filed, but most needed to be shredded or tossed. It was quite freeing. I did pretty well on staying hydrated and keeping track of it. I tend to forget to drink during the day, but this water bottle is over a foot tall, so it is hard to miss. Last but not least, I did an hour a day on Prudence. I found a file of handwritten pages I had totally forgotten, and combined them with the most recent electronic version. I’ve also become less malleable about my time, and have carved time for myself better than I have in the past.

    Next week’s goals:
    Walk forty-five minutes a day.
    Continue to compile versions of Prudence and continue to follow the schedule.

    I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s book recommendations. Move like water or be the rock, as needed, everyone!

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    1. It sounds like you had a productive week despite the migraine. And I like historical mysteries, too! Thinking I'd like to write one, actually . . .

      My she-shed (which we tend to call the "witch hut") should be finished in a few weeks. I am beyond excited and it hardly seems real that I will have such a space. I think, however, that my husband and kids might try to commandeer it from time to time, but I should get first dibs if I'm try to read or write (I hope).

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    2. I really enjoyed the Patricia Finney.

      Have you read any of the Shardlake books, for Tudor mysteries?

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    3. Sounds like the "witch hut" needs a lock (I'm only half-kidding. Actually, they've got some "internet of things" programmable combination ones these days. They probably have some downsides as whole-house locks, but as a mechanism for enforcing "room of my own" hours, maybe not a bad thing?)

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    4. CC, the door *does* have a lock (on the sliding glass door), and it creates a funny picture as I think of being in there with a child pressing her/his face against the glass, pleading for a grilled cheese sandwich. Perhaps I need some signage? We might all benefit from some signage.

      I once heard about an author who had a big rock next to her she-shed, and she would touch it before going into work and then when coming back out again. A literal touchstone. I think we're going to have a fairly large rock next to the door on ours, so I might take up the practice.

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    5. GEW, I've gotten much better at insisting that some space has to be mine--if they want the shed, I get the study, or something. I'm done with being malleable (even though it knots my stomach to even say that). While I find the image of the child pressed against the window funny in the abstract, I know all too well the reality of always having that demand pressing against one's psyche. Signage and the touchstone sounds like really good ideas.

      JaneB, I have read Dissolution, but thanks for reminding me to look for the rest of the series! I really liked Dissolution.

      CC, I may borrow your idea of programmable locks. Putting A Room of One's Own prominently in the shared office didn't do much, unfortunately.

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  5. I’m really glad I set reasonable goals last week - I was a bit scared to see what giant list I had created for myself. In terms of space - my home space is good. I’m worried about my space at my new University as apparently the postdocs are all in an open space. I am very introverted and have a hard time being out in the open and possibly interruptible at any moment. My mentor is okay with me working from home some days - so hopefully that will help. Although in NYC (as opposed to where I live now), I will have a roommate (decent rent, amazing location - except that the #1 train is basically right in front of our building -and is above ground - but my commute will be super short!). Maybe we can figure out work from home days for each of us so that we each get the house to ourselves a couple of days a week.

    I just started re-reading “A wrinkle in time” to prepare for the movie. Before that I re-read “The handmaid’s tale” (after watching the series on Hulu) and read “Chemistry” by Weike Wang (highly recommended - it’s about a PhD student who falls apart).

    Last week:
    1. Submit R&R - DONE (apparently this has been provisionally accepted - woo hoo!) I also got another R&R today that is accepted once we make the minor edits. I just finished those and sent the response to my mentor for her edits.
    2. APA presentation (due tomorrow - gulp!) - DONE
    3. Figure out where we are with the alc scoping review - DONE
    4. Figure out answers for diss advisor's assistant on IRB closure - DONE

    I’m going to keep my goals modest for the next couple of months - I have a conference to go to next month, and then I move a month from today (most likely). So, there’s a ton to do on the latter front. I talked with my postdoc mentor about not setting too many deadlines for before my move, and she seemed okay with that.

    This week:
    1. Finalize APA presentation and practice
    2. Scoping review #1 - read through abstracts
    3. Work on expectancies paper

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    1. I'm am so impressed by your productivity even in the face of the apartment hunt. I think I would have been just thrashing and spinning. And huzzah for the provisional acceptances! That is great news.

      And it sounds like your NYC housing is settled? Are you rooming with another academic?

      Congrats on a great week. And I'll definitely check out "Chemistry."

      (I first posted this comment below but then deleted it so I could put it here instead.)

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    2. Thanks! Finding an apartment in NYC is like a full time job - and particularly complicated from afar. I have to stop looking at places and wondering if we should have kept looking ... our place is fine - it's a school year lease, so we can move if we don't like it. My roommate is a grad student from India - we'll see how it works out living together. We both figure we can put up with anything for 9 months, and at that point we'll both know the city better and will be better positioned to make longer term decisions about living arrangements (my fellowship is 3 years, so I'll be there for a bit). We're 10 blocks from the main campus and 30 or so from the medical campus. I'm pretty excited about it all.

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    3. Sounds like you did well in the apartment hunt (and like you have a roommate with whom you can work things out; that's good).

      I'll have to check out _Chemistry_. Amazing how comforting it can be sometimes to read about other people falling apart. I've also got _A Wrinkle in Time_ on my to-re-read list, one of these days (if I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd probably mostly read for a year, then figure out what to do -- which, come to think of it, is pretty much what a relative by marriage, a librarian, did when she retired).

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  7. Topic #1: My work office is a mess. Giant piles are stacked all around because of early summer efforts to make room for a new bookshelf. So I need to do a lot of work there, but I'd also like to bring in a couple of plants and maybe set up an electric teapot. My she-shed/"witch hut" will be done in a few weeks, and I'm both excited and nervous about how to furnish it and set it up. But first it needs dry wall, paint, and flooring.

    Topic #2: I think my favorite reads so far this summer have been Iain Pears's Arcadia and Philip K. Dick's Man in the High Castle. I am planning to take Continent Cassandra's advice and read a Tana French novel, too. Regarding TLQ productivity and creativity, I've heard good things about Deep Work by Cal Newport and Growing Gills by Jessica Abel. My TBR list is longer than my summer.

    Last week:
    1) Clean out 1-2 bags or boxes. DONE.
    2) Write 5x. (I guess I'll just keep putting it down on my list, hoping to do better. If I can do this, I might get other ideas about how to set better, more precise writing goals.) Get up early one morning to write. PARTLY DONE.
    3) Drop off items that need dropping off. NOT DONE
    4) Swim 1x, yoga 1x, Walk (45 minutes) 4x. PARTLY DONE. Walked, but didn't swim or do yoga.
    5) Make plans for an outing or activity with my son.NOT DONE.
    6) Encourage some independence in the kids this week (activities, food prep), and encourage them to think about their own TLQ. NOT REALLY.
    7) Settle dates for August trip. Book SF hotel. PARTLY DONE. Am having to rely on husband to talk to his sister before I can settle dates, and that hasn't happened yet. I've been info-gathering for the trip..

    Analysis: I had a great time during the mornings that I got away to write, and I was much more productive for the rest of the day. Then later in the week, I felt bad about just taking off and thought I could be productive at home, but that didn't work (except for once). But I *did* write 500 words of fiction, which felt great. It was terrible fiction, but still.

    Otherwise, I didn't do very well. I've been terribly unproductive in general. I think it's because I can't quite do the things I want to do so then I fail to do the things I need to do. It could also be post-PhD, post-carpet installation rebellion. Early morning work might be the key.

    This week's list includes some detail-y items, but these are important (but not yet urgent) TLQ-related things I've been overlooking.

    This week:
    1) Finalize travel plans.
    2) Walk 4x, Swim 1x. Yoga 1x.
    3) Do three early mornings for reading/writing. Plan them ahead. (In general, try to plan ahead a bit more.)
    4) Plan/take outing with son (if he can think of something he'd like to do).
    5) Take remaining bags to office.
    6) Put together reading packet and submit it to reprographics.
    7) Complete online school registration for kids.
    8) Get daughter started on a gratitude journal. She tends to focus on the negative, and she agrees that the gratitude journal might be a good idea.
    9) Remind self that summer is not over yet!

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    1. "I can't quite do the things I want to do so then I fail to do the things I need to do."

      That is indeed a Thing, and one I know well. Not sure I have any advice, but I do sympathize.

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    2. It is, indeed, a Thing (for one thing, I notice that the distractions that seem to be keeping me from getting the things I need to do done -- e.g. the internet at large -- really aren't that attractive when I'm rested, both physically and mentally). If you find a solution, please let us know!

      _Deep Work_ and _Growing Gills_ both sound intriguing.

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  8. I may get interrupted (we're getting toward the end of the summer term, and some students are getting a bit frantic), so I'm going to try check-in and goal-setting, then topic.

    Last week's goals:

    --garden 1x, lift weights 1x
    --continue vacation planning/making contact with people I might visit.

    Achieved: gardened once (mostly watering, since it's been very hot, but a bit of weeding), lifted weights .5x (arms only). Also reached out to brother re: visiting.

    Goals for this week:
    --Get grades in (TRQ, but also necessary to having a bit of time to concentrate on TLQ)
    --Figure out what I'll do when in the next month as much as possible (I realize that not having a plan is raising my anxiety levels, to the point where I've had some trouble sleeping. On the other hand, some of this involves other people -- other people whom I really want to see, even more than I want some unplugged time to myself, though I also want that -- and their schedules, so I may just have to live with it.
    --Keep lifting weights; get in the pool; move some more mulch if weather cooperates

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    1. Topic: creating some more order in my apartment (which is my work/live/sleep/eat/everything else space -- a studio, which does at least have ample closets, a small but fully functional kitchen, and a full bathroom) would really help, and is one of the things on which I hoped to make some progress this summer, but the summer has mostly been work, and has flown by. I've created/restored some small pockets of order, and would like to continue doing that, to the extent possible without further discouraging myself by setting and missing additional TLQ goals. There's definitely a balance here between being realistic about the limitations of the situation (time, space, and the kicker -- I *have* to mostly empty my on-campus office, probably by December, because my department is entering into a nomadic period while our current building is torn down, we relocate, then move back to a new building on the same site, with still-uncertain -- read hotly-contested between faculty and pretty much everybody else -- office/furniture configurations) and trying to make some progress.

      Reading: As I've mentioned before, I enjoyed Tana French's most recent novel, _The Trespasser_ (and all of her novels). I also like Val McDermid's work, and have her most recent on my to-read pile. With some car trips in my future, I'm contemplating classics on tape, most likely either _Moby Dick_ (which I've never actually read all the way through, which is pretty shocking given my academic specialty) or some early Dickens (because Dickens is a major influence on everything/everyone I study). I'll undoubtedly also read some additional mysteries and a recently-published nonfiction scholarly work which turns out to intersect with some family history (including sites I hope to visit during my eclipse trip). And I need to read Colson Whitehead's _Underground Railroad_. And sometime soon I'd like to re-read Ecclesiastes and some commentary, and maybe plan a (church) class on that.

      So there are plenty of possibilities (as usual, more than I can follow up on, especially since what I really want is some escapist reading for a while). I do think that, aside from more exercise (especially more walks), one of the best things I could do for my mental health would be more long-form (non-internet) reading, especially in the hour or so before bed. For the moment, though I may find myself listening to sermons (part of the pastor search committee's work, and more interesting than it sounds, especially since we're a denomination that follows the lectionary, so we get to hear what different people did with the same passages and cultural contexts).

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    2. I find long-form pleasure reading to be extremely restorative, so I don't know why I futz around on the Internet instead. But I do read every night before bed.

      I listened to Moby Dick on audio many years ago. It was an effective way to get through the book b/c it didn't matter if I tuned out for a couple minutes during, say, the long passages on whale skeletons.

      And I think it's fantastic that you're going to see the eclipse. I was reading that seeing full totality is really mind-blowing. Unfortunately, that's the first day of school for my husband and me and the kids, so no road trips then for us. Rather sad about it. But I can't wait to hear your report! I hope you have good weather for it.

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  9. Topic #1: I almost didn’t answer because I think of myself not having a designated work space. Why? Because my office is a disaster. I am so grateful to have a room of one’s own, yet because of where it’s located, it’s the room where crap gets stashed when people come over, where I stack up the mail when I don’t make time to sort it, and where books are piling up on the floor because I haven’t managed to get another bookcase. This might be a thing to address in my goals before year’s end.

    Topic #2: This has deliberately been the year of reading. My favorite book so far is Patti Smith’s M Station, although I listened to the audiobook rather than reading. Her voice, and the performance of the book, made it the experience it was for me. She does talk/write a lot about her ways of being as a creative human, and that was something I took away from the book as well.

    What I did last week:
    1 follow up with co-author: yes, but haven’t heard back
    2 determine status of Abandoned Project: no, but I kind of know
    3 submit Memory abstract: no, and if I’m going to do it, it’s TRQ now
    4 Read for Snow project: yes, a pleasure
    5 Start work on grant narrative: no, but the grant specialist is on vacation until the end of the month

    This week:
    1 finish book review in progress
    2 send additional information to Snow editor
    3 submit Memory abstract
    4 write letter for editorial board
    5 read memoir for Perform paper

    I almost forget my Best News! Not only did I hear back from the new editor, she also told me that the series editor is a scholar who reviewed the rbp proposal and gave me positive comments. I’m delighted that rbp will actually be published and that I have a great editor to work with.

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    1. Congratulations!!! It is wonderful!!!

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    2. First off, congratulations on the good editor/publishing news! That's fantastic!

      And as for your office, that's exactly (I mean exactly) how my/our former office was used. Now it's my son's bedroom, and we're building the studio in the backyard. I think the new structure will be too far out of the way for people to put all of their crap there. Of course, I don't know where I'm going to keep my stacks of papers, books, etc. that used to pile up in the old study. Emptying the old study without anywhere to put the stuff was quite the challenge (I still have a few bags and boxes sitting in the garage that need to be sorted).

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    3. Congrats on the publishing news!!!!

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    4. Joining in the congratulations! I'm glad to hear this.

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  10. Hello,

    I don’t know why but I missed two check-ins.- perhaps because my aunts visited us and we went out together several times. No time to work, but I enjoyed their visit.
    So this is a quick cover-up check-in.

    Goals for week 8
    1) Write chapter 2: continue reading the most fundamental sources, and accumulate 1000 words per day by write / revise. - keep working. Not finished yet, but proceeding, but very very slow..
    2) 5-minute-exercises several times a say.- only two days. Why?
    3) Find ‘my own 15 minutes’ as many as possible. - Good.
    4) Think positively, plan concretely, work practically. - So-so.

    Next week’s goals:
    1) Finish first draft of Chapter 2. At least, finish almost.
    2) 5-minute-exercises at least twice a day.
    3) Find ‘my own 15 minutes’ as many as possible, and do something.
    4) Think positively, plan concretely, work practically.

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    1. Enjoyable family visits are a big plus! There are too many of the other kind. So it's nice you had a good time with your aunts.

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    2. Glad you had a good visit, and glad are still finding your "own 15 minutes." I hope this week goes well.

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