First, what should happen next with the TLQ group? Is anyone interested in taking a lead for the next session, when should it start/run until, all that sort of thing. Following our discussion of The Slow Professor over at EE's place, the importance of groups like this are very clear - they create spaces for true collegiality, for caring, companionship, and support as we strive to do things that matter and (sometimes, at least) can feel in conflict with the demands of our increasingly corporate employers. The book makes such things sound pleasingly rebellious; let's keep up our momentum!
Second, given how comparatively short the remaining time is, let's talk about a planned transition into 'semester patterns' - what things can be finished with one more push? How can we "park our work on a downhill slope" (thanks to whoever originally came up with that analogy) to be picked up in the (small) spaces of the semester? What things have to be pruned, or parked longer term - are there things we can just decide we're not going to get to, or postpone until next vacation or next summer? How can we make re-entry less painful and difficult? (I, for example, have got to start tapering off the napping all afternoon, messing around with craft stuff and the internet into the wee hours habit - or I'll get horrible semester jet-lag...)
Last week's goals:
allan wilson
1. Exercise daily
2. Finish revisions on paper 2
3. Write letter to the editor
4. Listen to lots of music - I need de-stressing this week.
2. Finish revisions on paper 2
3. Write letter to the editor
4. Listen to lots of music - I need de-stressing this week.
Contingent
Cassandra (two week goals: for 8/19)
1. Finish grant-project reviews;
coordinate grant project as necessary; get my individual contributions as close
to finished as possible before break (and finish after break)
2. Some friends/family contact (before and after break)
3. Do the most necessary early class prep before break (welcome/warning letters to student in classes with an onlne component -- which is all of them, actually)
4. Some household stuff (mostly take a load to storage)
5. Take a break (working in a bit of exercise if possible, and trying to get/keep on a regular sleep schedule and eat reasonably well, but focus mostly on unplugging and leisure reading)
2. Some friends/family contact (before and after break)
3. Do the most necessary early class prep before break (welcome/warning letters to student in classes with an onlne component -- which is all of them, actually)
4. Some household stuff (mostly take a load to storage)
5. Take a break (working in a bit of exercise if possible, and trying to get/keep on a regular sleep schedule and eat reasonably well, but focus mostly on unplugging and leisure reading)
Daisy: in
the field
Dame Eleanor
Hull
1. Check ingredients, talk to people as
necessary, be careful about food.
2. Finish and submit syllabi.
3. Make arrangements with family members.
4. Finish conference paper, including printing it out; make sure to have backups of it and powerpoint in various places (Dropbox, extra flash drive).
5. Trip prep including packing, bills, knowledge of itinerary, leaving the house/study/closet in good shape for re-entry (which is going to be its own brand of crazy).
6. Tell chair of dept what I have done with my sabbatical and give reminder that I will not be present for pre-term faculty meeting (and why not).
7. Other work: a set of proofs, MMP-1 footnotes, reading for the other revisions.
8. Reading through this, I can see I need to do something to ease the pressured feeling. Find something fun to read; plan ways to escape family, if necessary; spend time outside.
2. Finish and submit syllabi.
3. Make arrangements with family members.
4. Finish conference paper, including printing it out; make sure to have backups of it and powerpoint in various places (Dropbox, extra flash drive).
5. Trip prep including packing, bills, knowledge of itinerary, leaving the house/study/closet in good shape for re-entry (which is going to be its own brand of crazy).
6. Tell chair of dept what I have done with my sabbatical and give reminder that I will not be present for pre-term faculty meeting (and why not).
7. Other work: a set of proofs, MMP-1 footnotes, reading for the other revisions.
8. Reading through this, I can see I need to do something to ease the pressured feeling. Find something fun to read; plan ways to escape family, if necessary; spend time outside.
Earnest
English
1. SFP/writing: Try to write 1 time this
week. Try to figure out what's going on here (besides really just feeling like
I'm on vacation).
2. Gardening: Plant blueberries and elderberries.
3. Work: Work on service task.
4. LittleProject: no goals
5. Yoga/tai chi/meditate one time this week.
6. Read: decide on new book to read.
2. Gardening: Plant blueberries and elderberries.
3. Work: Work on service task.
4. LittleProject: no goals
5. Yoga/tai chi/meditate one time this week.
6. Read: decide on new book to read.
Elizabeth
Anne Mitchell
Add to the Slow Professor discussion.
Write 5 out of 7 days on Pierpont.
Finalize drafts on gratitude.
Walk at the dog park, instead of sitting and watching.
Write 5 out of 7 days on Pierpont.
Finalize drafts on gratitude.
Walk at the dog park, instead of sitting and watching.
Good Enough
Woman
1) Reading packet and articles printed
and submitted to reprographics by Monday.
2) At least two syllabi finished by Wednesday, the third one by Thursday.
3) Stop reading and start writing by Wednesday, if not before. Have a complete but rough revision of chapter four by Sunday.
4) Do at least one work night.
5) Pay bills.
6) Do a movie outing with the kids.
2) At least two syllabi finished by Wednesday, the third one by Thursday.
3) Stop reading and start writing by Wednesday, if not before. Have a complete but rough revision of chapter four by Sunday.
4) Do at least one work night.
5) Pay bills.
6) Do a movie outing with the kids.
heu mihi
1. Finish teaching book
2. Read next teaching book (as much as I can--it's long)
3. Read 3 essays for ch. 3
4. Finish run-through of ch. 3
5. Meditate 3 times, run twice
6. Select, arrange, and print anniversary pictures
2. Read next teaching book (as much as I can--it's long)
3. Read 3 essays for ch. 3
4. Finish run-through of ch. 3
5. Meditate 3 times, run twice
6. Select, arrange, and print anniversary pictures
humming42
Really, just make as much project as
possible on that book manuscript.
JaneB
1) do some decluttering and cleaning
tasks every day
2) do one fun thing (read, craft, whatever) every day
3) do one useful/active thing every day (go into town, go to the gym, whatever).
4) nap as much as I like, as long as I go to bed by midnight regardless!
5) morning pages (freewriting is a Good Thing).
2) do one fun thing (read, craft, whatever) every day
3) do one useful/active thing every day (go into town, go to the gym, whatever).
4) nap as much as I like, as long as I go to bed by midnight regardless!
5) morning pages (freewriting is a Good Thing).
Karen
-survive simultaneous deadlines; set task list each evening for the next
day and hold those priorities
- breath, move like water
- use some of the extra time from only having to look after myself to actually look after myself - stretching/exercise, some minor therapeutic decluttering.
- breath, move like water
- use some of the extra time from only having to look after myself to actually look after myself - stretching/exercise, some minor therapeutic decluttering.
KJHaxton
1. Finish poster and draft of manuscript
2. work out a coherent plan of what will be done and when between now and Christmas
3. hand crafted items...perhaps work more on the new blanket.
2. work out a coherent plan of what will be done and when between now and Christmas
3. hand crafted items...perhaps work more on the new blanket.
Matilda (carried over)
1) Work on the review article I had put off for a long time.
2) Continue to work on Chapter 2.
3) 5 minute exercise more than three times a day.
Susan
1. Format footnotes. (Less niggly than
the bibliography, as I've done a complete bib, and the footnotes are all short
form.)
2. Draft syllabus
3. Draft comments for conference in 10 days
4. Read all materials for tenure review
5. Write letter for former colleague
2. Draft syllabus
3. Draft comments for conference in 10 days
4. Read all materials for tenure review
5. Write letter for former colleague
Waffles
1. Get body paper revised
2. do three lit reviews done for mentor
3. get analyses done for report
4. work on religion paper
5. start thinking about next 4 (ugh) grant applications
2. do three lit reviews done for mentor
3. get analyses done for report
4. work on religion paper
5. start thinking about next 4 (ugh) grant applications
Hello! I had a nice week, but didn't meet any of my goals. Oh well! Sometimes doing very little is actually good for you... and for your brain. At least, I'm telling myself that...
ReplyDeleteI'll wait & see if we have any volunteers for the next iteration of TLQ...
On transitioning - I feel like I only just started summer, which in many ways I did, with the last committee meeting for the 15-16 academic year being 25th July! Although there are seven weeks until we officially start back, those weeks are steadily filling up - I'm travelling for three of them (conference/research visits/a bit of social life), and the rest is getting cluttered. NEXT year (I say this every year) I've GOT to be firmer about booking a nice long block of research time - not time off, necessarily, but time away from anything other than The Work.
I did a little bit of everything on my list, but didn't meet any of the goals. Never mind!
This coming week, I have a day-trip to CrowdedCapital, various appointments and things, and need to catch up with people about all sorts of Stuff. It's going to be bitty! So here are some TLQ goals for the week:
1) to be deliberate in what I do and say, and in the choices I make (The Slow Professor says that's a mark of a resilient academic, and key words I'd use to describe what unbalanced, stressful days feel like include rushed, pressured, reactive, firefighting. So let's try and have the theme of the week be the opposite of that...).
2) to do one thing-that-is-good-for-me and screen and words free every day - go to the gym or do some decluttering or do some crafting
3) do 5 hours of peripheral writing related to research - e.g. commenting on a draft I'm a co-author on, free writing, planning for work
Your plans for this coming week remind me of how when we're on summer break, I feel like I'm working a full time job that I really enjoy (research, supervising student projects, a little bit of admin, course planning) and then shake my head knowing I have a whole other job that I have to return to soon. How can this be?!
DeleteI also really appreciate the deliberate ways that you mindfully describe how you want things to be. I have to think that declarations like that get you halfway to living the way(s) you want to. Thinking in advance about how you want it to be gives you such an advantage in making it happen that way.
Classes start tomorrow, and I am trying to figure out how to stay focused on the thesis and do a good job with teaching while spending as little time on teaching as possible. I really cannot believe I will be in class tomorrow. My head is definitely not "in the game." Perhaps that's a good thing? Maybe that means I can keep my mind on the thesis for a few more weeks. My goal for transitioning is to have two nights per week focused on thesis work along with at least one full day of each weekend. I will also take at least two weekends away from home between now and the time of submission. I think I will also need to make sure I'm doing editing and proofreading in those little bits of time. This last thing is probably especially important.
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:
1) Reading packet and articles printed and submitted to reprographics by Monday.--DONE.
2) At least two syllabi finished by Wednesday, the third one by Thursday.--NOT DONE. But they are almost done now and will be finished before class, and that's enough.
3) Stop reading and start writing by Wednesday, if not before. Have a complete but rough revision of chapter four by Sunday. -- HA! NOT DONE. I started writing on Saturday. I am making progress, but I have lots of drafting to do still.
4) Do at least one work night. DONE.
5) Pay bills. NOT DONE.
6) Do a movie outing with the kids. DONE.
This week's goals: (I have a mix of time-based goals and outcome goals)
1) Spend at least 30 minutes per day on editing (footnotes, bibliography, or the switch from North American to British punctuation and spelling: curses on these differences!)
2) Work late Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
3) Finish draft of Chapter 4.
4) Do "final" revisions and editing for Chapter 1 (so I'll have something complete under my belt).
5) Help daughter prepare for Saturday's craft faire at the library.
6) Complete registration paperwork for kids by Monday night.
7) Make sure kids are ready for school in a week!
8) Be present in the classroom for my students, but do the bare minimum when I'm not in the classroom.
I don't know how you feel about this, but I find sometimes that telling my students about my deadlines and projects has had incredible consequences. Not only are students willing to tolerate a bit of late grading and disorganization, some have actually been openly supportive in cheering me on.
DeleteI have a childhood friend with whom I shared all of the adventures of the tenure process, and she would often say that she had no idea how much work her professors had to do. And that understanding what academic life really looks like was pretty surprising. So, something to consider.
We're trying to overtly include some 'what do your lecturers do all day' and 'how is university not like school' activities in our new first year programme this year... we hope it might improve their empathy levels a bit and make students a little less critical of things like "slow" feedback...
DeleteThat's excellent. Please let me know if you see any feedback of note from students.
Deletehumming42, I think I probably will explain things to the student in week two or three of class. I don't to start the class off by suggesting I want to blow them off (which, temporarily, I do), so I'm hoping I can let them feel secure with the direction of our class, and then let them know that for a couple of weeks, I will be a minimalist instructor. I will also probably tell them about my project (in brief).
DeleteJaneB, I think that's a great idea!
I recall there was some interest in hosting for the next incarnation, so we’ll see what comes up. I am so very grateful for the presence (and compassion and kindness) of this group.
ReplyDeleteTransitioning back to the semester is weird for me: the manuscript is due on the third day of classes, so it’s juggling plates for the rest of the month. I have planned a weekend getaway at the end of the second week of classes, so I hope to have that time to get some clarity and see how things might take shape for the rest of the semester.
Week ahead:
I have set daily deadlines, so the RBP goals for the coming week are to get through to the end of Chapter 3 and have the first three chapters ready to submit. That will be more than halfway done. There is a TRQ abstract that I will finish tonight, so I won’t officially include that for the week ahead.
I found the router and my hosts still have the same password as is on it, so hello internet access. Greetings to all you TLQers! I've even visited a fast-running rocky western creek, so that was lovely.
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:
1. Check ingredients, talk to people as necessary, be careful about food. YES
2. Finish and submit syllabi. NO
3. Make arrangements with family members. YES
4. Finish conference paper, including printing it out; make sure to have backups of it and powerpoint in various places (Dropbox, extra flash drive). NO (as in, I am still writing this paper)
5. Trip prep including packing, bills, knowledge of itinerary, leaving the house/study/closet in good shape for re-entry (which is going to be its own brand of crazy). YES
6. Tell chair of dept what I have done with my sabbatical and give reminder that I will not be present for pre-term faculty meeting (and why not). YES
7. Other work: a set of proofs, MMP-1 footnotes, reading for the other revisions. HA HA HA NOPE NOPE NOPE
8. Reading through this, I can see I need to do something to ease the pressured feeling. Find something fun to read; plan ways to escape family, if necessary; spend time outside. YES: rather more of this than necessary; the people I might wish to escape have not been the ones I anticipated strategies for, so really, why bother to plan? I suppose because having some sort of plan relieves anxiety and encourages mental agility with excuses/boundaries/conversational strategies.
Coming week:
1. Finish paper and don't make an ass of myself at the conference.
2. Finish the syllabi (in Tom's Midnight Garden, maybe; some mythical 25th hour of the day, anyway).
3. Spend time with family, spend time outside.
4. Keep being careful about food and telling servers what I need.
Parking, well, I wish. I feel more like I'm going to have a full-speed crash into the semester. The good news is that my sabbatical report isn't due till mid-September, so I can cheat a little and keep trying to finish things off before the semester beats me down. I do have fewer students than usual, so that will help if I don't start trying to be super-professor because of having smaller classes!
I want the 25th hour of the day.
DeleteMe too, and I'll use it for sleep... :-)
DeleteNext iteration: looking at my semester master plan, November is going to get very snarly with stuff and I'll probably struggle to get through it. I'd be happy to volunteer for an after Christmas iteration but wouldn't do a good job of it before Christmas.
ReplyDeleteTopic: timely given the potential snarls in November. I've been in semester prep mode for a week or so despite it being a good 6 weeks off still: I want to have more time during semester to do TLQ stuff which means doing less of it right now. I'm also trying to learn some better habits, thanks in part to the Slow Professor and to some other stuff. One key habit is that I'd rather take more time over things rather than allocating an intensive but short period of time to getting something churned out. I'd like to feel like I'm doing stuff properly. The flip side is losing the thread of the work when I go too long between actively working on it.
Last week
1. Finish poster and draft of manuscript
- poster is done, no work on the draft
2. work out a coherent plan of what will be done and when between now and Christmas
- partly, and I rather wish I hadn't! I know what I'm doing and when for meetings and timetables, but I haven't quite sorted out the final bits.
3. hand crafted items...perhaps work more on the new blanket.
- worked on the blanket, and also made my first silk screen print in about 20 years. That was a whole lot of fun.
This week:
1. dig out research tool for scary project, make alterations, seek ethical extension if appropriate and get it ready to go.
2. try and clean the silk screen, prep and make a new run of prints (I have so many ideas brewing)
3. get sufficiently through semester prep without making my office messy.
In terms of what needs to shift this semester - I think I can’t get away with 2 work-at-home days anymore, so after this week, I will have to shift to at least 4 days-a-week on campus. I think this will actually be good for me because I feel like my hyperfocus on this postdoc has made my world shrink so much, and I am not emotionally buffered right now. While I was working on my dissertation, I had a full-time job working for someone really horrible. But because I had my diss and all of that support, I was really well buffered. I had a lot going on and a lot of different people in my life, and things to look forward to. But now, I have a very small sphere - and my closest friend is now a colleague, so I don’t even have her as an outside person. So, if I spend one day a week at my secondary workspace on campus, that could help (although, unfortunately, that workspace is pretty isolated, which is why I don’t work there much - being in that actual space won’t help me connect to the broader collegial network). I’m also going to a half day conference in town this week, and my mentor wants me to “network.” I’m going to have to do some searching for tips on networking while introverted (I’m really good in small group settings, but stuff like this makes me anxious).
ReplyDeleteSo, goals.
1. Get body paper revised - did a valiant effort, but I’ve been brought in as a last minute “fixer” and it is in worse shape than we had thought, so it is taking longer than I had planned.
2. do three lit reviews done for mentor - One of these is done, one has been done for a while, and I can’t remember what the third one is.
3. get analyses done for report - NOT DONE - will need to do by tomorrow mid-morning, I think.
4. work on religion paper - Been avoiding this one a bit, but it has to get done this am.
5. start thinking about next 4 (ugh) grant applications - thought about it, and that’s about it.
Goals for this week:
1. Finish body paper
2. Finish religiosity paper
3. Finish report
4. Get back to relat paper.
Thinking ahead.... I need to have some very concrete plans for research, I think. To that end, I hope to plan (either this week or two weeks from now--I have a vacation in the middle) the essay that I need to write for a collection before classes start on 9/6. I also want to reacquaint myself with the chapter that I wrote earlier this summer so that I can have a clear sense of what needs to be done in it.
ReplyDeleteI also want to plan my weeks out very carefully; this was really helpful last year, when I did it. I need to keep control of what parts of what days may be used for meetings, rather than letting those just fill up whatever available space is convenient for everybody else.
Last week's goals:
1. Finish teaching book
Done
2. Read next teaching book (as much as I can--it's long)
Not done, but I'm reasonably close.
3. Read 3 essays for ch. 3
Done
4. Finish run-through of ch. 3
Done
5. Meditate 3 times, run twice
Done
6. Select, arrange, and print anniversary pictures
Done
I did better than I thought last week!
This week's impossible goals:
1. Finish teaching book
2. Select readings from next teaching book
3. Run three times (health permitting--I feel like I'm getting a cold), meditate three times
4. Read 3 essays
5. Read two chapters of someone's dissertation
6. Write a conclusion to ch. 3
7. Reread ch. 5
8. Plan KJ essay
This list is absurd, especially since I didn't do anything work-related today (it was our anniversary, and we went for lunch out and a prowl through the cool neighboring town). Oh well; I'll do what I can, and the rest will wait.
Topics: I'm willing to host or co-host for the fall. I think I can manage it, though I'd love to work with someone.
ReplyDeleteTransition to the semester: I've been thinking of this as I try to clear the decks for the summer, given that last niggly details have taken more time than I expected. But I take on a major job in governance on campus, so there will be lots of demands on my time. I'm going to try to keep at least one day at home, but. . and I have a new course, though one close to my research, so while there is lots of work (and I've assigned a bunch of books I've never read) it will be connecting me to my thinking about THE WORK.
Last weeks goals:
1. Format footnotes. (Less niggly than the bibliography, as I've done a complete bib, and the footnotes are all short form.) ALMOST.
2. Draft syllabus VERY ROUGH.
3. Draft comments for conference in 10 days. STARTED: I have an idea, and half of what I need to say. Tomorrow morning . . .
4. Read all materials for tenure review DONE/ LETTER DRAFTED
5. Write letter for former colleague DONE
Notes: well, I had a day of meetings, so that took time, and I have to figure out how not to let email take over my life again. But I'm at the point where the last bits and pieces for the book MS will take maybe 5 or 6 hours. Its that close. (The most niggly is where I've got two methods of references in one chapter, and I decided I had to give up and make it consistent. But I can do that in my 10 hours on a plane.) Since the rest of this week involves getting ready for my trip, traveling 6000 miles each way for a conference and returning, not much will happen this week. So my goals are correspondingly limited.
1. Put notice on course website about assignment for first class. (I was hoping to put up a draft syllabus, but it's much too drafty!)
2. Finish comments for roundtable on Friday.
3. Send off tenure review
4. Pay bills
5. Do ironing/ pack/ etc.
6. Make trivial changes in notes while traveling.
I feel a bit like I'm moving counter to most of the rest of the group - in another few weeks I should be waving farewell to my online unit, some admin peaks, and facing downslope to spring and then summer. So my challenge to myself is to be intentional and set good foundation habits from early on. If needed, I can help co-host with Susan and any other volunteers.
ReplyDeleteLast two weeks:
-survive simultaneous deadlines; set task list each evening for the next day and hold those priorities DONE! Exhibition up, open day completed, final new online content written and other incidental bit managed.
- breath, move like water DONE
- use some of the extra time from only having to look after myself to actually look after myself - stretching/exercise, some minor therapeutic decluttering. BETTER THIS WEEK THAN LAST.
Next week:
1. Truckloads of marking - commit to regular chunks each day
2. Continue to move more, and make time for music practice
3. Short freewriting bursts to map out summer writing projects 3 x 10 minutes over the week.
Brilliant, then, Karen and Susan for Fall/Spring and KJHaxton (maybe with A.N. Other) for Winter/Summer?
ReplyDeleteLooks like a plan!!
:-)
JaneB, can you facilitate connecting me with Karen?
DeleteWhat things can be finished with one more push?
ReplyDeleteThe only project in this category is to get my schedule somewhat finalized. I block time to write, to disappear and decompress, and the like. If I don’t, I will end up with days of more than five hours of meetings, which is no way to live.
How can we "park our work on a downhill slope" (thanks to whoever originally came up with that analogy) to be picked up in the (small) spaces of the semester?
This question encouraged me to pull apart my massive Othea project, or it is should be known, the “rewrite the footnotes into commentary” project. A writing coach told me once that writing a long piece in Word was deadening, and that I should create separate files for each chapter. *headslap* So I will pull apart my footnotes into a few pages each--easy bites.
What things have to be pruned, or parked longer term - are there things we can just decide we're not going to get to, or postpone until next vacation or next summer? I have to accept parking the Pierpont article. I had reproductions of illuminations, but not enough time to get them cleared for publication. The logistics of this can be done in small spaces over the next few weeks.
Last week’s goals:
Add to the Slow Professor discussion. Well, not by much, but I did leave one comment.
Write 5 out of 7 days on Pierpont. No.
Finalize drafts on gratitude. No.
Walk at the dog park, instead of sitting and watching. No.
Analysis:
It was a week of insomnia, subsequent exhaustion, and the above realization that I was not going to make the August 29th submission deadline on Pierpont. I spent a lot of time reading and doing needlework, which was a good break. Walking at the dog park didn’t work out because Brigid (my Standard Poodle) had a growth removed and was not allowed to go to the dog park. Once her stitches are out, that goal will be renewed.
Next/this week’s goals:
Comment on more chapters of the Slow Professor.
Finalize schedule.
Put up one gratitude post.
Have a great rest of the week, everyone!
First, I love the idea of incorporating some of the Slow Professor principles (particularly focusing on "how") into our discussions. I'm happy to help with that in any way that's useful.
ReplyDelete"Parking on the downward slope" is, I believe, originally from Hemingway, or at least the practice was from Hemingway (he would stop writing for the day mid-sentence!) and the description of it was from. . . I can't remember. Maybe Anne Lamott, though I've read a lot of writing books, so who knows?
(Tiny aside: I love seeing the things I've written here taken up by others like parking on the downward slope and move like water, etc. Something I wrote is meaningful and useful to others, which is more than I feel like I can say for most of my work!)
I love the idea of thinking about parking our projects on the downward slope to make it easier to dip into them during the year, but I'm not there yet. I'm on the quarter system, and we don't start again for another 6 weeks. I just don't wanna, really don't wanna, think about going back to work yet. (Funny because last night I started thinking seriously about my fall courses, but when I think of "teaching," it's different from thinking about "work.")
1. SFP/writing: Try to write 1 time this week. Try to figure out what's going on here (besides really just feeling like I'm on vacation). YES
2. Gardening: Plant blueberries and elderberries. YES
3. Work: Work on service task. YES
4. LittleProject: no goals
5. Yoga/tai chi/meditate one time this week. NO
6. Read: decide on new book to read. KINDA
Analysis
Oh the drama with the damn blueberries! (I planted them in a bad place and have planted, replanted, and uprooted the blueberries in the last ten days.) And oh the drama with the shake-up at work! (Stupidity, self-important blowhards, MCPs, changes for the worse, badness, yucko.)
Last weekend was about the halfway point of my break so I've started thinking about the prompt that one of our great leaders gave us about thinking about what we want to look back on when we're having a calm cup of tea in the fall. (As if there will be a calm moment in the fall in which to reflect!) And even though the drama drama has me in knots or too depressed to do anything, I've been able to get some stuff done on that list.
This Week
1. Writing: engage with writing 4x; also work on grant.
2. Gardening: keep on blueberry watch.
3. Work: some prep for fall
4. Meditate: 3x/week
5. Herbalism: move forward a bit with one project
6. Office: work on going through more boxes
Have a great week everyone!