Hello everyone!
After reading about everyone’s crisis responses and roles I decided that I would be very relieved to be stuck in a crisis with this group! Lots of varied skills, we have a little bit of everything!
Signs of spring are creeping up on us, even up where I am the birds are singing their little hearts out… No flowers yet, those don’t show up till much later – crocuses generally flower mid-April and daffodils and tulips don’t hit their stride until May, when they usually get snowed on at least once… So I have a way to go but there is definitely a feeling in the air that it is coming.
How do you
mark the change in seasons? Do you have special things that you do to make it
feel like a particular season? What the best signs of spring where you live? (Southern hemisphere can switch for Fall of course!)
Does spring inspire you to decorate your fantasy cabin? What is your indoor theme for your cabin? Scandinavian chic? Country cabin charm? Island colour explosion? Tell us what you would love even if it is impractical!
Bonus points this week: buy a batch of your favourite spring flowers for no reason at all!
Last week’s goals
Daisy
Survive
until Wednesday
Finish/give research and teaching talks (see point above)
Paper edits
Accounting
Student chapters
All the stuff I owe everyone?
Dame Eleanor Hull
Keep core work hours.
Health: cardio x6, stretch x6, track bedtime.
Research: draft conference paper, do at least one thing for book, dead
languages x2 each.
Teaching: write the last 5 assignments, keep building VILE sites, grade 1 short
assignment.
Life stuff: spend time with visiting friend, decide where to stay on one
unbooked night, tidy house at least a bit before friend's visit.
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Life stuff: Write doctor re osteoporosis appointment; make
other two doctors’ appointments.
Finish weekly meal planning pages.
Take notes on a couple of articles—this is a bit of a cheat, but I want an easy
win!
Search ten articles I have in paper to replace with electronic copies.
heu mihi
1) Deal with at least one journal article.
2) Finish up the Aquinas loose ends.
3) Read for next week's grad class (I'm not ahead anymore!).
4) Grade papers.
5) Various sabbatical-related emails.
Humming42 (carried over)
1 write and submit extended abstract
2 submit upcoming and late book review (the one that was upcoming last week is
late this week)
3 promote upcoming virtual conference with tremendous enthusiasm (not that I
can ever muster that)
4 write and present morning talk that I regret agreeing to do
5 review R&R for journal way outside of my primary field
JaneB
1) call GP about anxiety etc. because this is not going to
defeat me
2) do teaching prep for week 9, start week 10
3) make time to read or do D&D prep 4 days
4) Send an email to the "Why" author group
5) do a little more advertising about the May Training Course
6) move intentionally 10 minutes a day (assuming I will Go Flop as per usual)
7) read & comment on draft text for two grad students
8) start grading two lots of projects from the fives (mine & the set for
the colleague who's been cool with me doing the prep and the online version of
our shared classes and him doing the on campus versions).
Karen
1. Keep up VILE boards, have weeks 6 & 7 content
checked and automated, get first assessment task marked and back
2. Finish off postgrad edit saga (chapter 3 and conclusion)
3. Write exhibition proposal and send to writing group
4. get to yoga class x2
Susan (carried over)
1. Finish this chapter (doable) before trip to Library
2. Keep reading ms.
3. Do fun thing
4. Go to all the meetings
5. Keep up with exercise & good eating
6. Set up Mom's new computer (hangs over me . . .anxiety.)
Signs of spring - overnight last week the plum tree outside was in bloom. Which I guess is nice (spring is not a season I much like - too variable, hayfever miseries, promise of summer which is usually too hot and a disappointment because one always aspires to Get Things Done and ends up failing). It just feels so ominous and contrary - COVID is everywhere, COVID is ignored, it feels like 2 years ago and more and more people are sick but apparently this is "living with it". Well, it is, it's everywhere. Colleagues were away last week on field trips - one ended up in hospital with a health issue (not COVID - but one which is supposed to be much, much more likely after COVID, and he had it just before Christmas), two are already COVID positive. Tests now pretty much not available in the UK and in general I am totally not keen on going onto campus to teach labs all day tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteCabin decoration - kind of scandinavian for the clean simplicity and the phenomenal amounts of hidden storage, but mid-toned wood not the pale of birch trees, and of course there will still be a lot of colourful "stuff" everywhere because, me. I will be living there. Plus at least one pet.
LAST WEEK
1) call GP about anxiety etc. because this is not going to defeat me no... I am a wimp...
2) do teaching prep for week 9, start week 10 week 9 yes, sent some emails about week 10
3) make time to read or do D&D prep 4 days reading yes - in fact I took the weekend off because, new mindcandy series discovered, and no external reasons to NOT read - Mother's Day in the UK so we didn't D&D
4) Send an email to the "Why" author group sigh no
5) do a little more advertising about the May Training Course nope because digital picket being respected for ongoing strikes
6) move intentionally 10 minutes a day (assuming I will Go Flop as per usual) YES. Despite EVERYTHING.
7) read & comment on draft text for two grad students one done, one half done (but she's handed in nearly 100 pages)
8) start grading two lots of projects from the fives (mine & the set for the colleague who's been cool with me doing the prep and the online version of our shared classes and him doing the on campus versions). I've done four so far... out of 41... well, more than none?
This week... tomorrow is really busy and on campus, wednesday is really busy but on line, Thursday I should be on campus in the afternoon but we will see. I wasn't that well last week, just anxious gut, but still. we will see!
NEXT WEEK
1) call GP about anxiety etc. because this is not going to defeat me
2) do teaching prep for week 10
3) make time to read or do D&D prep 4 days
4) Send an email to the "Why" author group
5) move intentionally 10 minutes a day
6) read & comment on second half of draft text for grad student
7) continue grading two lots of projects from the fives
8) grade essays for the fours
9) write comments for the fives on their project ideas
Yay for moving intentionally! And also you started the grading, which means you're no longer putting it off, so now it will go quickly (or at least that's what you can tell yourself).
DeleteYay for weekend off and new mind-candy reading! So necessary! And yay for the grad student reading and feedback, that takes longer than most other things I find...
DeleteLove the storage idea - that's always a problem in cabin-style places which makes it hard to keep them organized.
My biggest sign of spring right now is that I just want to be DONE. I think that this stretch--between spring break and sabbatical--is just a little challenging (because I'm so ready to be done) and also scary (because what if I'm not prepared enough for sabbatical and hence waste it???).
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1) Deal with at least one journal article. - Just one
2) Finish up the Aquinas loose ends. - YES
3) Read for next week's grad class (I'm not ahead anymore!). - Yes; the class is on Monday, so if I hadn't done this, I'd be sunk
4) Grade papers. - Yes
5) Various sabbatical-related emails. - Yes; there are more to do!
This week:
1) Plan Kzoo paper (read the essay that it's going to come out of and figure out what part of it will be the conference paper)
2) Edit one more journal article
3) Required title IX training; sustainability committee work
4) Read two articles for research; figure out next mini-unit for myself
5) Try again to make some progress re. school registration in France
You of all people are going to be so well prepared for sabbatical! Good luck with the school registration!
DeleteDefinitely a sign of spring! And the good part is you will be done soon, and be very prepared for the sabbatical! I'm confident there will be no wasting of sabbatical, you have a lot of the big things ready to go so the rest will come.
DeleteI haven’t thought much about the change of seasons beyond changing my wardrobe for the two days a week that I’m on campus. The grass is growing but the trees haven’t bloomed yet. I meant to do some tree trimming before spring bloom; I think I should add that to my list despite really wanting to avoid it.
ReplyDeleteI should probably make it very easy for myself to drink a healthy amount of water in the condo cabin. Maybe a lovely pitcher and large glass/cup for a nearby table.
Last two weeks:
1 write and submit extended abstract: I decided not to do this when I realized that the war in Ukraine is not going to end quickly and I began to have emotional vertigo when dealing with the news. As such, I felt like tracking cultural alliances with Ukraine online would be far more emotionally difficult than I anticipated. I’m grateful for this decision, and that the deadline fell late enough that I could choose not to pursue it.
2 submit upcoming and late book review (the one that was upcoming last week is late this week): I can’t seem to get caught up on book reviews, which is probably a sign that I’ve overcommitted myself. I finished one, but now have two that are late.
3 promote upcoming virtual conference with tremendous enthusiasm (not that I can ever muster that): I was so surprised that this event was a smashing success. Really, my colleagues and their students showed up and shared their research. The success was definitely on them; I just made a space and a zoom room for it.
4 write and present morning talk that I regret agreeing to do: Also a surprising success, that included an article in the local newspaper. It’s funny how you can present at an international conference or publish in a top tier journal, but your family is most impressed when your research shows up in the newspaper.
5 review R&R for journal way outside of my primary field: There were two article reviews and both gladly are done.
This week:
1 oh those two book reviews
2 make progress on grading
3 start work on April conference presentation
4 twenty minutes a day cleaning office
5 some tree trimming
What lovely successes! Congratulations! And good luck with the book reviews.
DeleteSecond that! Wonderful successes, all the more fun for being a bit surprising.
DeleteAnd good to hear that deciding not to do something was a good decision - we sometimes forget that not doing things is sometimes a great choice and we don't give ourselves credit for the wisdom that it takes to decide that way...
Decor: I guess I'll borrow JaneB's Scandinavian hidden storage, because I would like my cabin to be considerably more minimalist than my ordinary spaces, yet somehow one always needs Stuff---extra blankets, those mugs that always accumulate (where do they come from?), plenty of towels, tools to fix whatever needs it . . . ).
ReplyDeleteWe had a few warm days so it looks more or less like spring here (leaf buds on the lilac bush, other people's crocuses and snowdrops blooming, my daffodil leaves & some buds are up), but then temperatures dropped so it still feels rather wintry, and I'm back into woollies.
How I did:
Keep core work hours. YES, except for day I took off with friend.
Health: cardio x6, stretch x6, track bedtime. YES.
Research: draft conference paper, do at least one thing for book, dead languages x2 each. YES, YES, almost.
Teaching: write the last 5 assignments, keep building VILE sites, grade 1 short assignment. NOOOO. Ugh, these are now urgent.
Life stuff: spend time with visiting friend, decide where to stay on one unbooked night, tidy house at least a bit before friend's visit. YES, NO, YES.
New goals:
Keep core work hours.
Health: cardio x6, stretch x6, track bedtime.
Research: edit/develop conference paper, book 20 minutes x3, dead languages x2 each.
Teaching: write the last 5 assignments, keep building VILE sites, grade 1 short assignment and two longer ones.
Life stuff: book one night's hotel, pack, pay bills, write a condolence note.
I'm pretty sure that mugs have babies, but there is a larval stage where they are not visible and then they metamorphose into fully grown ones at night and fill up your cabinets...
DeleteGlad you took a day off with a friend! That is a great change of scene, hopefully restorative too.
For the first week of spring we got our traditional snow storm! So we’re right on schedule… Birds are the only thing that reminds me that spring is in fact coming. They’re a hardy bunch here! I planted some tulip bulbs that had been languishing in the garage and started to sprout, maybe one of them decides to make an actual tulip before the normal ones come up in May or June!
ReplyDeleteMy cabin theme is going to be beach/Greek island colours – lots of white and brightly coloured accents. Nothing will match, everything will exude warmth, hence the somewhat incongruous fireplace in the beach cabin! And on the porch there will be a hammock in bright colours.
What a week… I made it, everything I was in control of went well, but it was incredibly stressful, mostly because the interview was at a place I already have collaborations and students and visit a lot. Giving talks for your really close friends and colleagues is the scariest thing in academics. Such an odd place to be, for part of the day pretend you are a stranger interviewing, but knowing that half an hour after the talks you have a meeting to work on student stuff and papers together with the same people you just talked to. They managed to put together a search committee of people I have not actually worked with but it is still awful. I definitely prefer potential rejection by strangers! And now I am trying to forget it ever happened because waiting is the worst too!
Last week’s goals
Survive until Wednesday DID THAT
Finish/give research and teaching talks (see point above) YEP
Paper edits HAHAHA
Accounting NOPE
Student chapters YES
All the stuff I owe everyone? MOSTLY…
This week’s goals
Paper edits for THREE papers now
Accounting
Student chapters
Order equipment and software
Late checkin for autumn down here. We're still having warm days, but the nights are cooling and the sunlight has taken on the softer glow and longer slant that leads down to winter dark. But I've picked myself a vase of zinnias, in beautiful russet tones, which are happily flowering away as though frost isn't coming.
ReplyDeleteSo inspired by the season change I'm going to think about textiles for my cabin - cozy herringbone rugs for the winter, large elaborately floral patterns for window seat cushions, and linen curtains that filter but don't blackout.
Last week:
1. Keep up VILE boards, have weeks 6 & 7 content checked and automated, get first assessment task marked and back - yes
2. Finish off postgrad edit saga (chapter 3 and conclusion) - progress made
3. Write exhibition proposal and send to writing group - no, defaulted to sending an old piece of exhibition text that needs to be turned into a significance statement
4. get to yoga class x2 - yes, so good
This week
Despite being mostly gone already (swallowed up by covering two colleagues classes) I guess I can still set some goals
1. Keep up with VILE boards, survive all the teaching
2. Spend 2 hours on my own writing
3. yoga x 2
4. process tomatoes and make sweet chilli sauce
Lots of good things got done, yay!
DeleteThe zinnias and the cabin textiles all sound lovely! And warm! I tried growing zinnias in a pot here once, poor things did not like the climate at all...
Spring flirted with us briefly, giving us a couple of sunny 50 degree days before . . . it snowed. Like Daisy mentioned, the birds who head south for the winter have been coming back and singing away in the early morning. The neighbor’s star magnolia, which is just within my line of sight from the garret, is rather tentatively budding, but the pink dogwood that is a few yards away from my garret window clearly still thinks it is January.
ReplyDeleteI think spring in the cabin would see more airing out and cleaning than any particular decorating, although I do love to bring flowers inside once they come up. Like Dame Eleanor, I would strive for a more minimalist feeling in the cabin, with lots of dual-purpose/hidden storage sorts of furniture, like a leaning ladder-like quilt/afghan display/storage unit.
Last week’s goals:
Life stuff: Write doctor re osteoporosis appointment; make other two doctors’ appointments. Yes, and yes/yes.
Finish weekly meal planning pages. Yes, and the accompanying grocery list, as well.
Take notes on a couple of articles—this is a bit of a cheat, but I want an easy win! Yes, I did this on Sunday, but it’s nice to cross it off the list.
Next week’s goals:
Continue recycling paper copies of articles I can save electronically.
Request the articles from the education of 16th-century women search.
Go to the (relatively) far away grocery store for the unusual ingredients for my diet.
Pull together a nice draft of the collection guide for a mockup to show my colleagues.
It’s cold and gray again today, but the longer periods of daylight are helping my mood, finally! Float like mist, everyone.
Easy wins are totally not a cheat! They are necessary and should be used when needed with no feelings of guilt at all!
DeleteLove the quilt display idea, that adds instant warmth and character to a room and provides excellent storage and warm quilts on hand all in one!