End of semester, end of session, end of year... we made it! Thank you everyone for being here and sharing the journey!
No stationary prompt this week, bit I thought I'd share a pic of my "chair of chaos" 3-D cardboard advent calendar (image grabbed from internet but you get the general idea). You start with an empty chair and add all the pieces as the month goes on. The black cat bottom right is clearly Shoutypants.
And here are a couple of final pictures of the boy himself:
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Laser toy victory! Stairway judgement |
LAST WEEK'S GOALS
Daisy
Make tables and supplementary figures for paper
Read more grad student chapters
Get data for students done
Finicky sample processing
Exams in two courses
Final grades for all courses
One more music thing
Dame Eleanor Hull
- swim x3, cardio x3, weights x2, yoga x5
- at least 4 writing sessions
- locate and contact possible reviewers
- campus day in the b00k l@b
- dentist appointment
- massage
- update CV, fill in one other form for annual review
- prep & mail cards/small presents for great-nibs
heu mihi
1. Finish reading that book
2. Get organized for new service task that just dropped into my lap because my colleague who was going to take it on to cover for my other colleague on medical leave agreed to do it, then said she would like some kind of token payment, then, dissatisfied with the token payment she was offered, decided that she "couldn't do it on those terms," which means that I had to take it over for free. Well, joke's on her: When my chair heard this, he, being deeply annoyed, decided to pay me the amount that she wanted but didn't get. Of course, I'll *never* tell her or anyone else in the department that, because I can guarantee that the story would get twisted!
3. Finish Christmas shopping
4. Do some house-cleaning
5. Start knitting sweater for friend's baby while waiting for that last skein of yarn
6. Catch up on journal work
JaneB
SELF-CARE:
a) intentional movement for at least 15 minutes three days
b) send last Christmas package
c) write letter to friend who sent me a letter with my birthday card (early November)
d) making a couple of times a week
e) two gently social things (D&D hopefully)
f) keep up reading for pleasure
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT
a) 75%+ of the weekly list of chores
b) make a plan for the shelving in the living room
c) don't make clothes worse
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) mark first year assignment
b) NO teaching and admin after I end work on Thursday!
RESEARCH
a) read revised manuscript from last autumn's visiting post-doc.
b) work on outline grant text (edit background section, meeting with collaborators this week)
c) work on modelling - make notes for a zero draft of the paper (so we can write as we go)
d) read and comment on paper from not-my-grad-student
Julie
1. Finish revisions and resubmit.
2. Tidy desk and organise papers (parking on downhill slope and can listen to podcasts at same time).
3. Christmas: buy and wrap remaining presents, post cards, make mince pies, organise everything for going away.
4. Self-care/fun: exercise, walk to local ruined priory if we have a nice day, lunch in favourite cafe, make soup, pizza and Christmas film night with kids, keep reading, journal.
Susan
1. Finish last three expenses
2. Wrap and ship presents
3. Finish Christmas letter
4. First read of proofs (backward)
5. Deal with changes in TA assignments because of budget cuts
6. Keep up with exercise and healthy eating
7. Do something nice
8. Sleep
SESSION GOALS:
Daisy
Turn two half-done papers into submitted papers
Figure out exercise routine
Try new teaching things with favourite courses
Shepherd four research students through their work
Figure out exercise routine
Try new teaching things with favourite courses
Shepherd four research students through their work
Dame Eleanor Hull
- keep up with morning exercise
- finish chapter for volume of collected essays
- write abstracts for three conferences next year (shoot me now)
- process student work in timely manner
- find readers for essays, do other editorial work
- deliver various not-museum-studies workshops (about half a dozen planned at present)
- try to do a couple of things on my Life Stuff list
- finish chapter for volume of collected essays
- write abstracts for three conferences next year (shoot me now)
- process student work in timely manner
- find readers for essays, do other editorial work
- deliver various not-museum-studies workshops (about half a dozen planned at present)
- try to do a couple of things on my Life Stuff list
heu mihi
1. Finish proofs and index for forthcoming book (has to get done, but I'm putting it here anyway)
2. Rough plan for Companion essay; research for essay; get ready-ish to draft in January
3. Teach my tiny class as well as I can (it's a required course for our major, but for weird demographic reasons I only have 3 students!)
4. Keep the administrative balls in the air; work on improving departmental climate/cultures
5. Get plenty of exercise, plenty of rest, and plenty of time for quiet contemplation
6. Think ahead to a creative project for the future
7. Finish my current Italian novel
JaneB
SELF-CARE: I struggle with this, so putting in some process goals -
a) intentional movement for at least 15 minutes three days a week (this can be stretching or more active exercising, but it needs to be intentional and additional to just "doing life"),
b) doing some kind of making (art or craft) a couple of times a week,
c) doing something gently social (playing D&D online counts, or a multi-text exchange with a non-work friend - living alone makes hermitting easy when life gets stressful and work uses up most/all/more than all of my interaction-tokens for the day) a couple times a week
d) keep up reading for pleasure - I seem to have my mojo back, and its definitely a Good Thing
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT
Another thing which tends to go astray in busy/stressful times. And this is my heavy semester of teaching (plus the new stuff).
a) keep doing the weekly list of chores - aiming for 75% done every week to be realistic.
b) sort out new shelving in my living space - and maybe a sofa
c) clothes storage solutions (currently all my actually-in-the-rotation clothes are either in the laundry basket, on the airer, or piled on a chair or in the clean undies basket. This is not ideal).
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
Basic goal is to deliver every class as timetabled and grading on time - this is my heavy trimester, and I'm still having various burn-out-related health issues, so I don't feel like this is entirely a guarantee. Also dealing with some ISSUES with teaching team colleagues - the changes left us with several not-exactly-competent colleagues and the smaller staff numbers push me into interacting with them more often ::grumble:: But I'ma set some goals anyway. I only have familiar admin roles so nothing new there, and whilst there's a lot of reacting to smaller changes from the Centre, I don't have any big projects in mind. So only two goals for this session:
a) end each work week (Thursday) with everything set up ready to go for the following week and, if possible, have a solid start on the week after that.
b) limit working on teaching and admin issues over the weekend (let's say no more than 5 hours) and if possible ZERO
RESEARCH
I have a lot of balls in the air at the moment. I'm not sure how I feel about most of them.
a) submit multi-author paper (due 15 October) & hopefully get through to acceptance this session.
b) be on top of contributions to large project where I have a small part
c) make measurable progress with at least three other writing/data processing projects (I'll make a list now of what I'm working on)
a) intentional movement for at least 15 minutes three days a week (this can be stretching or more active exercising, but it needs to be intentional and additional to just "doing life"),
b) doing some kind of making (art or craft) a couple of times a week,
c) doing something gently social (playing D&D online counts, or a multi-text exchange with a non-work friend - living alone makes hermitting easy when life gets stressful and work uses up most/all/more than all of my interaction-tokens for the day) a couple times a week
d) keep up reading for pleasure - I seem to have my mojo back, and its definitely a Good Thing
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT
Another thing which tends to go astray in busy/stressful times. And this is my heavy semester of teaching (plus the new stuff).
a) keep doing the weekly list of chores - aiming for 75% done every week to be realistic.
b) sort out new shelving in my living space - and maybe a sofa
c) clothes storage solutions (currently all my actually-in-the-rotation clothes are either in the laundry basket, on the airer, or piled on a chair or in the clean undies basket. This is not ideal).
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
Basic goal is to deliver every class as timetabled and grading on time - this is my heavy trimester, and I'm still having various burn-out-related health issues, so I don't feel like this is entirely a guarantee. Also dealing with some ISSUES with teaching team colleagues - the changes left us with several not-exactly-competent colleagues and the smaller staff numbers push me into interacting with them more often ::grumble:: But I'ma set some goals anyway. I only have familiar admin roles so nothing new there, and whilst there's a lot of reacting to smaller changes from the Centre, I don't have any big projects in mind. So only two goals for this session:
a) end each work week (Thursday) with everything set up ready to go for the following week and, if possible, have a solid start on the week after that.
b) limit working on teaching and admin issues over the weekend (let's say no more than 5 hours) and if possible ZERO
RESEARCH
I have a lot of balls in the air at the moment. I'm not sure how I feel about most of them.
a) submit multi-author paper (due 15 October) & hopefully get through to acceptance this session.
b) be on top of contributions to large project where I have a small part
c) make measurable progress with at least three other writing/data processing projects (I'll make a list now of what I'm working on)
Julie
1. Research
I am on research leave this academic year, so this should allow TLQ stuff to take priority more.
(a) Write chapters for two different edited volumes (one I have a rough draft of, the other is in the outline stage, both need reading I can't easily do here).
(b) Research trip for two weeks: use archive and library time well.
(c) Revisions to journal article when these come back in (should be this session).
(d) Work on article for Big Journal
(e) Book review (due 30th October)
(f) Follow-up conversations from workshop last June.
Teaching/Admin
1. See PhD student through viva and hopefully minor corrections.
2. Two PhD vivas (one internal, one external).
3. Keep up with mentees.
4. Plan for conference next year (last year on the committee, but it's a big centenary conference, so probably more work than usual).
Kids:
1. Steer daughter through university application process.
2. Help son with school work (this is going to be a lot of Latin)
3. Be general taxi driver, sports cheerleader, handy target for emotional teen outbursts, breathing ATM.
House/life admin:
1. Big project: clear piano and old cupboards from dining area, get new bookcase.
2. Medium project: get garden shed built.
3. Small projects: aim for one a fortnight.
4. Travel plans for next year (two significant birthdays to celebrate)
Self-care/fun stuff:
1. Reading for pleasure
2. Keep up with journaling.
3. Exercise: running, pilates, walks, maybe start some weights.
4. Buy a standing desk (for back problems).
5. Do more creative stuff.
6. See friends as much as possible.
Susan
Research:
1. Any follow up on Famous Author, or Big Collaboration
2. Get microfilms on Interlibrary Loan and scan them so I can read them on my computer; start reading them
3. Write 2 papers that I have accepted for conferences this fall
Administrivia:
1. Keep up with whatever needs to be done for the graduate program
2. The Systemwide committee I chair is at the sharp end of a major proposal from our regents that is NOT GOOD, so between now and November 10 I will be running a workgroup to have the faculty response to the whackadoodle proposal. It will be insane.
Life:
1. Keep up with exercise, 5-6 days a week (bike, yoga, weights). I've started working with a trainer on weights every few weeks, and that keeps me going. But it's a good way to deal with stress, of which there is a bit.
2. Do something fun with people every week. Like JaneB, I can become something of a hermit, especially until it cools down here and I want to spend time outside.
3. I am planning to move when I retire, so I am starting now on the de-cluttering process. By the end of this session, I want to have got rid of the teaching books I will not need, and reduced my book collection by about a third to a half. I also want to have dealt with the boxes of stuff in my extra room. And cleared the garage a bit.
