This week's prompt is cake! It's inspired partly by Susan's lemon drizzle cake last week and partly by the fact that one of my tasks for tomorrow is to bake a cake for my son's birthday. I like baking, but find it stressful doing it for special occasions, as I am not a naturally gifted baker. Tomorrow's cake, thankfully, will be covered with chocolate ganache sufficient to hide almost any defect.
So in the spirit of thinking about treats, what is your favourite cake, particularly when you need a pick-me-up? Do you have a go-to cake to bake for others, or a favourite cake that someone else makes for you? Feel free to share recipes! Mine to eat would be lemon drizzle. My neighbour gave me a wonderful one recently, which I think was the Mary Berry recipe. The best cake I have ever baked for someone else was honey and almond, for my father's birthday, but I've only done it once and now am under pressure in case it isn't as good next time!
Last week's goals:
Dame Eleanor
- keep working on revisions to a chapter
- do some scholarly reading
- process at least 4 grad applications
- finish syllabus
- gym x4, swim x1, yoga x5
- buy more marmelade*
JaneB
1) SELF-CARE (recovery and self-kindness)
* habits: something creative, D&D, read a novel plus three chapters of
crusades book, intentional movement 15 minutes x 3 days, a social thing (a long
thank you/catching up letter to an old friend)
* Specific things - make sure I eat at least 5 portions of at least three types
of fruit/veg a day and don't dive into the bread-and-butter-and-biscuits beige
comfort food pit too deeply
2) HOUSE-LIFE CARE
* 75% or more of the weekly minimal chores, tidy up the upstairs landing
3) TEACHING AND ADMIN
* marking - all on time third year essays, all extension-having second year
essays, first year labs, first year essay one.
* go through coming semester and make teaching preparation plan
* stay in my lane!
* prepare all of next week's teaching and the ViLE for shared module
* stretch goal: go through full draft for MRes student and comment lightly.
4) RESEARCH
* add accepted chapter to university tracking system
* postpone everything else to future weeks
Julie
1. Coursework moderation.
2. Teaching prep: keep minimal
3. Finish full draft of article (due end of January, and next week is busy).
4. Plan January birthdays: mother, son, nephew, brother (in date order).
5. Plan Easter travel.
Daisy
Dust of student thesis tasks and finish at least two major
bits
Exercise 4 times
Visiting speaker stuff
Meeting with co-author about paper plans
One section of new/old paper
Heu mihi
1. Preliminary review of research grant applications, even
though I now think the process is bizarre
2. Start whipping article into shape
3. Read 1/2 of book that I need to read for article
4. Edit and finalize syllabus
5. Journal catch-up
6. 35 pages of Italian novel
Susan
1. Fix references, spellings and formatting
2. Set up spreadsheet for illustrations
3. Start working on maps
4. Keep up with exercise: 3 days strength, 3 days walking or yoga
5. Keep doing morning prayer
6. Sleep, eating
7. Finish cleaning balcony
8. Make sure I do something nice at the weekend.
Contingent Cassandra
--Set up site to hold study leave project documents; create
tracking spreadsheet for documents; add at least one document to site.
--Finish & send email to local-organization leaders
--Answer long-neglected email (I’ll probably see the author at an event on
Saturday, so that’s an incentive)
--Figure out a relatively quick way to figure out whether fellowship
application makes sense (I think probably not, at least this year, but it might
be worth an hour or two’s investigation of the catalog of the relevant archive);
write application and solicit letter of support if so
--If time, check out institute possibilities and schedule application-writing
if relevant (this could wait for a week or two)
--Keep moving: lift weights 3x and walk and/or climb stairs regularly as
weather allows.
--Continue trying to figure out workable daily/weekly routines, starting with
establishing an end of day/bedtime routine.
-- Pack up & mail packages (mixture of returns & gifts for family
members I didn’t see over Christmas)
How I did:
ReplyDelete1. Coursework moderation. - YES
2. Teaching prep: keep minimal - MOST
3. Finish full draft of article (due end of January, and next week is busy). - NO (about 2/3 done)
4. Plan January birthdays: mother, son, nephew, brother (in date order). - YES, MOSTLY, YES, NOT YET
5. Plan Easter travel. - STARTED
As is always the way, I got a stomach upset mid-week that really threw me: I had two nights of very little sleep. And annoyingly, this coincided with the days I'd set aside to write. So the article isn't finished, though a fair amount is done. But this coming week is now going to be stressful!
This week:
1. Finish article and submit!
2. Finish teaching prep.
3. Read 4,000 words of student's dissertation by Friday.
4. Essential admin stuff.
5. Tax return: due Friday!
6. Book Easter travel
7. Son's birthday: bake cake, finish wrapping presents, celebrate!
Sorry about the stomach upset. I find that interferes with sleep, and and then work... (I had one last week too.)
DeleteStomach upsets are, indeed, distracting. And they seem to be going around right now (in fairly widely-distributed places in the Northern Hemisphere, so perhaps a function of winter weather and people being crowded together inside?). At least they (generally) pass quickly, but then the work planned for the period they hit does, include, remain).
DeleteLooks like you got a fair amount, including the sort of long-range planning that you'll be glad you did later, done, despite the stomach bug, so kudos on that.
Cake: I like baking, but don't generally turn to cake as a pick me up. In addition to the Mary Berry Lemon Drizzle (which is pretty straightforward, and the only changes I made to the recipe was to cut the sugar), there is a whiskey cake I make that depends mostly on store bought ingredients (cake mix, pudding mix) so is super simple and really tasty. I am best at cakes that don't require tricky decorations - I've done buche de noel for Christmas several times, but it always looks primitive. Much better is my mother's orange fruit cake, which always leaves people saying, "That's a fruit cake? It tastes good!"
ReplyDeleteHow I did last week:
1. Fix references, spellings and formatting Started
2. Set up spreadsheet for illustrations STARTED
3. Start working on maps YES (emailed person)
4. Keep up with exercise: 3 days strength, 3 days walking or yoga YES on strength, no on walking/yoga
5. Keep doing morning prayer YES
6. Sleep, eating SLEEP NOT SO MUCH, EATING GOOD
7. Finish cleaning balcony NO
8. Make sure I do something nice at the weekend. YES
Well, the manuscript is due on Feb 1 (so really Monday). I'm alternating things, and I think it will be fine but I'm clearly stressed in ways I hadn't realized. I had one night of a very upset stomach and little sleep, and then last night I couldn't get to sleep until after 3 AM. SIGH. I will be glad when this is done. On the other hand, I went to a concert of the local symphony (quite good) with Mozart's Jupiter, but also for the fire they played Barber's Adagio for Strings, which always makes me cry.
Goals for this week:
1. Do ALL THE THINGS, SUBMIT MANUSCRIPT
2. Keep up with some kind of exercise / healthy activities
3. Keep up with morning prayer
4. Clean the house
5. Do something nice at the weekend.
It is, indeed, frustrating when sleep gets harder just as you need it most. Sounds like you're making good progress, and nearly there. Best wishes for a successful finish, and something fun to celebrate.
DeleteThe orange fruit cake sounds good to me; I'm one of those people who actually like fruit cake as long as the candied fruit is good quality (and there are plenty of nuts and the batter is just enough to hold together the other ingredients). A rustic buche de noel sounds good, too (and seems appropriate, though I've also seen more elegant/intricate ones).
Good luck with the manuscript! Sending sympathy for the stress, and hoping you have something nice lined up to celebrate once it is in.
DeleteI hope the book is all done!
DeleteCake:
ReplyDeleteFirst choice would be something densely chocolate with a boozy element (maybe Cointreau or something along those lines, though rum-soaked cherries are good, too), though a friend’s lemon loaf would be a close runner-up, and I also like chocolate/mocha combinations, and really pretty much anything involving whipped cream and/or raspberries. In short, cake is generally a good thing, though I’ll generally go for ice cream or pie (preferably with ice or whipped cream) over basic sheet cake or cup cakes. I’m not a big fan of very sweet icing, either. I was a pretty good baker at one point, but haven't done much of that lately. Fortunately, there are some excellent local bakeries.
Goals for last week:
--Set up site to hold study leave project documents; create tracking spreadsheet for documents; add at least one document to site.
In progress; planning and implementing this is going to take longer than I planned (which is okay)
--Finish & send email to local-organization leaders
Yes. This also took longer than I planned, since the political/cultural/organizational context in which I’m implementing the project is considerably more fraught than the one in which I wrote the proposal 18 months ago (and feeling more fraught every day), but getting things down on paper/pixels was definitely helpful.
--Answer long-neglected email (I’ll probably see the author at an event on Saturday, so that’s an incentive)
Had a good conversation with the author; still need to actually answer the email, but I think this is mostly addressed/resolved.
--Figure out a relatively quick way to figure out whether fellowship application makes sense (I think probably not, at least this year, but it might be worth an hour or two’s investigation of the catalog of the relevant archive); write application and solicit letter of support if so
Decided my project is not at the right stage to apply; made a note to consider this again next year
--If time, check out institute possibilities and schedule application-writing if relevant (this could wait for a week or two)
The NEH Institute I was hoping would reappear this year didn’t, and I don’t see any others I really want to spend 2-3 weeks doing, so this is another reschedule.
--[Added because I forgot to include] Complete one conference proposal, begin work on putting together a panel for another conference
Yes
--Keep moving: lift weights 3x and walk and/or climb stairs regularly as weather allows.
Yes: weights 3x; some walking (not quite as much as I’d like, but some)
--Continue trying to figure out workable daily/weekly routines, starting with establishing an end of day/bedtime routine.
Definitely still a work in progress, but making progress
-- Pack up & mail packages (mixture of returns & gifts for family members I didn’t see over Christmas)
Also a work in progress.
Reflection: Figuring out the technical aspects of the study leave project is going to take some time, especially since the platform needs to be usable by others as well as myself, but I have time, so I’m trying to remind myself that, while I want to make steady progress, the timing *is* flexible, and some of the harder bits, involving work with which I’m less familiar, come at the beginning. (The rest includes going to local archives and/or retrieving documents online and working in various ways with what I find, for which I also need and want to allow plenty of time, but those are much more familiar activities – well, at least until I get to the point where I’m formatting information from the documents in ways that meet the submission criteria for a particular data repository – that’s going to be new, too.)
DeleteI am realizing/remembering that there are aspects of this study leave project that make it perhaps not the ideal project from the point of view of making it maximally rejuvenating for me. That would be a project that involved the archival aspects of this project, but included less techy stuff, less working/coordinating with other people, and more writing narrative/analytical prose of some sort based on what I find. But I was aware of that going in, and chose this version of/approach to the project for a variety of reasons, including that I think that it is worthwhile, and that, given the current criteria for study leave projects by non-tenure-track faculty, this version of the project had a better chance of being approved (and it was, though ironically the implementation of one curricular effort to which I was able to make a connection has since been postponed, and may be canceled entirely, so that’s another reason it’s a good thing I got the approval when I did). I fact, one of the things I said in the proposal is that the leave would allow time and energy for the people-contact/management aspects of the project, which are somewhat unpredictable. That argument was true.
So I’m going to need to think about how to manage those parts of the project, so I both get the parts of the project I think are most worthwhile done, *and* come out of the leave with the project at a point where it’s either finished or manageable going forward, and where I can find ways to build in time for follow-on projects that play more to my strengths and preferences.
That said, it’s still very nice to be figuring thinking through these issues rather than trying to revise my activities and assignments to (further) discourage students from using AI in appropriate ways, which seems to be what many of my colleagues are doing (and is what I’d be doing, too, based on experiences last semester).
Goals for the coming week:
--Finish reading documentation and exploring models for project site; make as much progress as possible on setting up site to hold study leave project documents; creating tracking spreadsheet for documents; and adding at least one document to site.
--Keep moving: lift weights 3x and walk and/or climb stairs regularly as weather allows.
--Continue trying to figure out workable daily/weekly routines, starting with establishing an end of day/bedtime routine.
--Take advantage of upcoming spell of warmer weather to complete some gardening tasks that got interrupted by cold snap
-- Continue work on packing up & mailing packages (mixture of returns & gifts for family members I didn’t see over Christmas)
Setting a project up is always more time-consuming that we imagine. But sounds like it's interesting figuring it all out.
DeleteI just love a good chocolate cake! I was going to add that I could really use one this week, but actually we have an almond cake (chocolate-flavored) in the fridge that my husband made, and I just had some for dessert, so I guess I'm all set.
ReplyDeleteStill, I'm quite stressed about this ongoing obnoxious situation with some grad students. I have no fewer than four meetings about it this week, and last Friday spent almost three hours in meetings with our ombudsperson about it. It's all very weird and anxiety producing. I was dealing with this last fall, too, but it has resurfaced and really needs to be addressed in as head-on a way as possible. Luckily my department chair will be joining me for the worst of the meetings!
Last week:
1. Preliminary review of research grant applications - YES
2. Start whipping article into shape - YES
3. Read 1/2 of book that I need to read for article - NO, about 1/3
4. Edit and finalize syllabus - YES
5. Journal catch-up - YES
6. 35 pages of Italian novel - YES
Classes start on Thursday, and what with all the terrible meetings, I'm not sure how well I'll do with anything else. But here's what I'd really like to accomplish:
1. Re-review grant applications and submit ratings
2. Read next 1/3 of book I need to read + 35 pages of Italian book
3. LOR for excellent grad student
4. Do one more inversion practice before the month ends!
5. Draft program newsletter
6. Get ready to teach again!
Plus there's just a lot, a LOT, of meeting prep. I need to be well armed for the one on Thursday.
So sorry about the meeting overload. And the situation with grad students. (I've been grad chair for two years, and had my share of them, so solidarity.) But it sounds like you had a very good week. I hope Thursday's meeting goes well, and there are ways to reduce the time and energy drain. Grad students are very vulnerable, but also often incredibly self-centered and thoughtless. It's a tricky mix. And a couple of students can have an outsize impact on the community.
DeleteI'm glad you have an almond cake!
Pretty much what Susan said (minus actually having been grad director). I hope the situation simmers down, and recommend applying almond cake as necessary post-meetings.
DeleteUgh, is that situation still ongoing? These things are such an energy and time waste. Solidarity, and hope you can draw a line under it fast.
DeleteAt least you have cake...
DeleteI think I've given my recipe for gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free chocolate cake in some previous iteration of this group, and I've also altered a King Arthur GF recipe to produce a lemon drizzle cake of sorts. I do a carrot cake when I want something that will pass for semi-healthy.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
- keep working on revisions to a chapter: YES
- do some scholarly reading: YES
- process at least 4 grad applications: NO
- finish syllabus: YES
- gym x4, swim x1, yoga x5: gym x5, yoga x5 (no swimming b/c wrist still not up to it)
- buy more marmelade*: YES
ALSO: baked cookies, got car washed, had another abstract for a conference accepted, prepped and turned in all my annual review documents (didn't realize they were late, oops).
New goals:
- keep working on revisions to a chapter
- do some scholarly reading
- process at least 4 grad applications
- write and post assignments, post links or files for reading
- gym x4, swim x1, yoga x5
- talk to someone about the expectations for the Revised Thing
Two significant admin people have been waving before me the Thing of which I complained last week. While it is possible that They Do Not Know Me At All (since I absolutely do not bring my whole self to work), I suppose it is also possible that they think I am already doing enough of the duties associated with the Revised Thing that it wouldn't be so much of an imposition as I initially considered it. Clarification seems warranted, though I still don't want to be dragooned into things I really don't want to do, even with the associated honor/title (I might prefer to walk rather than ride this particular rail). But asking questions shouldn't hurt.
It's always good to ask questions. And now I want carrot cake. (One of the ways my brother sometimes suggests that I am not a member of our family is that I choose carrot cake for my birthday over chocolate cake. Everyone else is on team chocolate.)
DeleteSeems like a lot done. I agree that asking questions doesn't hurt. If the answer is still no, at least it will be a considered no.
DeleteCake! I love the recipe book “Snacking cakes” by Yossi Arefi, they are all scaled for single layer cakes so not too big, and they are all designed to be made in one bowl, so easy. The spice cake is definitely the highlight, but I have tried about 15 of the 50 recipes and all have been good so far, also has lots of suggestions for variations depending on what one has sitting around in the pantry.
ReplyDeleteLast week’s goals
Dust off student thesis tasks and finish at least two major bits DUSTED, FINISHED ONE THING
Exercise 4 times TWICE
Visiting speaker stuff DONE
Meeting with co-author about paper plans DONE
One section of new/old paper HAHAHAHA NOPE
ADDED: review I forgot about… DONE
ADDED: massive admin task on academic programming front DONE
Good week for getting rid of things from the list… But they got replaced by new things...So, normal. I am really struggling with one of my classes. Everything is exponentially slower than previous years, all the assignments are taking students twice as long as usual, and they seem to be struggling with the simplest things. I have to make some fairly major adjustments if I’m going to drag them all through it, so that will be a job for this week. There’s still time to turn things around, but I am genuinely puzzled about the struggles. It is not just my class, the same group is in a class I co-teach and all the labs so far have taken them insanely long…
This week’s goals
Two long-ish writing sessions with no other activity (booked them on calendar)
Exercise 4 times
URGENT Student thesis stuff
Major admin task
Conference prep with students
Class adjustments
URGENT 2 grant applications
Sorry about the teaching struggles. I keep hearing similar stories from others...
DeleteI'm late. I'm worn down from marking, and commuting, and the start of the new teaching trimester before the marking is done.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my aunt died last week (as I said, this was inevitable, and it went about as well as these things can - she spent her last few weeks in a very comfortable and loving nursing home stting which took a lot of strain off my uncle and meant they had good time together. But it's still sad. And my poor uncle was diagnosed with the early stages of pulmonary fibrosis last week as well, which is what she died of. Which is just so unfair).
LAST WEEK'S GOALS
1) SELF-CARE (recovery and self-kindness)
* habits: something creative, D&D, read a novel, intentional movement 15 minutes x 3 days, a social thing (a long thank you/catching up letter to an old friend) ish, yes, finished the crusades book, yes, no
* Specific things - make sure I eat at least 5 portions of at least three types of fruit/veg a day and don't dive into the bread-and-butter-and-biscuits beige comfort food pit too deeply yes, er... probably not
2) HOUSE-LIFE CARE
* 75% or more of the weekly minimal chores, tidy up the upstairs landing no
3) TEACHING AND ADMIN
* marking - all on time third year essays, all extension-having second year essays, first year labs, first year essay one.yes, yes, yes, no
* go through coming semester and make teaching preparation plan ish
* stay in my lane! mostly
* prepare all of next week's teaching and the ViLE for shared module mostly. I wasn't able to prep my group tutorials because I was waiting for the trimester's schedule from the coordinator (who used to be me, so this was a big battle-to-stay-in-lane moment)
* stretch goal: go through full draft for MRes student and comment lightly.no
4) RESEARCH
* add accepted chapter to university tracking system yes
* postpone everything else to future weeks yes
THIS WEEK even though it's nearly over...
1) SELF-CARE (recovery and self-kindness)
* habits: something creative, D&D, read a novel plus three chapters of crusades book, intentional movement 15 minutes x 3 days, a social thing (a long thank you/catching up letter to an old friend)
* Specific things - make sure I eat at least 5 portions of at least three types of fruit/veg a day and don't dive into the bread-and-butter-and-biscuits beige comfort food pit too deeply
2) HOUSE-LIFE CARE
* 75% or more of the weekly minimal chores, tidy up the upstairs landing
* write and send an appropriate condolence card/letter to Uncle (I find these things HARD)
3) TEACHING AND ADMIN
* marking - first year essay one, first year essay two, all the "had an extenstion" third year essays, moderation and spreadsheet admin stuff.
* prepare classes for next week and do ViLE stuff
* stay in my lane!
* go through full draft for MRes student and comment lightly.
4) RESEARCH
* final final proofs of accepted chapter
* prepare for project meeting
* read/comment on latest version of the paper that never, ever ends
* try to be positive and productive when meeting new research student (whose start was postponed due to the (still not fully resolved) job uncertainty within the School).
I'm sorry to hear about your aunt, and about your uncle's diagnosis. That's all very sad, and even when expected, a death leaves a big hole in the lives of the survivors. It sounds like you did all the really essential things, and I congratulate you on the staying-in-your-lane achievements.
DeleteSo sorry about your loss and family health trouble. It is always hard, expected or not. Hope you get the space to take care of yourself and take things as easy as you have to.
DeleteI'm so sorry, JaneB. That's a lot.
DeleteSo sorry for your loss, and your uncle's trouble. Hope you have time to focus on yourself these coming weeks.
DeleteVery sorry to hear about both your aunt and your uncle. That is, indeed, a lot.
Delete