June-August Journey Week 8

It was lovely last week to hear all the accomplishments of TLQ participants, whether
over the last few months or the last few years. Several positive and complimentary
comments were made about the impact of the group on our feelings of accountability,
and therefore on our progress. I started thinking about the chemistry of writing groups,
both on-line and in-person, especially since many of us have both incarnations going
on at once. What do you look for in a writing/accountability group, and what is
different about on-line versus in-person versions? Would you feel adrift if you never
left the good steamer TLQ in any port of call?

Please respond to the prompt if it speaks to you, report your progress on your weekly
goals, analyze what went well or badly, and set goals for the coming week.

Bardiac (held over during trip out west)

1. Finalize some plans. Since this involves my Mom, it will take time (because she's
communicating with five other people...)
2. Finish weeding. I need two hours before it gets hot. Hopefully tomorrow.
3. Exercise.
4. Pack.
5. Write enough that I feel like I've made progress.
6. (added by editor:) HAVE A FANTASTIC TRIP!!

Dame Eleanor Hull

1. Self/health: yoga for neck 5-7 days; same for cardio; see doc if sore foot doesn't improve.
2. Research: keep office hours 9-12 four days; 6 hours on revisions; 2 hours on language;
update promotion application.
3. Teaching: 2 hours planning or reading for fall classes.
4. Life Stuff: do 3-5 things.

Elizabeth Mitchell

1) Pick up interlibrary loan books.
2) Take notes on three of the above-mentioned books, at least 2 hours a day.
3) Pick up pool pass.
4) Stay hydrated.
5) Proofread for 3 hours every day.

Good Enough Woman

1) Make the back yard even more pretty.
2) Daily push-ups (10).
3) Walk the dog once.
4) Review the readers' reports more carefully. Take some planning/strategy notes for revision.
5) Keep my shit together and try not to cry when I drop my daughter off on Sunday for a
week-long camp at UCSB.

Heu mihi

1. Sit x 4
2. Exercise x 4
3. Work on Wonder for 2 hours total
4. Finish a book
5. Read 30 pages of Proust

Humming42

1. Post book review
2. Write 1000 words for Tiny Project
3. Write one or both of upcoming abstracts
4. Consider freelance gig
5. Get caught up on grading

JaneB

1) self-care: focusing this week on drinking enough water, on taking time to eat the food
I choose, on moving a little extra each day (at least back stretches), "sitting".
2) arranging a time to visit my sister despite hot weather
3) going through the rest of my notes from meetings two weeks ago and taking small
actions, planning/recording large ones, related to my various papers and grant applications
in progress.
4) spending an hour or two on one of the papers
5) spend an hour on teaching prep things, just getting things in order

OceanGirl101

1. Write 5,000 words for Ch 6. If this means I get to the end of the chapter, then edit as
much as I can
2. Continue text/comments for co-authored paper (waiting on email from collaborators)
3. Weights 2x, Pilates 1x, walk or something else 2x
4. Do something fun x2
5. Think about getting a decorator for my upstairs office
6. Edit copy of will/health care directive for 1 hr.

Plant Girl
1. I WAS going to NJ to visit family, but after driving partway to MDW this morning only
to find out that my flight was cancelled inexplicably and that there were no more flights I
could take today or the rest of the week, it looks like I'm not seeing family again until the
holidays.
2. So, since this was supposed to be a week off from work, I will try to relax and balance
little bits of work that I feel motivated to do with lots of reading for fun, which is something
I've really gotten away from this summer.
3. Try to run and eat healthy again now that I'm feeling better physically.

Susan

1. Do serious edit of Violence
2. Identify more of the primary sources for new class
3. Get exercise
4. Go to bed early enough to get good sleep.
5. Enjoy the most beautiful library setting ever (we call it paradise)
6. Enjoy the twins (now 4 1/2) and my family.

Waffles

1. Get either the PTSD or YRBS paper done. I am skyping with my postdoc mentor tonight
(they are on the opposite side of the world right now), and am hoping I can get her to help
me be accountable on this front.
2. Get my revisions to discussion section done.
3. Get review done that is due this week.

What Now?

1. Again with the summer school. Teaching 4.5 hours each day is just exhausting; there's
no way around that.
2. Try to exercise at least ONE time during the week! (See how I'm lowering my
expectations? Just suck less!)
3. Pull out the essay draft and actually look at it. But I don't have to do this until Saturday;
I think it's not reasonable to expect myself to do intellectual work after a day so full of teaching.
4. Finish the online course, wrap it up, and dive into the other online course that I've
completely neglected.

June-August Journey Week 7

It's easy to feel that we are failing or less-than because SO MANY THINGS (see recent posts by Notorious Ph.D. and WhatNow?). Of course, as they and their commenters say, we know how to counter that monkey mind: "just" do one thing at a time, focus on what's going right, and so on. Easier said than done! (Another thing we all know.) So, this week, let's celebrate our own achievements, individually and collectively.

TLQ has existed for four years (come September), thanks to Jane B and Humming42, who kicked off the first session. In that time, a lot of people have given and received support in their efforts to focus on what's really important. IIRC, Good Enough Woman finished her Ph.D., Susan finished a book, Earnest English (I think---or EAM?) gave us the mantra "Move like water," many people have earned promotions or got new positions or just managed to stay sane during institutional "reform."

What have you achieved since you started TLQing? What have you achieved in the last couple of months? This might be tangible (ex. I listed my house for sale) or intangible (GEW created memories with her family).

There will be prizes and party favors; fireworks for those who like them; fountains of champagne and chocolate; and for those who prefer quieter celebrations, well-deserved cups of tea silently delivered, purring kitties, and discreet nods of acknowledgement.

Past participants who aren't signed up for this session are welcome to drop in to note achievements and help celebrate.

We are TLQ and we are awesome!

 Bardiac:
1. Finalize some plans. Since this involves my Mom, it will take time (because she's communicating with five other people...)
2. Finish weeding. I need two hours before it gets hot. Hopefully tomorrow.
3. Exercise.
4. Pack.
5. Write enough that I feel like I've made progress.
6. (added by editor:) HAVE A FANTASTIC TRIP!!

Dame Eleanor Hull
Regular cardio and yoga; sleep when sleepy; buy new curtains for bedroom.
Finish revisions.
Some fall teaching prep.
Prep for and engage in final (?) consultation on translation project.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
1) Go to medical appointment.
2) If surgery is not imminent, get the pool pass and use it.
3) If surgery is imminent, move Morgan Library research visit to September or October.
4) Proofread the edition for 3 hours every day.
5) Edit the textual notes for 2 hours every day.

Good Enough Woman
1) Review the readers' reports more carefully. Take some planning/strategy notes for revision. Spend 2-3 hours on this. No more, not much less.
2) Read for pleasure. Sit by the river.
3) Get some exercise. Eat some healthy things.
4) Enjoy my last week of the family togetherness.
5) Maybe 500 words of fiction?

heu mihi
1. Finish grad student’s work; read another grad student’s work; check in on X’s exams.
2. Sit x 6
3. Finish reading book
4. Work on Wonder at least 30 minutes/day
5. File receipts for conference
6. Return to regular exercise

Humming42
1 Post book review
2 Write 1000 words for Tiny Project
3 Read old chapter for Tiny Project
4 Write to one person for Tiny Project
5 Reorganize summer goals

JaneB
1) self-care: focusing this week on drinking enough water, on taking time to eat the food I choose, on moving a little extra each day (at least back stretches), "sitting".
2) arranging times to visit parents and sister despite hot weather with no end in site :-( GRRRR
3) going through all my notes from meetings two weeks ago and taking small actions, planning/recording large ones, related to my various papers and grant applications in progress.
4) spending an hour or two on one of the papers

Oceangirl 101
1. Write 5,000 words of Ch 6
2. Finish text edits and writing for collaborative article and send to co-authors
3. Order books for fall courses
4. Work out 2x (weights), walk 2x, stretch 5x
5. Look for decorator for home office
6. Finish application to do Master Naturalist course

Plant Girl
1. Finalize all 3 syllabi for the fall.
2. Continue work on chapter.
3. Exercise regularly again / eat at home more.
4. Balance freelance work with academic work.
5. Try to enjoy summer and do something summer-y.

Susan
1. Get through revisions of Violence
2. Get all secondary readings for syllabus set; meet with TAs.
3. Deal with the rest of the desk, put it on craigslist etc.
4. Walk or exercise x 5
5. Actually do some thing recreational . . .

Waffles
1. Circle back with VA suicide team
2. Figure out what to do for asthma analyses
3. Write up review
4. Intro for YRBS paper

WhatNow?
1. First week of summer school -- Get it done with minimal effort.
2. Exercise three times -- a good test run for exercising during the school year.
3. Do at least 2.5 hours of revising the draft, implementing colleague's feedback, etc.
4. Finish reading two more books -- see above re. closing tabs
5. Stay caught up in online course (two more weeks)
6. Celebrate my birthday!

June-August Journey Week 6

Looking over the past few weeks, I was struck by how many of us have been thrown
off course or becalmed, to borrow Dame Eleanor’s phrase. How do you cope when a
storm (life, external reviewers, or wayward colleagues) sends you far off course or
becalmed in the Doldrums? How do you find a balance between allowing some time
to regain one’s sightings, and moving back into the ocean stream?

There is a difference between things that cannot be controlled and those that can, and
also between things that carry an emotional punch versus those that are more annoying
than hurtful.

Feel free to respond to the prompt if it speaks to you. Please report your progress on
your weekly goals, analyze what went well or badly, and set goals for the coming week.

Bardiac:

1. Exercise.

2. Weed the damned garden

3. Write 5 pages

4. Practice

5. Plan trip out west!

Dame Eleanor Hull:

Keep up stretching, cardio, weights, and push-ups.

Finish the last set of revisions.

Put in two hours of fall teaching prep.

Prep for real estate open house.

Do something fun or self-indulgent besides reading novels.

Elizabeth Mitchell:

Go to dental and medical appointments.

Get pool pass and use it.

Ask neighbor about her cleaning service.

Start proofreading edition--3 hours a day.

Edit introduction and textual notes--2 hours a day.

Heu mihi

1. Read the work of one graduate student

2. Read half of one book

3. Sit x 6 (traveling—will this work?)

4. Wonder: Need a plan for revising. Part of the problem is that it's so cluttered with detail that I'm
having a hard time seeing the argument. So how's this for goals: a) cut 1000 words; b) work out topic
sentences for major subsections.

5. Enjoy the conference and seeing friends.

Humming42

1 Finish reading and post two book reviews

2 Write and submit overdue film review

3 Write 1000 words for Tiny Project

4 Read though Sweet conference paper to determine next steps

JaneB

1) self-care: focusing this week on drinking enough water, on taking time to eat the food I choose, on
moving a little extra each day (despite it being hot - I can still benefit from doing my back sstretches,
if nothing else!), and on starting "sitting" again.

2) going through all my notes from meetings about my new admin role a few months ago, and
compling them into a single document

3) going through all my notes from last week's meetings

and taking small actions, planning/recording large ones, related to my various papers and grant
application in progress.

OceanGirl101

1. Finish major edits on Ch 6 and write 3,000 words for Ch 6.

2. Re-stake my tomatoes, weed the garden

3. Work out 2x with new personal trainer, walk 2x weather permitting

4. Spend three hours in the lab getting samples pulled for book related research

5. Finish test writing and copy edits on a co-authored article and send to my collaborators

6. Think about finding a decorator to help me get my home office in working order

Plant Girl

1. Begin work on a book review I've forgotten I had to do.

2. Review an essay.

3. Schedule necessary doctor's appointments prior to my move next month.

4. Edit book proposal.

Susan

1. Finish book review

2. Start work on Violence: 3x 2 hours figuring out what it needs for this new placement. (It was
originally written for a conference, revised for a potential journal issue, now part of a book from
another conference...)

3. Teaching: 4x3 hours on syllabus for new Lower division course

4. Journals: 4x 1/2 hour on journals

5. Clearing: 4 x 1/2 hour on desk mess

6. Walk or exercise x 5

7. Do something fun

Waffles

1. Take stock of journal review project and email team

2. Take stock of where we are for august presentations and make a plan

3. Take stock of PTSD paper and make a plan

4. Take stock of YRBS paper and draft intro

5. Circle back with VA suicide team

What Now?

1) Have a colonoscopy on Tuesday. I've been dreading this for ages, but at last it's here.

2) If my colleague gets back to me, talk with her about her feedback.

3) Prep the heck out of the three-week summer school session that starts next Monday. The goal is to
have it all laid out so that I just need to show up each morning and do the grading I need to do each
day, but that's it, and I can still be doing other things for those three weeks.

4) Get caught up on an online course I'm taking. I'm a week behind.

5) Finish reading some books! I'm partway through a whole bunch of books -- some work-related,
some personal -- and I'd like to clear the decks. I finished one yesterday, and it was very freeing.

June-August Journey Week 5

We're approaching the half-way point already. The solstice has passed. It's getting darker in the northern hemisphere (but lighter Down Under: I wish I could head far, far south on the September equinox!). Is it time for triage? What could you let go of? Throw it overboard!

Or is it time to make sure you enjoy this season while you can? What do you want to do more of? "More sitting around doing nothing" counts, if that's what you want to (not) do!

Both of these questions might also benefit from considering what is within your control. If there's something you can't do because you're waiting on someone/something else, you might as well either enjoy yourself or pick something else to push forward.

Please report your progress on your weekly goals, analyze what went well or badly, and set goals for the coming week.

Bardiac
1. Exercise.
2. Weed the damned garden
3. Write 5 pages
4. Practice
5. Finish scrapbook.

Dame Eleanor Hull
Keep up stretching, cardio, weights, and push-ups.
Finish translation review.
Write something for writing group.
Clean the garage, work on the garden, book a trip to see family.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
1) Write 5 hours x 7.
2) Revise schedule to make up for the break I took in New Orleans.
3) Meet with subordinate for requisite signing in quintuplicate the staff evaluation.
3) Taking a page from heu mihi, sit quietly, without phone or book or other distraction, for half an hour x 7.

Good Enough Woman (held over)
1) Keep working on healthful-ish food choices. Look for fiber and veggies on menus.
2) Write short story (eep!)
3) Do daily push ups and squats (10 of each)
4) Move like water / float like mist (but also be willing to be the stone in the river sometimes?) as I enter the intense family time that will begin on Friday (double eep!)

heu mihi
1. Read relevant parts of two books
2. Reread Wonder and figure out re-entry point
3. Finalize and print Impatience + associated handout
4. Sit x 6
5. Read the work of one graduate student
6. Back to regular exercise (heat permitting)

humming42
This week:
1 Write syllabus (although really trq at this point)
2 Submit second book review, also trq
3 Write and submit long overdue film review
4 Work on Sweet lit review

JaneB
1) write the damn summer lists.
2) use the writing retreat to review Picky, Touchy, Ferret and Foxy, assess their statuses, and decide which one to focus on this summer. If I get bored or run into too many blocks, work on Gallimaufrey paper or MScpaper.
3) cut out refined sugar wherever possible.
4) buy a new sunhat.

Karen
(Mostly going to be semester preparation and service whacking, so being realistic here)
-Runs on Friday, Sunday
-Write syllabus
-30 min writing time building off idea gathering from syllabus

OceanGirl101 (held over)
a. write 5,000 words for Ch 6
b. restake tomatoes in the garden and weed all over
c. have handyman repair garage door
d. walk for 2 hrs total and lift weights 3 x
e. find a new massage therapist who is good working with injuries

Plant Girl
1. Get back to a regular rhythm with the book.
2. Do freelance work somewhat more regularly.
3. Workout three times & run 5k Saturday.
4. Eat healthier / cook at home after four or so days of junk / restaurants.

Susan
1. Finish book for book review, write review
2. Read 9 journals
3. Re-read Violence essay, order books
4. Clean desk in den, maybe get rid of it
5. List turntable and tape deck on Craigslist
6. Keep walking, eating relatively healthfully
7. Do one fun thing

Waffles
1) Revise the results and introduction section for Aim 1 paper
2) Revise the results for a marriage recognition paper
3) Draft IRB for new grant (yay! it's a small grant to do some piloting with my own sample!).

What Now? (held over)
Finish the dang essay!

June-August Journey Week 4

When I read Dame Eleanor’s description of the ocean voyage in her response to the Week
One prompt, I was struck by the phrase, “with some trunks marked "Not Wanted On
Voyage" consigned to the hold . . . .” What have you put in those trunks? What storage
methods are working for you, and what ones have failed you? What things won’t stay in
the trunks, slithering forth like a noxious fog to disturb your sleep or concentration?

Please answer the prompt if it speaks to you. For the rest, please report your progress on
your weekly goals, with an analysis of what went well or badly, and set goals for the
coming week.

Bardiac:

1. Finish an assessment narrative. What a pain.

2. Write at least 5 pages of my essay.

3. Work on a scrap book project for friends' child. (birthday coming soon)

4. Take a hike! Ride my bike. (try to rhyme for fun.)

5. Practice more! (esp using some techniques my teacher has worked with me on.)

Dame Eleanor Hull:

Regular stretching and exercise; keep doing knee push-ups (30 with good form).

Return to normal early sleep schedule.

Regular language and translation work.

Make a plan for the last set of article revisions.

Do some planning for fall classes.

Do 2 house-related things.

Elizabeth Mitchell:

Finish annual faculty report.

Conduct staff evaluation.

Put in next round of interlibrary loan requests.

Write 5 hours x 3.

Good Enough Woman:

1) Keep working on healthful-ish food choices. Look for fiber and veggies on menus.

2) Write short story (eep!)

3) Do daily push ups and squats (10 of each)

4) Move like water / float like mist (but also be willing to be the stone in the river sometimes?) as I
enter the intense family time that will begin on Friday (double eep!)

Heu mihi:

1. Enjoy our little trip to our Northerly Neighbor without stressing over money. This is a very real
challenge for me.

2. Finish one book.

3. Sit on the weekend (when we're back home)--so x2 this week.

Humming42:

1 Organize Tiny Project snippets

2 Find pdfs for Overlooked lit review

3 Write syllabus for summer classes :(

4 Complete and submit two book reviews

JaneB:

1) only do actual work things on Friday other than emergency emails and planning

2) potter and putter at various small household projects, aiming for an hour a day

3) exercise a little every day

4) do something summery or creative every day

5) eat healthily, drink plenty of water, sleep a lot.

Karen (held over)

1. Run on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

2. Marking! Finish all the marking!

3. Grant decision and 1 hour of drafting

4. Schedule workshop

5. 3 hours reading

OceanGirl101 (held over)

a. write 5,000 words for Ch 6

b. restake tomatoes in the garden and weed all over

c. have handyman repair garage door

d. walk for 2 hrs total and lift weights 3 x

e. find a new massage therapist who is good working with injuries (I have chronic back pain from an
old severe injury)

Plant Girl:

1. Get in my regular stuff as much as possible (research, running)...

2. But allow for the fact that I'm getting married Friday and won't have a ton of time for my regular
schedule starting Thursday into Sunday.

3. So try to enjoy the experience, and not feel bad about not working / exercising / and eating way too
much cake.

Susan:

1. Book orders -- maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow morning

2. Finish merit review (due Saturday, so it will be done)

3. Start reading book for next book review (I've got two train trips, so should be fine.)

4. 6 more journals -- then I'll really see the progress!

5. Sort out old desk in den

6. Get rid of old sofa on Craigslist (new one ready for delivery)

7. Keep walking

8. Figure out sleep, or why am I so tired?

9. Do one fun thing

Waffles:

possible 3-day meeting

What Now?

Finish the dang essay!