Last quarter 2020, week 12: attrition

I think a batch of people didn't come back after the tea break, or maybe they're still behind the scenes or in the gift shop. It's the nature of a museum tour, I guess. Nonetheless, let's work with this idea: what can you let go of, or leave behind, that would help you focus on the truly important things, this week? Alternatively, what loss are you mourning or still searching for, that's sapping your energy?

As always, answer one or both prompts if you feel inclined, or ignore them both and just check in. People who've been gone for awhile are welcome to pop in and say hello, even if you don't have it in you to reflect on goals. Our good wishes and supportive energy flow your way, whether you're actively participating or just reading along! 

Move like water, float like mist, stay chill as ice when facing difficult situations!

Daisy

1) Paper off to journal
2) Set 30 take-home exams, each student gets a personalized one…
3) Grad seminar content and reading list for coming weeks
4) My intentional thing for the week: walking coffee with 2 colleagues

Dame Eleanor Hull

*Health: daily cardio and stretching, weights x 3, try to eat carefully and sleep enough.
*Teaching: Grade 1 set discussion board posts; comment on drafts from both classes.
*Research: work on revisions; some time on both dead and live languages; some other reading.
*Service: set up drafts for some recommendation letters; admissions; another small thing.
*House/life: do some responsible-adult things.
*Track time, at least roughly.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell (held over)

One article and annotations 1x5.
Paperwork for planning next semester.
Pick up new glasses and contacts.
Write 300 words on Illustrated 1x4.
Walk 2x7; meditate 1x7; something positive 1x7.

heu mihi

1. Read and take notes on ch. 1 and ch. 2 of review book
2. Grade everything that I have in order to clear the way for future grading
3. 3 hours of writing
4. Journal proofs, to the extent possible (waiting on a couple of authors)
5. Two yoga classes (plus all the running)

Humming42

1 edit a creative piece to prepare for submission
2 write weekly blog post
3 grade every day
4 write and submit current book review
5 finish reading next review book

oceangirl101 (held over):

1. Copy edits Ch 3-8
2. Review article, book series, and PhD
3. Walk/exercise x 4
4. Healthy meals
5. Vet for cat, set up Dr appts for me

Susan (held over):

Teaching:
1. Get last week module up
2. Grade next batch of projects and create groups
3. Get book orders in
Service:
1. Get in touch with the press re. journal
2. Deal with any other stuff that comes up re Big Proposal that is terrible
3. Deal with Church stuff
Research:
Four hours on famous author
Fun:
Keep reading new book
Keep working out
At least one fun zoom
           

Last Quarter 2020, week 11: Breathing Room

What does it say about my life that I initially titled this post, "Last Quarter, week 20"?

Not that I feel like I've spent too much time in your company. More like this is an unending semester....

...And yet! It is ending, for me, at least. Sort of. Slowly. Classes ended Friday. Final papers are due December 4. I have grading to do, and I'll have more, and there will be meetings ad infinitum, but at least we're moving into the winding-down period, if in a much-more-protracted-than-usual sort of way.

If you're in the US, then you have some days off this week whether or not your semester is ending--whether or not you're teaching at all. Of course, semester's end can bring all kinds of stress, too--stress under which our members outside of the States are also likely slogging along.

So, this week, consider how and whether you can create for yourself some kind of breathing room. If you're really into the architectural motif, you can imagine a real room for breathing! I'd be interested to hear what that looks like. Or you can just reflect on ways to open up a little space for peace and quiet in your week. Or you can ignore the prompt altogether and tell us what's going on. Judging from the few comments on last week's post, quite a few of us are suffering from the Overwhelm.

Last week's goals:

Daisy:

1) Paper off to co-authors
2) Giant pile of grading, now three times as high as when it started
3) Record ALL remaining lectures
4) My intentional thing for the week: sushi takeout with child and walking coffee with 2 colleagues

Dame Eleanor Hull:

*Health: daily cardio and stretching, weights x 3, try to eat carefully and sleep enough.
*Teaching: Grade discussion board posts (2 sets? 3? I've lost track), 1 set of papers, set up modules for next two weeks.
*Research: work on revisions; some time on both dead and live languages; some other reading.
*Service: set up drafts for some recommendation letters.
*House/life: do some responsible-adult things.
*Track time, at least roughly.

heu mihi:

1) Order, fetch, and organize gigantic batch of letters etc. related to a Get Out the Vote effort in Georgia. (I volunteered to organize this for anyone in my activist circle who was interested, and have been rather overwhelmed by the response.... It looks like I'll be organizing something like 1400 letters, for 27 people. So this will actually take up a good bit of time. I even had to attend a webinar last night.)
2) Try something to promote better sleep--such as evening journaling or meditation.
3) Draft journal CFP and read journal submissin.
4) Complete email catch-up. (I got through a lot last week, but there's more. Always more.)
5) Request blurbs for program website from majors.
6) Enjoy my husband's birthday on Thursday.
7) Read intro and chapter 1 of review book; type up notes.

humming42:

1 work on creative piece: this is the last week of the online class I’m taking. The assignment is to revise a previously submitted piece, so I’m ruminating.
2 grade every day: the heat is on.
3 write and submit current book review: ok, it’s a tiny bit TLQ but my editor is very forgiving
4 write and submit abstract for conference workshop: one of those opportunities from pandemic to virtually attend a conference that I normally don’t even consider because it’s adjacent to my discipline and there’s only so much money for travel in a given year
5 finish review of journal essay submission: that one just fell off my map.

oceangirl101:

1. Copy edits Ch 3-8
2. Review article, book series, and PhD
3. Walk/exercise x 4
4. Healthy meals
5. Vet for cat, set up Dr appts for me

Susan:

Teaching:
1. Get last week module up
2. Grade next batch of projects and create groups
3. Get book orders in
Service:
1. Get in touch with the press re. journal
2. Deal with any other stuff that comes up re Big Proposal that is terrible
3. Deal with Church stuff
Research:
Four hours on famous author
Fun:
Keep reading new book
Keep working out
At least one fun zoom

Last quarter 2020, week 10: Behind the Scenes

You're sitting over a refill of your drink, feeling that you might be ready to get going again, and considering what you'd like to see next, when a member of the museum staff approaches you. At one point you wrote something that they've found very insightful and useful (what was it?), and they saw your name pop up on the morning's museum admissions, so they came . . . not only to say thank you, which is already a big boost, but, as a more tangible token of appreciation, to take you back into the Staff Only rooms and show you something!

What will that thing be, for you? A new acquisition? The restoration section, where you might help with some fiddly bit of care-taking on a very old and delicate item? A store-room where they're unpacking crates from a long-forgotten legacy? Writing the signage for a new exhibition, or creating a realistic setting for a historical room, or working on a scale model?

If the prompt speaks to you, answer any of the questions you like; if not, let it go and just check in with your report and new goals. I know we're a small group this time, but this does seem like a short list---my apologies if I left you out, and please come and check in if you feel moved!

Daisy
1) Paper again…
2) Giant pile of grading, now twice as high as last week
3) My intentional thing for the week: Have walking coffee with at least two colleagues

Dame Eleanor Hull
*Health: daily cardio and stretching, weights x 3, try to eat carefully and sleep enough.
*Teaching: Grade 3 sets of discussion board posts, 2 sets of papers, one other set of things, set up modules for next week, write two assignments.
*Research: work on revisions; some time on both dead and live languages; some other reading.
*Service: no service goals this week [blows raspberry].
*Admin: order books for spring.
*Fun stuff: read, bake something, finish 2nd ear-warming headband.
*House/life: pull credit report.
*Track time, at least roughly.       

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell (held over)
One article and annotations 1x5.
Paperwork for planning next semester.
Pick up new glasses and contacts.
Write 300 words on Illustrated 1x4.
Walk 2x7; meditate 1x7; something positive 1x7.
       
heu mihi
1) Read something for research. Anything.
2) Grade a batch.
3) Review 2 tenure cases.
4) Preliminary revision of journal materials (letters, website).

Humming42
1 work on creative piece
2 write weekly blog post
3 grade every day
4 write and submit current book review
5 write and submit abstract for history piece
6 finish review of journal essay submission

oceangirl101
1. Bib searches/copy edits on Ch 1-4 of book
2. Work 4 hr on co-authored paper
3. Make Dr appts- knee, mammogram etc.
4. Exercise x 4
5. Bath/stretch x 2
6. Enjoy cooking some healthy meals

Susan
1. 1 More week on each class
2. Figure out submission problem for final projects
3. Send emails
4. Book orders
Service:
5. Pull together comments on big proposal for next Monday's meeting
6. Get people together for discussion of journal proposals
Research:
7: Three hours on Famous Author
Relaxation:
8. One fun zoom
9. Finish the book I'm reading
10. Keep on working out.

Last Quarter 2020, week 9: The Sculpture Garden

The photos above are from an orchard/sculpture garden that I visited a few weeks ago. It's about half an hour from home, and it was quite a bit more impressive than I had anticipated! I love a good sculpture garden. The integration of art with the landscape, the flashes of the unexpected--like those amazing driftwood elephants, planted in a New England field--is so gratifying and exciting.

So for this week, I ask: Is there a sculpture garden in your museum? What's your favorite piece? What would you like to find there? And for what in your real life (because I haven't figured this part out) is it a metaphor?

Of course, I feel that I would be remiss if I didn't mention the election. So...yay! Something not-terrible in a mess of a year. In true 2020 fashion, however, it had to drag out the torment for as long as possible. Whatever; I can forgive the year that bit of anxiety (and that one really terrible night and morning), now that it's over.

Last week's goals are below. I know that there are more people, whose goals I haven't carried over; I'm so behind on the comments etc. for this blog that I don't think I'm going to try to retrace them. Just chime in in the comments and know that I only haven't tracked them down because I'm overwhelmed with all the Everything! You are not forgotten.

Daisy:

1) Paper again… Of course…
2) Giant pile of grading, and set-up of new assessment aka future pile of grading…
3) My intentional thing for the week: Repeat research-themed Road Trip! Yay!

Dame Eleanor Hull:

*Health: daily cardio and stretching, weights x 3, try to eat carefully and sleep enough.
*Teaching: Grade 2 sets of discussion board posts, 1 set of papers, hold conferences with one class, set up modules for next week (will I ever get ahead on this?).
*Research: work on revisions; some time on both dead and live languages; some other reading.
*Service: work on exam-related document for dept., prep for Monday meeting, grad admissions review.
*Admin: order books for spring.
*Fun stuff: read, bake something.
*House/life: pull credit report.
*Track time, at least roughly.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell:

One article and annotations 1x5.
Paperwork for planning next semester.
Pick up new glasses and contacts.
Write 300 words on Illustrated 1x4.
Walk 2x7; meditate 1x7; something positive 1x7.

heu mihi:

1) Do all the necessary teaching things, including writing two LORs and processing payment for a guest speaker.
2) Catch up on journal-related work.
3) Take notes on NunG 4 (a nod towards research, which has been sadly neglected).
4) Run (x5), walk (x as much as I want), yoga (x2), meditate (x3).

humming42:

1 work on creative piece
2 write weekly blog post
3 grade every day
4 write and submit music review
5 do some serious reading for soon to be due book reviews

Susan:

1. Teaching: One more week ahead in each class
2. Teaching: Chart progress
3. Teaching: book orders for spring (make decisions)
4. Research: 3 hours on Famous Author
5. Admin: begin reviewing journal proposals
6. Admin: paperwork for opening church
7. Self-care: Exercise x 5
8. Self-care: read another book
9. Self-care: get adequate sleep.
10: Self-care: breathe for the next 24 hours

Last quarter 2020, week 8: the café and WCs

Susan's comment last week reminded me that there is more to a museum than the art. At some point, your feet hurt, you're hungry, you have other bodily needs to take care of, and even if you're communing with your favorite material ever (normally on the other side of the world or in storage, so you want to be with it all day), you just have to take a break.

So let me show you to the museum's café/tea shop and restaurant, where you can choose a quick bite and a cuppa, or a full sit-down meal with table service. Champagne tea with a pyramid of tiny sandwiches and petit fours (such as I once had at the Met, sitting alone and savoring every mouthful) is an option, if you'd care to join me. What will you order to restore yourself?

Answer the prompt if it speaks to you; let it go if it doesn't. Tell us how you're doing, and what your new goals are. I hope you've had a good week, and that November will treat you kindly.

Daisy

1) Trying again: Work on local paper every day this week and actually make progress
2) Continue checking in on students
3) Prepare rest of grad class readings
4) My intentional thing for the week: celebratory evening with friends for cool life event

Dame Eleanor Hull

*Health: daily cardio and stretching, weights x 3, try to eat carefully and sleep enough.
*Teaching: Grade 2 sets of discussion board posts, 1 set of papers, a set of bibliography entries, another project.
*Research: work on revisions; some time on both dead and live languages; some other reading.
*Service: work on exam-related document for dept., prep for Monday meeting, grad admissions review.
*Admin: do one online training, now TRQ.
*Fun stuff: read, bake something.
*House/life: vote & take ballot to county board.
*Track time, at least roughly.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Practice presentation.
Tidy closet in preparation for the seasonal change of clothing.
Read another DH article.
Walk 2x7; meditate 1x7; write 2 hours x 5; something positive 1x7.

heu mihi

(Taking the week to re-set vis-á-vis goals.)

Humming42

1 work on creative piece
2 write weekly blog post
3 grade every day
4 finish TRQ November conference paper

JaneB

(Busy and confused, but we miss you.)

oceangirl101

1. Get heaps of grading done
2. Book- edits or polishing 2 hrs
3. Co-authored paper, write 2 hrs
4. Exercise x 3
5. Stretch, bath, smell therapy 3x a week at minimum
6. Organize Virtual Open House for prospective students

ScottishThistle, who stands for everyone reading along but not participating this session

(Best wishes for support and achievement in your life, or at least survival and breathing!)

Susan

1. Teaching: get ahead another week in two classes/ I have only a few weeks left to structure, so I feel as if I'm on a glide path to the end of the semester.
2. Teaching: get book orders for spring in. I just agreed to teach an overload, so I get a course off next year. Maybe insane?
3. Admin: read book ms, start drafting promotion letter.
4. Admin: keep dealing with BS related to big proposal, but wait to read it till I've finished the promotion review.
5. Teaching: Chart student progress. Finally
6. Research: Two hours + 1 hour on Famous author
7. Exercise: 5 days at least, esp with new toy
8. Relax: do something nice, maybe start reading?