I need to go do some errands instead of eating All The Chocolate. OK, I'm not really eating all of it; there's still plenty left. But chocolate is always more-ish. So, what are your favorites? While I was in the UK, I had a good bar of plain (dark) chocolate from Sainsbury's, but then turned to Green & Black's ginger chocolate. At home, my go-tos are Trader Joe's Pound Plus of dark chocolate, and Chocolove's peppermint flavor (also fond of their ginger and Rich Dark). Your recs?
And how are the work and other to-dos going? Bonne courage!
How I did with last week's goals:
ReplyDelete--assemble documents, fill in & file travel voucher: NO, totally forgot this one! (Why I always had "look at calendar and lists daily" during our last session!)
--catch up on class attendance, e-mail people who need prodding: YES
--finish writing essay that is now months overdue (editors assure me I am not the worst offender!): NO, could not manage writing time this week.
--do some editing tasks of my own (apparently I am not getting out of the situation I recently reported on . . . ): YES, more to come (this is going to need a LOT of chocolate; editing, at least of a small and obscure annual, is waaaaaay too much like grading)
--get back to exercise routine: YES! (Swam twice, exercise bike twice, weights once, yoga x5)
--take Reina to vet (routine visit): YES
--prep dead languages/catch up on what I missed: YES
ALSO: read 4 chapters of a book some of which I'll assign in the fall, plus an essay by the same author, read or re-read another essay (must check to see if I took notes on it and forgot it, or just never read it after downloading), went for a walk with a friend, attended most of a one-day symposium online, went to mystery group, wrote down some ideas about teaching a class I haven't done for awhile, contemplated some garden work but realized we have a freeze warning tonight so put it off (last week we got up to 80 F, and will do so again in another few days; the freeze is crazy).
Next week has a lot of running around, with minimum 40 miles of driving on each of 4 days (double that on two of them), so I am going to try to be realistic with new goals:
--travel voucher stuff
--write/research 20-30 minutes/day (at least take some notes on last week's readings)
--regular exercise
--editing process stuff
--show up adequately prepared for all the meetings
--look at calendar and lists every day
Busy week!! Hats off for all the reading and language things especially, and all the cool ALSO things!
DeleteBendicks for dark chocolate with mint, Lindt Excellence for the sort of quality where you eat two pieces and are satisfied. Currently especially the orange intense flavour (candied orange peel and almond slivers and very dark chocolate... yum!).
ReplyDeleteI'm really fed up with collaborators on the big paper right now - we had an extra two weeks which we didn't fully need but of course because we did have it everyone kept drifting past their promised deadlines and I spent most of last week just reminding and reminding (and one has to be so careful with the messaging), and the person who is doing the references got the piece late and had a busy week (they're one of the most junior teaching-heavy-role people in the group and that's one reason I was pushing so hard for people to hit their darn deadlines, so that he had the time to finish his part) and basically we missed our extended deadline. So I carefully composed an email to the editor, who has an out of office on until the end of the month and named an "emergency contact" for the special issue - who turned out to ALSO have her out of office on! GAH. And that means I still have to deal with the dreaded submission system on Monday and I have other things to do! GAH.
Goals for the coming week:
1) at least 3 x 20 minutes intentional movement
2) 75% of chores list
3) get this darned revised article resubmitted
4) start to plan timetabling for next year
5) book annual leave for the summer months (make sure I use up the days I have left now carry over isn't allowed - our leave year ends in July now (recent change - used to be September) and I used to mostly take leave in August, but I can only carry a few days over and don't want to use too much of next year's time. I'll probably mostly book long weekends again.
6) comment on grad student from another university's paper (unless I get a big chunk from one of my masters-by-research students in - those take priority at this point, they are both "supposed" to submit at the end of the month but are unlikely to make it)
That will do for now. Only two weeks of teaching left...
Oh, dear, the missed deadlines, the processes, the hurry-up-and-wait followed by the wait-and-hurry-up, it's all so stressful. Hence the chocolate!
DeleteDefinitely an eat all the chocolate week! Hang in there.
DeleteWhen collaborators are conscientious and careful they are wonderful.... When they make things more difficult that is a different story entirely. Hang in there, hope paper gets sorted soon!
DeleteI try different bars of chocolate. My current favorite is Lily's Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt. But I try any dark chocolate with sea salt. Just the straight stuff. I have a square or so for dessert.
ReplyDeleteNo goals, just survival. Still no place to go, but I no longer own my house and haven't found a place to move. Keeping breathing.
There was a lovely gathering of a few friends and colleagues to celebrate my career, and I realized how rarely we say nice things to others about them and their work. So it was very nice.
I'll keep you updated...
You sold the house! It's a big step. The next right house will appear at the right time.
DeleteThat sounds tough. Sending good vibes for finding the perfect house. But the celebration sounds lovely.
DeleteSo glad the career celebration was good! We definitely do not have enough occasions to celebrate those big-picture things, lovely that you got together with friends and colleagues for that.
DeleteGood luck with house, that is stressful! The perfect spot is out there somewhere, waiting...
Dark chocolate with either salted caramel or orange. If I had to choose, a Terry's Dark Chocolate Orange. But Green and Black is also very good.
ReplyDeleteGoals for this week:
1. Read a colleague's grant proposal.
2. Work on paper for a seminar next week.
3. House/life admin: book more summer travel, RSVP to cousin's wedding invite, book doctor's appointment, book optician, find lamps and new chair, figure out car insurance for daughter (she passed!).
4. Self-care/fun: video call with friends and plan weekend away in June, read, try new recipes, exercise, spend as much time as possible looking at blossom while it lasts.
Congratulations to your daughter! I'm glad blossom has come to your part of the UK--Oxford was SO beautiful the week I was there!
DeleteCongrats to new legal driver!
DeleteEnjoy the flowers! We're just into snowdrop and crocus time, a few daffodils are considering coming up, but it will be a while before the trees join in...
Lindt dark is various flavours - the chili one is excellent, love the orange, the mint, the sea salt... We have some local ones that are pretty good, roastery's dark with coffee beans comes to mind...
ReplyDeleteAll the chocolate for sure!
I am struggling and completely under water with multiple theses that have to be submitted this week, conference prep, marking, and intense institutional drama and angst that takes up an inordinate amount of time and energy. But even with that I went along on a student field trip that I could have had colleagues cover (they kindly offered) and it was lovely and restorative and a very nice 48 hour break. It was also freezing cold. So standard for April here.
Major tasks this week are the two theses documents, a third for review, two paper reviews, one paper revision, two exams, and 6 major institutional documents that are going through multiple reviews this week... Ouch...
Definitely going to get some chocolate!
Ouch indeed! But thank Cat for chocolate! Your field trip sounds like a good break plus you get brownie points for doing stuff for the students--very clever of you. I hope the theses are good and the exams are easy to grade.
DeleteHere's to good theses and less institutional drama! Definitely what chocolate is for.
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