the grid

the grid

Sunday 28 October 2018

September-December: week 8

Good Enough Woman reminds me that we haven't done the traditional halfway-through revisiting of session goals, in case people need to revise the goals set at the beginning. So if you have realized that you need to jettison (uproot?) some goals, or revise (transplant?) others, there's no time like the present. (It's not going to get any earlier.)

We might think about the goal-revision as setting up the indoor garden, as in this post, which at first I thought was going to make me grumble about hardiness zones and people who can have artistic winter gardens, but in fact is about bringing plants inside: http://maryannemohanraj.com/2018/10/17/winter-garden-2/

What are you bringing inside and finding a sunny window for?

Bardiac (held over)
1. Practice a LOT for orchestra rehearsal and lesson.
2. Revisions.
3. Regular exercise, stretching.


Daisy
1) Get the major figures for Northern Paper finished
2) Do point form discussion sections for each figure
3) Write my section for cool joint paper
4) Do one relaxing thing like yoga or a run or a walk, anything counts

Dame Eleanor
1. Health: go to bed by 10:30 every night, stretch daily, walk or cardio daily, weights 3x. Make appt with doc and request referral to physical therapy for neck. Fun reading and self-nurturing acts daily.
2. Research: put in 4 hours and/or write 2000 words; keep up with languages.
3. Teaching: grade the next iterations of undergrad short paper, grad bibliographies. Design and post two new assignments for undergrads.
4. Life Stuff: file form, make deposit. Plan another trip to see my dad. Plan trip with Sir John in January. 2-3 household tasks. Haircut.
5. Several boring work admin things (not my idea of important, but required).


EAM
Write for 3 hours as many days as possible.
Straighten and organize on days I can't write.

GEW
1. Celebrate my 50th birthday [with] a party.
2. Move like water through daughter's Halloween party.
3. Grade a little bit on Sunday despite all inclinations not to.
4. Read for fun a lot.
5. Fiddle with the novel project just a bit.
6. Don't feel guilty about ignoring some work things.
7. Revisit goals to plan for rest of this TLQ session.

heu mihi
1. Write/read x 5, sit x 5, language x 5
2. Stretch x 6, exercise at will
3. Read something for pleasure
4. Just stay on top of all the stuff, and don't overuse alcohol as a reward for long days

Humming42
1 Finish and submit current book review
2 Four hours on Tiny Project
3 Draft curriculum proposal and send to committee

JaneB
1) coffee shop with pen, notebook and fancy coffee!
2) do an hour on straightforward research thing for FocusedWoman
3) type up the patterns for the first two squares of the blanket. Either work on the next design, or start on a re-knit of the one I just did.
4) no refined sugar, make sure I drink enough fluids, and take a minute's standing break every 45-60 minutes of desk time.

oceangirl101
1. Make decision about Spring semester leave
2. Email/phone meetings with potential graduate students
3. Read books x 2 and take notes
4. Exercise x 4
5. Help Mom with some estate planning loose ends
6. Think about work that needs to be done for collaborative paper
7. Liase with Mom's doctor and hospice team


Plant Girl (held over)
1. Finalize my conference paper, get to conference, enjoy/do well at conference. Try not to be shy/awkward at conference.
2. Try to squeeze in FL work in spite of conference travel
3. Keep on top of applications
4. Try to at least think about chapter edits? I got some encouraging initial feedback from the peer review on my proposal so I really should be motivated/excited about it.

Waffles
1. Dyad and election portion of manuscript
2. Stupid PTSD paper
3. Stupid asthma paper
4. Finish research strategy of NIH K
5. Do 4th interview
6. Winnow down results of intersectionality paper and see if a clearer story emerges

31 comments:

  1. This past week was good and exhausting. I made good progress on my K, and a big name in public health has tentatively agreed to be one the consultants on my K - so yay! These interviews I am doing are with same-sex couples - and even though I live in one of the most liberal cities in the US, their loves are rough. It’s been emotionally exhausting. I do interviews on Saturdays, and then just collapse on Sundays. This week I can work from home for 4 days - so I am hoping that will be restorative for me.

    This week
    1. Dyad and election portion of manuscript - NOT DONE but started
    2. Stupid PTSD paper - NOT DONE
    3. Stupid asthma paper - ANALYSES DONE AND SENT TO COAUTHOR
    4. Finish research strategy of NIH K - DONE
    5. Do 4th interview - DONE
    6. Winnow down results of intersectionality paper and see if a clearer story emerges - DONE

    I’m too scared to look at my session goals - so for now I am going to focus on putting one foot in front of the other and just focus on my goals for this week.

    Next week
    1. Dyad and election portion of manuscript
    2. Interview 5 (I hope, don’t think my RA has scheduled it yet — although interview 6 is scheduled)
    3. Work on intersectionality paper and try to get it completed
    4. Email PhD advisor and ask for letter for K - ACTUALLY ALREADY DONE AND SHE AGREED AND EVEN OFFERED TO REVIEW MY K - WHICH IS FREAKING AMAZING!!!
    5. Get biosketches from my K team
    6. Write letters of support from K collaborators
    7. Write mentor section of K
    8. Edit K timeline
    9. Start budget justification
    10. Write institutional support letter
    11. edit candidate section to talk more about independence, independent projects, goals for more first authored pubs, etc.

    waffles

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    1. Sometimes getting started is the hard part, so I hope that will be the case with dyad/election. So glad to hear that your advisor is being helpful!

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    2. Great news about having a consultant who carries a lot of weight. That's great! I hope the days at home this week were, indeed, restorative. Those interviews sound intense.

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  2. I think I'm the thing that needs to come indoors and sit in front of a sunny window. I admire Bardiac's ability to get with the upper-Midwest program and go cross-country skiing, but I don't seem to have it in me.

    How I did:
    1. Health: go to bed by 10:30 every night, stretch daily, walk or cardio daily, weights 3x. Make appt with doc and request referral to physical therapy for neck. Fun reading and self-nurturing acts daily. MOSTLY, MOSTLY, YES, YES, NO to doc, YES.
    2. Research: put in 4 hours and/or write 2000 words; keep up with languages. NO; YES.
    3. Teaching: grade the next iterations of undergrad short paper, grad bibliographies. Design and post two new assignments for undergrads. TOTAL FAIL.
    4. Life Stuff: file form, make deposit. Plan another trip to see my dad. Plan trip with Sir John in January. 2-3 household tasks. Haircut. YES to household stuff, haircut, and a start on the form (need to copy my driver's license, then I can send the whole mess).
    5. Several boring work admin things (not my idea of important, but required). TWO!

    This was a bad week for getting things done. I am not sure what is/was wrong with me. I've been getting to bed early about half the time, and it's clear that I stay up too late after I've been on campus late (whether or not I'm teaching), so I need to see if I can do something about that. I've had more food reactions due to carelessness about reading labels/expectation that a brand that has been okay in the past will not suddenly change formulations. So I'm not sure if SAD is setting in or if my malaise is due to my gut. I've made up a huge list of all the stuff I need to do by mid-December, with time estimates for grading; it's overwhelming and yet it does help to see it all written down in one place.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. New goals:
      1. Health: eat safely, sleep 8 hours, stretch, cardio/walk, fun thing daily; weights 3x. Make appt with doc and request referral to physical therapy for neck.
      2. Research: put in 4 hours and/or write 2000 words; keep up with languages.
      3. Teaching: grade the next iterations of undergrad short paper, grad bibliographies. Design and post two new assignments for undergrads.
      4. Life Stuff: mail form, make deposit. Plan another trip to see my dad. Plan trip with Sir John in January. Two car things.
      5. Three boring work admin things.

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    2. Come up north this winter and we'll go snow shoeing or something! I'm a crappy CX skier, but I'm happy to take you out to try!

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    3. Checking on session goals, which I had to look up:
      Live my life, i.e. try not to put things off b/c we want to move. KEEP! Doing well so far.
      Finish the last set of revisions, answer queries about the translation in a timely manner, return to book project. CHANGE: revise intro to translation, return to article revisions before spring term starts.
      Keep on top of teaching/grading/planning: both my classes are things I don't teach so often, and will need a fair amount of attention (fun stuff, though). KEEP: this is a struggle but at this point the end is in sight!

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    4. I find that I just have to have down time in the living room each evening. I will stay up too late to get it. I don't really know how to get around that. I could probably get to bed a bit earlier if I make sure not to look at online stuff during that time--just reading or TV.

      Good luck with that grading this week. I'm with you in grading solidarity.

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  3. I think I am mostly still dedicated to my session goals. I did not finish Sweet, but I realized that it was an ethnography (which was the conference presentation) that morphed into an analysis. Struggle ensued. When there’s an appropriate venue or time in the future, I’ll write the analysis.

    November is typically a difficult month, when SAD creeps up as daylight savings time ends and the weather turns. So I’m building an indoor fortress for a warm and comfortable retreat, whenever I need it. Since I don’t have an outdoor fortress (or garden), there’s not much to bring in but there will be things moving from one room to another for this project.

    This week:
    1 Blog post on book-related holiday project
    2 Four hours on Tiny Project
    3 Draft curriculum proposal and send to committee

    Last week:
    1 Finish and submit current book review: Done
    2 Four hours on Tiny Project: Done!
    3 Draft curriculum proposal and send to committee: In progress

    Wishing you a marvelous week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting how things can change so quickly. I went back to look at goals for this session, as eight weeks seems like a lifetime ago. They for certain have to be pruned a bit due to my family leave and Mom's worsening health:
      1. Complete one chapter of the book (writing and copy editing) NO longer possible, now just focusing on research reading and note taking
      2. Submit one article (about 75% written) NO longer possible
      3. Do teaching prep/grading as needed, and with more leeway time than normal the weeks I will be traveling to my Mom's NO, on teaching leave now
      4. Do admin to get family leave for the Spring, Yes, in the process of doing this now
      5. Exercise 3 x a week Yes, trying for 4 x a week
      6. Call friends as needed (1 x a week or more) to get support with the ugly family stuff Yes
      7. Visit Mom once every 4 weeks, call daily to check in with her or her caregivers. Main focus now is living with Mom now on family leave, providing emotional support and taking care of tasks to reduce her anxiety

      This past week was not a good one. I tend to have bad weeks when my Mom does. I spent some time on getting Spring family leave/unpaid leave while trying to also retain some/all of my benefits, so there has been lots of back and forth with the University. They are being supportive but it is still stressful. Two colleagues have been wonderfully supportive in providing advice about how to go about best negotiating which has made a big difference. While some fears are bubbling up about the prospect of having 1-2 years with little to no pubs, another mentor has assured me that while I will be able to see this little hole in my record, others will not pay it the same attention. I am lucky that I have tenure.
      Last week:
      1. Make decision about Spring semester leave YES, negotiations in progress
      2. Email/phone meetings with potential graduate students Yes
      3. Read books x 2 and take notes Yes
      4. Exercise x 4 NO, 3x
      5. Help Mom with some estate planning loose ends In Progress
      6. Think about work that needs to be done for collaborative paper NO
      7. Liase with Mom's doctor and hospice team Yes
      This week:
      1. Finalize Spring leave plans with department and Deans
      2. Help Mom with estate planning loose ends
      3. Get house reconfigured to make Mom more comfortable
      4. Read x 2 for research and take notes
      5. Exercise x 4
      6. Read graduate student chapter and provide comments

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    2. Oceangirl101: Life hit you hard this semester, and you are dealing well with the change of plans and reorganizing two lives, yours and your mother's. I agree with your mentor that a "hole" in your CV won't be a big problem. Most people have times where family responsibilities, personal problems, or a change in emphasis have resulted in some years without publications, so we're sympathetic to that.

      Humming42: I like the idea of an indoor fortress, where we can shut out the dark and the cold, hunkered down with our supplies and amusements!

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    3. humming42: I, too, like the idea of an indoor fortress. I hope it can give you a sense of life, light, and warmth.

      oceangirl101: I'm sorry you had a difficult week. You seemed to make good progress on your TLQ goals though, so I hope that bolsters you a bit. Best wishes for this week.

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  4. I am sick and feeling lousy, lousy, lousy.

    Here's last week:
    1. Write x 5 - x4, sit x 5 -x4, language x 5 - Done
    2. Stretch x 6 - x4, exercise at will (Yoga x1, run x1, then sick)
    3. Read something for pleasure - Yes, part of a novel
    4. Just stay on top of all the stuff, and don't overuse alcohol as a reward for long days - Done, but got sick for my troubles

    At least my (terrible, poor me) cold waited until Saturday to hit, so I was able to last through the long wretched week of meetings!

    I think my session goals were something like this:
    1. Finish Wonder and submit it - DONE
    2. Sit regularly
    3. Research and plan Longer Impatience
    4. Deal with writing opportunities and projects as they arise
    5. Write for half an hour every work day
    6. Language study every work day

    # 1 is done. I'm doing pretty well with #s 2, 5, and 6. #4 is a bit fraught because I am still, endlessly, impatiently waiting for readers' reports on BOTH my book manuscript AND an article that I sent out in May (with a 10-12 week review time, ha ha ha). Since I can't deal with those at the moment, apparently I'm doing NaNoWriMo, a fact that fills me with both excitement and dread.

    #3 is calling out for my attention, though. I've been reading through this tangentially related dissertation for FAR longer than it's worth, and I'm now almost done. Once that's out of the way, I do need to turn to writing in earnest.

    This week--keeping it small because this cold is just dreadful and I'm awfully petulant about it:
    1. Abstract for Longer Impatience (which may be due on Wednesday)
    2. Write x 4, sit x 4, language x 4 (because I am taking today *off*)
    3. 10k of NaNo words (I cheat and start early to make the project less terrifying)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I had that cold in week 2 of the semester. It was no fun, and it took a long time to get caught up again after getting off-track so early. I hope you're able to stay home and rest up, and that you'll feel better soon. Good luck with NaNoWriMo! I look forward to reading the novel eventually!

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    2. So excited for all of our TLQ NaNoers. But I'm sorry you feel like crap. I hope this cold clears quickly without much lingering fatigue or coughing.

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  5. goals for the semester - which definitely need a little attention
    1) write one grant application - umm. Well, I think I'll keep this and make it write a DRAFT of a grant application
    2) Progress equivalent to one paper on publications. this can stay
    3) self-care - to re-establish adequate habits around sleep, water and food, exercise, housework, sitting ugh. Well, I've not abandoned the goal, and I NEED this one
    4) self-care - financial. Sort out all the paperwork and re-establish a filing system of sorts and a more thoughtful budget. not yet, but will keep
    5) self-care - Doing Things Other Than Work. NaNoWriMo, a substantial amount of handicraft progress, and continuing to explore bullet journalling or other ways of Making Marks On Paper Which Are Pleasing To Me. keeping
    6) teaching prep - have made reasonable progress on setting up new teaching and major revision of statistics handouts for the second trimester (say have a document which identifies the class topic/key outcomes and a couple of readings/activities identified for every new classroom session plus have at least half the statistics material done).I would feel SO good if I got this done. Keeping it
    7) be kind to myself! Not bribe myself to shut up and put up with chocolate... keeping it...

    So actually not too bad.


    last week's goals
    1) coffee shop with pen, notebook and fancy coffee! no. I made a deliberate decision not to go this weekend, between random hail showers and a sore throat I just didn't really want to...
    2) do an hour on straightforward research thing for FocusedWoman no
    3) type up the patterns for the first two squares of the blanket. Either work on the next design, or start on a re-knit of the one I just did. no
    4) no refined sugar, make sure I drink enough fluids, and take a minute's standing break every 45-60 minutes of desk time. moderate. I at least remembered these things... but I ate more chocolate and a couple of pastries, so...

    My cold had retreated somewhat but most of last week was a bit off, and I don't feel well now either, grrr.... Also I had a visitor - the MSc researcher I've hosted for the last six months is going home in a week or so, so another project member came to visit for a couple of days for handover so I DID get a fair bit of research/TLQ stuff done. I did a little bit on Problem Child too... so the week wasn't a complete loss.

    I just don't want to do stuff right now. :-(

    goals for next week:
    1) start NaNo
    2) my birthday falls on my nominal day off, so this week I intend to take it as an ACTUAL day off, for NaNo starting, fancy coffee consuming if I feel like it, and some knitting...
    do an hour on straightforward research thing for FocusedWoman
    3) type up the patterns for the first two squares of the blanket. Either work on the next design, or start on a re-knit of the one I just did.
    4) reduced refined sugar (birthday. let's not even pretend there won't be sugar), make sure I drink enough fluids, and take a minute's standing break every 45-60 minutes of desk time.


    ReplyDelete
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    1. Happy birthday! And congratulations on picking session goals that are so meaningful to you that they're all worth keeping.

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    2. Happy birthday and happy novelling!

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    3. Happy birthday!! This week's goals sound lovely. I hope you feel good and enjoy them. As I replied to heu mihi, I'm excited for our TLQ NaNoers!

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  6. I'm sorry to have been out of touch lately. But the prompt this week is perfect, because I feel like I've done a fair bit of restarting and transplanting goals since I last posted.
    Here were my old goals:
    Bardiac (held over)
    1. Practice a LOT for orchestra rehearsal and lesson.
    2. Revisions.
    3. Regular exercise, stretching.
    1. I dropped out of the orchestra. I was stressing a lot because I felt so inadequate about my playing ability. But I talked to the leader and hope to rejoin next fall. I've been playing about two and a half years (with about six months lapse when I was away), so another year should see significant improvement if I keep practicing. I have been progressing in lessons.
    2. I dropped the revisions and just started a new paper, the one I've been really thinking about. I've written several pages, first draft quality, but pixels on paper!
    3. I joined a gym, though I haven't gone enough.

    New goals:
    1. Work on paper.
    2. Get garden prepped for winter.
    3. Keep practicing violin.
    4. Get regular exercise.

    In other news: a friend gave me a plant today, and I'm more frustrated than makes sense. I feel like I can't take care of it (I have no good light in winter without a massive light project, and will be away, etc.) I'm looking to rehouse it... and somehow, I'm resentful that my friend gave it to me. She said she likes giving people plants but doesn't get them for herself because they're hard and die. But she doesn't realize that may be a good reason not to get them for someone who doesn't already have plants around... ahh, well, I need to get over this.

    I've been having trouble posting, so wish me luck! (I'm trying again on a different browser. I hope this time works!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nice to hear from you! Sometimes changing browsers makes a big difference; programmers don't always take into account all the details they ought to when making changes in a platform. Good luck with the new and exciting project!

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    2. I'm sorry the orchestra was stressful, but I hope you're feeling good now that you've made your decision.

      It really doesn't make much sense that your friend gave you a plant. Maybe you should just accidentally leave it outside.

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  7. Not a terrible week, not a great one either… Lots of admin things for middle of term and planning for the next one, and lots of catching up on everything after being sick…

    Last week's goals:
    1) Get the major figures for Northern Paper finished ONE FINISHED ONE TO GO
    2) Do point form discussion sections for each figure NOT DONE
    3) Write my section for cool joint paper ABOUT HALFWAY DONE
    4) Do one relaxing thing like yoga or a run or a walk, anything counts DONE, WALKED DOGS WITH FRIEND YAY!

    My session goals are still mostly relevant, I want to keep my major goals that depend mostly on me, the ones where other people are involved might not make it to the end.
    1) Finish student paper with graduated student KEEP AND HOPE?
    2) Write Northern project paper KEEP
    3) Write Pretty Area paper KEEP BECAUSE IT IS A JOINT THING
    4) Write at least part of Fiddly Methods paper, for sending to fiddly methods people to finish POSTPONE
    5) Do all the data parts of ongoing joint project papers KEEP, DOING WELL WITH THIS

    This week’s goals:
    1) Finish all the half-done things from last week!

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    Replies
    1. Good luck! It will feel great to finish a whole batch of things, even if they're held over from a previous week!

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  8. Topic: Due to being ill for the entirety of the session so far, I want to transplant all my session goals into the winter conservatory. I have been able to work on mindfulness--thank you, Waffles, for the tip about Headspace--I find it amazingly helpful. Other goals have not fared as well, although there has been a little writing, and more organizing. I am finally done with the invasive procedures and will get my stent removed next Monday; I am slowly returning to normal, although I sleep far more than I used to do, probably an indicator that I am still recovering.

    Session mantra: “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” Marcus Aurelius

    Session goals:
    Plan re-entry from sabbatical, endeavoring to hold on to lessons learned.
    Intersperse fun things.
    Foster mindfulness.
    Move--walk, do Tai Chi.
    Create--write, knit, draw.

    Last week’s goals:
    Write for 3 hours as many days as possible. Not many days were possible.
    Straighten and organize on days I can't write. Cleaning was at times beyond me as well, but some days I managed to address the mess.

    Analysis: I mentioned above, I am still flattened by the procedures. They are all behind me, thankfully, since the stent removal is an office visit. I have been called in for various meetings, and depending on the impact it may have on students and/or faculty, I demur or attend. I spent today planning what to do in November with the extension of the sabbatical.

    Next week’s goals:
    Plan NaNo project.
    Write for 3 hours as many days as possible.
    Straighten and organize on days I can't write.

    Sorry to be so late in posting! I hope all have a wonderful rest of the week!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. EAM, I am sorry you are feeling so tired, but I'm glad (and I hope) the worst of it is behind you. I hope that in November you can skip most meetings, get a lot of sleep, and enjoy loads of productive writing. This seems like a month to be very focused on yourself and what makes you happy. You deserve it and need it!

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    2. BTW, it's me GEW. My son (a.k.a. Lord of the Awesome) recently signed into Google on my computer. <3

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  9. For NaNo writers of any stripe, look what I found for you! (Maybe you already saw it four years ago.) And now I should stop poking around procrastinatory sites and do some reading.

    https://litreactor.com/columns/the-nanowrimo-survival-kit?utm_source=LR&utm_medium=site&utm_content=bottom_related&utm_campaign=track_mag

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  10. Regarding Session Goals:

    1) Be a gracious and helpful Drama Mama. KEEP. Currently, I need to do more. The show is in a month, and I need to do some funding things and meet with the two other drama mamas.
    2) Do special outings with my son every 2-3 weeks KEEP. I am doing well so far.
    3) Read two SF criticism books. ADJUST to the bulk of one SF criticism book..
    4) Access and read the year-in-review article for c18, and read one c18 monograph KEEP.
    5) Draft conference paper for spring (since next semester will be super busy). KEEP. I don't if I'll get a full draft, but I definitely want to create a bib and aquire necessary sources.
    6) Clean out my piles in the garage, clean linen closet, working on picture framingKEEP. Ugh.
    7) Do NaNoWriMo (I want to do this but am not sure if I can). MODIFY. I definitely want to step up to the fiction work in November, but I'm not committing to 50,000 words.
    8) Do final edits for accepted article. DONE! Thank goodness one of the goals is finished!

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