the grid

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Friday 24 November 2017

Week 12: Being Thankful

Well, tis the season after all. Let's keep things simple: what have you been thankful for in the past week?



Dame Eleanor Hull
New goals: I will spend most of this week with family, and I plan not to try to do any real work during that time; I'll keep up with languages because they're soothing.
1) Self: daily exercise and stretching, enough sleep, work on at least 2 languages, do the necessary cooking so I can eat safely.
2) Others: be kind to everybody even if they don't deserve it; maintain detachment (maybe I'll start sitting again while I'm there).
3) Remember my session goals: Live with uncertainty and work the process.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Write Faculty Council report. (TRQ)
Sew Christmas stockings.
Plan Thanksgiving for myself and sons.
Get to 50K words on NaNo--for the win.
Tai Chi ten minutes a day.
Leave more comments than last week.
Clear my half of the study.

Good Enough Woman
1) Grade two stacks of drafts.
2) Get the evals done.
3) Three walks/jogs (could sub one other outdoor activity).
4) Prep for writing club.
5) Read chapter/article draft.
6) Be present for the family despite the need to do the above.
7) Prepare Christmas presents for shipping

heu mihi
1. To 51,500 words of the novel (including the 8300 written in October)
2. Read SGGK in full; prep day 1 of teaching it (and ideally day 2--I've taught it in a different context a million times, so this shouldn't be too hard. The challenge is that a lot of my students have read it before, too).
3. Prep for first two days of new book
4. Meditate x 3. Just keeping it on here.
5. Run x 3.

Humming42
1 30 minutes writing/research every day
2 send query letter about February article
3 try to live an orderly life, in whatever ways that manifests
4 track time this week

Karen
- do Couch to 5K run 3 x each week
- complete draft of upcoming conference paper
- remeber to breathe, slow down, and enjoy the journey

KJHaxton
1. finish marking
2. science comm activity planning
3. finish planning and run outreach event
4. tackle ethics forms for two projects
5. email collaborators for other project

Susan
Deck clearing (tomorrow)
1. Deal with at least some of the paper
2. Finish the book review, email journal for guidelines I've lost
3. Try to complete R & R, except maybe the footnote fixing.
Other:
4. Exercise - especially over the weekend (walk tomorrow, walk/go to gym when down south
5. Try to start another book
6. Send off one set of letters; write another

32 comments:

  1. I'm simply thankful that there are only three weeks of teaching before the Christmas break!

    Last Week
    1. finish marking - the big thing got done, then more arrived
    2. science comm activity planning - made really good progress on three events
    3. finish planning and run outreach event - planning is finished, event tomorrow
    4. tackle ethics forms for two projects - nope
    5. email collaborators for other project - sort of, didn't send the emails but a collaborator on another project contacted me.

    Analysis
    I took things slower this week after being too tired to think last week, and to save energy for the event tomorrow. In my head, the world doesn't exist beyond 5pm tomorrow!

    This week:
    1. run outreach event
    2. prepare for interview for new part of role
    3. ethics forms
    4. marking
    5. Start Christmas planning.

    I start teaching my favourite course next week - yippeee!

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  2. My mum had a hip replacement operation on Thursday morning and had already progressed to walking up and down the corridor with elbow crutches by Friday afternoon - she should be sent home on Sunday! Modern medicine is amazing... and so far my Dad is coping better than we expected.

    And for good colleagues who were able to cover a lecture for me when I had to call in with a migraine-like headache again. And that I don't get multi-day versions of such headaches - a couple of hours of feeling really awful, and then I can usually sleep it off in a few hours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is great news about your mum! Yay modern medicine. I hope her recovery and PT go equally well.

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    2. I'm glad the headache was short-lived. And best wishes for your mom's continued quick recovery.

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    3. So glad your Mum's surgery went well.
      And that you had colleagues who could cover for you!

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    4. Hope your mum keeps making progress.

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    5. Yes, glad your mother is recovering quickly! Something to be thankful for, indeed.

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  3. Thankful that I have the capacity to remain hopeful and grateful, no matter what.

    Last week:
    1 30 minutes writing/research every day: no
    2 send query letter about February article: no
    3 try to live an orderly life, in whatever ways that manifests: somewhat
    4 track time this week: yes

    Analysis: I was encouraged to have a week of rest instead of a week to catch up on work, and I did my best to be restful but it was in the universe of what Tim Urban calls “the dark playground”--that place where it’s hard to have fun because you know you have to face the stuff you’ve been ignoring. And I am ok with that, because only two more weeks of classes! Did I forget to mention how I am so thankful for that? I need to remember that the end of the semester is always an intense grading grind, and to give myself over to the need to get all of that done.

    This week:
    1 30 minutes writing/research every day
    2 send query letter about February article
    3 review and return article proofs
    4 continue time tracking

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  4. I have a lot to be grateful for. After last week, I'm grateful for my parents' ongoing health (my mother-in-law has Alzheimer's, which is difficult).

    I'm also grateful for the absurd degrees of self-discipline of which I am capable. The downside is that all I've been doing is writing my novel, so I'm horribly behind in other areas right now. Gah.

    1. To 51,500 words of the novel (including the 8300 written in October)
    So, so done. So beyond done. I'm flirting with 60k this morning.
    2. Read SGGK in full; prep day 1 of teaching it (and ideally day 2).
    Day 1 done, under duress, last night. I did at least finish reading the whole thing. God I hate prepping.
    3. Prep for first two days of new book
    Nope, nope, not at all!
    4. Meditate x 3. Just keeping it on here.
    Of course not!
    5. Run x 3.
    This, I did. It's nice to run at my in-laws': Flatter than here!

    This week:
    1. Hit 70k of novel (aiming for 80k, and The End, by the end of classes)
    2. Get on top of everything:
    --a) gen ed proposal before workshop tomorrow
    --b) clear out "important" emails that I've been ignoring
    --c) recommendation for a colleague that's due on Friday
    --d) CC proposals that must be read by Friday
    --e) articulate LOs for departmental course
    3. Grade the papers that come in today
    4. Various church-related service-lite stuff: basically make/buy a bunch of things to donate to different things.

    Ugh, 2-4 sound so boring. But I think that it's how the week is going to have to go. I'm even going to have to skip some runs (like today's) because it's deer season and I don't like running in the woods at dawn when I can hear gunshots in the distance. (This actually happened last year.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I spent the week grateful to be at my parents' place to walk--they have so many hills! Now I'm back to the flatlands, and a walk doesn't have the same impact. :(

      I hope the obligatory stuff isn't as dreadful as it feels now.

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    2. I hope the obligatory stuff is going well, and that there's at least a sense of satisfaction in its completion.

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    3. Yes, time to take care of those dangling threads after all of that NOVEL WRITING!! Bravo!

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  5. Here's some context for my comment above: After flying cross-country, I spent 3 days arranging my father's move from rehab to an "independent living" facility, including hiring aides to help with his care until he is more recovered from a severe illness that landed him in 3 weeks of rehab after 4 days in the hospital. Another family member not only dropped a batch of balls, but accompanied said drop with a big feelings dump and other inappropriate behavior on Thanksgiving. I moved mountains and left a range of foothills to my brothers; have exchanged multiple e-mails with them for the last three days. I am so happy to be home and back to work.

    How I did:

    1) Self: daily exercise and stretching: 3x/7x;
    enough sleep: HA HA HA HA NOOOOOO;
    work on at least 2 languages: YES if "on the plane only" counts;
    do the necessary cooking so I can eat safely: YES! YAY!
    2) Others: be kind to everybody even if they don't deserve it; maintain detachment (maybe I'll start sitting again while I'm there). YES, above and beyond, all things considered.
    3) Remember my session goals: Live with uncertainty and work the process. BOY HOWDY was this a good goal for this session.

    New goals:
    1) Self: daily exercise and stretching, enough sleep, work on at least 2 languages, do the necessary cooking so I can eat safely.
    2) Research: 10 hours, 3 each on 3 projects, one extra on what most needs it.
    3) Teaching: grade grad drafts and undergrad lp2.
    4) House/Life: deposit, bills, phone call, parental stuff.
    5) Remember my session goals: Live with uncertainty and work the process.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sorry to hear about your dad, and I'm glad things got sort of sorted at least.

      Your session goal is a challenging one, but inspirational!

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    2. So sorry you've had to deal with family drama of multiple kinds - the actual problem, and how others do or don't deal with it. Had my share of it, so. . .

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    3. I find it SO much easier to deal with actual problems than with other people's emotions. My mantra for a good chunk of the weekend was "T'Pol. T'Pol. T'Pol" (Sir John and I have been watching "Enterprise" of late).

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    4. I like your mantra! I hope your family matters are resolving, sounds very stressful.

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    5. I hope you do have time for self-care this week. Sounds like it's necessary after all of the care for others.

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  6. I'm still here! Sorry for falling off the face of the earth for a while there. I stress-ate my way through November and survived the holiday (Thanksgiving). And so. Clearly, taking time for reflection would have been helpful over the past month. My husband and I are both aiming to be more reflective over the next few months (and maybe for life?), and I'm glad TLQ can be a part of that.

    So I'm thankful for this group, for good books, for sunshine and the sea, and for wiggly 2nd graders who wanted me to tell them more and more about Spenser's The Faerie Queene today.

    (I got to do a school visit at my kids' school about the giant topic of REVISION. They were engaged for an hour, and I was exhausted but exhilarated.)

    Onward to goals:
    Amstr (brought over way too many times)
    -catch up on MF goal (3000 words)--I made it to my 8000 word goal for Nov, but haven't worked on it this past week.
    -submit to 5-7 agents--7 total, 8 more to go this week
    -menu plan/grocery shop--yes, mostly, except the last couple weeks.
    -get hallway cleaned; schedule some time for dreaded house project--made a ton of house progress, including a very clean hallway. Yay!

    Goals for the week:
    -revise 1 PB
    -draft 1 PB
    -re-read MF and draw a map (bonus: any character sketches, putting scenes in order, developing timeline, etc.)
    -write 1 blog post
    -menus/grocery shop
    -mediate for 5 min each day

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Welcome back! One of the things I'm thankful about in this group is the ability to come and go as our schedules and lives require. It wouldn't be TLQ if it didn't! I hope this week is going well.

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    2. Sounds like you made a lot of TLQ progress during your brief absence! Kudos!

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  7. Thankful: where to start? I'm very fortunate. Last week focused on the family end of things, but I have work I care about, good friends, and cozy cats. Listening to others, I'm grateful for a mother who still has almost all her marbles.

    Goals from last week:
    Deck clearing (tomorrow)
    1. Deal with at least some of the paper YES
    2. Finish the book review, email journal for guidelines I've lost YES
    3. Try to complete R & R, except maybe the footnote fixing. TO THE LAST PARAGRAPH
    Other:
    4. Exercise - especially over the weekend (walk tomorrow, walk/go to gym when down south One walk
    5. Try to start another book NO
    6. Send off one set of letters; write another NO

    Analysis: well, my brother's is profoundly UNRESTFUL: I sleep in the play room, the 4 Y.O twins are charming but 4, and I started getting sick. Instead of working during the kids' nap, I napped too. Yes, I brought a cold back from my weekend away.

    Goals for this week:
    1. Get at least 3 letters of rec. out. (Do this tomorrow AM: I'm alert enought for htis, but maybe not real thinking)
    2. Finish R & R
    3. Look at next set of comments on "Way Outside"
    4. Bake cookies for #twitterstorians cookie exchange
    5. Make more progress on THE DESK OF DOOM.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess one up-side to not seeing much of my nephew's charming children, this trip, is that I didn't have much opportunity to pick up germs from them! I love seeing the kids (the youngest is 4), but I'm not so sure about dealing with their parents.

      Love the term "desk of doom."

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    2. Cozy cats are good, small children spreading their bugs less so! Hope you feel better.

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  8. I am thankful that I live in a beautiful place with my wonderful family. Last week, I enjoyed a couple of days of NO GRADING or work, and those days were lovely. Still feeling thankful for persimmons, too.

    Last week's goals:
    1) Grade two stacks of drafts. DONE.
    2) Get the evals done. DONE.
    3) Three walks/jogs (could sub one other outdoor activity). DONE! Plus kayaking, too!
    4) Prep for writing club. DONE.
    5) Read chapter/article draft. To quote heu mihi, "of course not."
    6) Be present for the family despite the need to do the above. DONE.
    7) Prepare Christmas presents for shipping. NOT DONE, but I've been making progress with gifts.

    Things are getting busy with holiday prep, travel prep, end of term grading, and daughter's many, many performances of various stripes. This is my craziest month every year, so I want to be realistic.

    This week's goals:
    1) Walk 2x or 3x.
    2) Help daughter with her science project, her charitable giving project, and maybe Christmas cookies.*
    3) Take stock of Christmas shopping, make final decisions, and prep packages to ship. Wrap lots of gifts.
    4) Buy performance tix.
    5) Stay caught up with grading (before it's crazy-level TRQ), get ahead with prep.
    6) Should I put anything on here again about reading my article with an eye toward revision? Not feeling confident, but feeling like at some point, I'm going to have to poop or get off the pot, so to speak.

    *My daughter is very lovely and fun, but there is so much she wants to DO and CELEBRATE, and God bless her, she always wants me to be by her side. I embrace it because I know it won't last, and I love it. But it's very hard to get anything else done. And sometimes, my son is bounced away in the wake!

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    Replies
    1. Two days of no grading and no work sounds luxurious! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

      I hear you with the performances. I hope the grading and prep don't overtake your life at inopportune times.

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