2026 Session Three, Week Three

It's such fun hearing about your houses! I seem to be the only one who got a house in a city, and sea views are definitely popular. This week, after the first flush of delight passes, we're going to notice the houses' problems: structural, locational, cosmetic? Is there something nasty in the woodshed that needs to be cleaned out or knocked down, a problem with the foundation or the roof, a bypass under construction nearby? Is the house much too small, large, or badly laid out? Or is it a fairly solid house whose previous owners had . . . idiosyncratic . . . notions of decor? Or maybe they were hoarders . . . . Anyway, tell us about the problems you'll have to find a way to deal with. They will not be insurmountable, but they do contribute to people in your life urging you to just sell and move on.

Goals from last week:

Daisy

Prepare research talk for visit to former home town
Read and edit student paper draft
Read and edit more student chapters
Do admin for upcoming meeting
Book flights for interesting trip in October

Dame Eleanor Hull

- work on both M and S projects this week
- 2 "write first" mornings, 3 "exercise first" mornings
- grade grad quizzes, prep for both classes
- finishing touches to syllabuses, load more stuff to the ViLE
- make 3 phone calls to schedule or re-schedule things
- assorted stupid work admin things
- get back to latest round of editing tasks
- spend an hour tidying my study (or somewhere!)
- get-together with niece & great-nibs
- find a good time for language work

Heu mihi

1. Work: Start identifying external reviewers; come up with a plan to make a plan for the external review; attend numerous meetings; run first full faculty meeting.
2. Write 3000 words.
3. Exercise at least 4 times, sit at least twice.

JaneB

SELF CARE
3x20 minutes of movement
reading, 1-2 creative things, 1-2 social things
LIFE ADMIN
List for declutterer
Get electrician quote for a couple of jobs
Take cat to vet (nothing serious, I believe)
Don’t get lots more stuff
TEACHING/WORK ADMIN
Sort out slides for first lectures
Sort out checking process for ViLE sites and assessments
Get details of new system and start to set up my objectives if I can work out how
RESEARCH
Process more model output and set next model running for modelling based project
make list of all the other ‘ongoing stuff’
Continue to try and make a reasonable fist of a lot of ethics paperwork 

Julie

1. Big Article: another two days of writing, finish difficult section.
2. Teaching prep: organise meeting with tutors on big module, finalise readings for another seminar, work on ViLE; set readings for other guest seminar; work out what needs to be done for other two modules.
3. House/life admin: survey and quote for solar panels (unlikely to happen, but am seeing if it would be worth it), tidy spare room, tidy daughter's room, update electoral register, prep for friends visiting at weekend.
4. Self-care/fun: run x3, walk other days, read, watch last episode of TV series, journal, try another new recipe.

Susan

DRAFT THE DAMN PAPER.
PACK
Organize life

2026 Session Three, Week Two

About your house: this is a descriptive week. What is the house like? How big (or small), built when, in a single style or with additions from different periods? What do you like about it? Why do you want to keep it, rather than selling, as many of your friends/ advisors are urging you to do? (We'll get to its drawbacks next week.) 

About your goals: How did you do last week? What do you plan to do in the coming week?

Daisy

Take day off!
Finalize syllabus and teach first classes
Read and edit student chapters
Read and edit student’s paper draft
Sort out teaching assistants
Sort out my schedule

Dame Eleanor Hull

- final revisions to W
- comment one set of grad assignments & devise a quiz
- prep discussion questions for other class
- re-do a travel voucher for the second time*
- swim twice, cardio/weights twice
- try to be more efficient in the mornings

heu mihi

1. Meet with a couple of folks about the committee.
2. Write 2500 words.
3. Exercise 4+ times, sit 1+ times

JaneB

SELF CARE
3x20 minutes of movement
reading, 1-2 creative things, 1-2 social things
LIFE ADMIN
List for declutterer
Don’t get lots more stuff
TEACHING/WORK ADMIN
Sort out ViLE sites and assessments for first semester classes
Do all the follow-ups to the resit programme results
Get details of new system and start to set up my objectives if I can work out how
RESEARCH
Process model output and set next model running for modelling based project
make list of all the other ‘ongoing stuff’

Julie

1. Work on Big Article: aim for two days.
2. Teaching prep: contact all the tutors (mostly grad students) on big new module, finalise readings for at least one seminar, submit plan and readings for one of my two guest seminars, make lists of what needs to be done for everything.
3. Life admin/house: chase plumber to fix shower, get daughter ready for university, transfer some money to savings account, organise study.
4. Kids: book restaurant for daughter's last evening, help son with Latin revision and watch Vuelta highlights with him, take him to his annual running club event.
5. Self-care/fun: run x 4, finish reading novel, friends for dinner tomorrow, journal, try new recipe.

Susan

Research:
Review earlier papers I've written that I can use towards what I do this fall
Figure out how tantalizing bits of information might fit into them, enrich them, expand questions etc.
Read through 4 reels of microfilm.

Other: try to walk every day

2026 Session Three, Week One

Welcome to September! This week we'll set session goals. What do you hope to achieve by mid-December, a bit over three months from now? 

You can also set an intention for the session, if that's something you find helpful.

Goals for the week ahead are also welcome, but if you want to sit with your session goals this week and think about how to make them actionable in weekly increments, that's fine too.

And the creative part: You receive a fat envelope by registered mail, full of assorted documents and a cover letter from a lawyer informing you that you have inherited a house! This is quite unexpected, and indeed, overwhelming! You'll need awhile to absorb the implications. For now, just tell us a couple of things: (1) where is the house, and (2) who left it to you? 

Some things you might consider: did you know the person well, a little, not at all? Are they related to you, or to someone else in your family (yes, the trope of leaving something to the daughter/ granddaughter/ niece of the beloved)? Have you ever been to the house, or the region where it is, and if so, when, and in what circumstances? What appeals to you about the region (or neighborhood, if you prefer a house that's closer to where you are now)?