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
Well this week was grim. My uni has announced a voluntary exit scheme which will be followed by a substantial curriculum review then likely involuntary redundancies. The level of trauma and resignation among colleagues is hard to handle, and it's going to be really hard whatever happens, and whatever I personally decide. part of me is tempted by voluntary exit because two years ago when the last round started I was coming back from sick leave and had optimism about recovering more energy and enthusiasm, and I'm only a bit better than I was then but the context is, probably, more difficult. I'm not really old enough to retire and be financially stable (too long a gap until I can properly take pension) but oh, it's kind of tempting. I don't know, but it's all really upsetting, stressful and was so, so predictable. So this trimester is going to be _interesting_ regardless - accepted applications to leave will leave either end October or end November, part way through the semester, and that will be interesting. And makes it very hard to consider leaving, because of the chaos it will inflict on others, but part of me really wants to, to avoid the pain and stress that is to come. GRRRRR.
ReplyDeleteBut over to fantasy! The house is all old, but it's the sort of old which feels organic, parts probably separated by centuries of settling into the ground. From the photos, I love where it sits, not sticking out dramatically in the landscape but from the inside, its position commands sweeping views of sea and hill. It's not huge, but I think it has at least a library/study separate from a living room, and at least one bedroom besides the master - maybe more. The paperwork is a bit inconsistent and I haven't managed to go visit yet, In all that paperwork, there wasn't a floor plan, which seems a bit unusual. I didn't know the person who gave me this place, and it would feel terribly rude to make a decision without at least seeing it. Maybe I'll learn something about them from the journey and the visit which will help me understand what they meant by the gift, what the invisible strings are. Plus just look at that view!
LAST WEEK:
DeleteSELF CARE
3x20 minutes of movement - one
reading, 1-2 creative things, 1-2 social things - yes, yes, one plus some angsty conversations online about how to make decisions...
LIFE ADMIN
List for declutterer yes, but she couldn't come as her child was ill - next week!
Don’t get lots more stuff did more grown up sums and fretted instead. Did get takeout. It wasn't very good which feels extra annoying!
TEACHING/WORK ADMIN
Sort out ViLE sites and assessments for first semester classes two sites and their assessments set up ready for checking/approvals
Do all the follow-ups to the resit programme results some, others are pending
Get details of new system and start to set up my objectives if I can work out how ugh, no, distracted by all the stuff
RESEARCH
Process model output and set next model running for modelling based project yes, progressing nicely
make list of all the other ‘ongoing stuff’no, distracted by news
THE COMING WEEK:
Is quite quiet, but, unlikely to stay that way.
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 (le big sigh)
Oh, dear, I am so sorry that you are having yet more uncertainty & threatened redundancies at work. That sounds so demoralizing! "Cry once" should be the way to go--that is, get all the pain over with at once & then the people who remain can feel safe and get on with things. Multiple rounds is just exhausting and depressing. The not-great takeout that was supposed to be a treat is another letdown. At least you got your reading, creative things, and modelling work done! Well. Bon courage for this week!
DeleteI'm so sorry. That sounds horrible, and so badly managed. Even if people have to go, making them go so soon is terrible in terms of all the knock-on effects. I don't blame you for being tempted to go, and I wouldn't feel selfish if you do - I get the chaos for everyone else, but everyone who goes voluntarily saves someone else from being forced out. But I also get that financially it may not be an option, in which case, sending you as much strength as possible to get through this.
DeleteSo so sorry about the miserable work context. But I love trying to figure out a house without seeing it!
DeleteMy house is one of those 1970's coastal constructions that looks like an enormous heap of driftwood with oddly shaped windows here and there, and then a huge wall of glass facing, in this case, an overgrown garden/woodsy bit rather than ocean. I think it's fairly large, really larger than I need, but I'm not sure of the layout: it might be one of those houses that is better for parties than for living in.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
- final revisions to W: YES! YES! Finally, finally, yes (until the press decides it wants more changes, I suppose, but for the moment the editors are happy and I'm pretending I won't have to do anything till the proofs stage).
- comment one set of grad assignments & devise a quiz: YES
- prep discussion questions for other class: YES
- re-do a travel voucher for the second time: YES
- swim twice, cardio/weights twice: swam once, c/w twice
- try to be more efficient in the mornings: not much success here
ALSO: two social events (a walk with a friend; lunch & a museum with another couple); weeded out some items to give away or take to a consignment shop; wrote some instructions for b00k lab clean-up after a particular activity;
New goals:
- 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 (if I'm writing or exercising first, then I'm not studying dead languages . . . do I try to get myself to do languages instead of playing word games while the caffeine kicks in, or do I do languages in the evenings?)
If anyone can deal with an overgrown garden, you can! And congratulations on getting W finished (for now, and proofs are hopefully some way in the future).
DeleteI am so tired of dealing with invasive species! I think in this fantasy I will either hire someone else to do the work or just let nature take its course . . . which, since it's a fantasy, it will do very picturesquely!
DeleteHave you read Olivia Laing, The Garden Against Time? It's part memoir, describing a garden restoration project, part history of gardens. It sort of fits with our theme, except the book only describes the garden, the house barely features, apart from a library Laing built for their husband (a retired academic). There are invasive species and at least some hired labour!
DeleteI will look for it, thank you!
DeleteMy house is an old stone farmhouse, red roof. I'm going to say eighteenth century origins, maybe a bit older, but with additions/modernisation since then, mainly to extend it a bit. It's all been done sympathetically, in similar materials, so it doesn't look jarring. It will be cold in winter, as it's mostly stone floors downstairs and the central heating is iffy. It's a nice size: big kitchen with a dining area, living room and a snug area with a woodburning stove. I dithered about whether there is a study downstairs that opens onto the garden but instead there's an attic room with windows and a view of the sea which will be my study instead. There are four bedrooms, so it's not a huge house, but there's space for visitors, maybe family gatherings at Christmas. There is a conservatory off the living room which opens on to the garden. The garden needs some attention, but isn't completely overgrown. I'm being advised to let it out as an easier option than having two houses, as I can't sell up and retire here for some time yet. But although it needs a lot of work, and I won't be able to use it much to start with, I want it for the location and as a writing retreat/summer place. Plus I think I mentioned last time that there are restrictions on what I can do with it.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1. Work on Big Article: aim for two days. - JUST ABOUT
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. - YES, YES (managed two).YES, SOME
3. Life admin/house: chase plumber to fix shower, get daughter ready for university, transfer some money to savings account, organise study. - YES, YES, YES, IN PROGRESS
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. - YES
5. Self-care/fun: run x 4, finish reading novel, friends for dinner tomorrow, journal, try new recipe. YES (recipe was a seafood curry)
It was an emotional week with a long drive this weekend to take daughter to university. She is now in the whirlwind that is freshers' or induction week, and seems to be loving it so far. Hopefully that will continue. But it has been far more of a wrench than I expected. Glad I still have one child at home for a while longer.
This week:
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.
What a lot of YES and progress! That's an excellent week, despite the feelings involved with sending your daughter off to uni.
DeleteIt makes me think--there *are* "back-to-school" activities for profs, but they are never things I want to do. I wish someone (me, I guess) would schedule me for things like "one hour of required cat-entertaining," one walk around the pond, and a bit of professorial pampering, around all the syllabus-writing, planning meetings, state-of-the-X addresses, and semi-mandatory schmoozing.
We did have a fantastic Away Day one year when instead of sitting in a room discussing the curriculum or whatever we walked a stretch of Hadrian's Wall in brilliant early autumn sunshine. I would also be very up for the pampering but sadly I don't see us ever having the budget for that.
DeleteHm! I don't know what my house looks like! Let me try to write a bit and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteThe house is about two thirds of the way up a mountain, shrouded in woods, but it's a funny tall house--as though it were trying to reach up beyond the trees. From the third-story windows, in fact, you can see the lake that fills the better part of the valley. It's quite a lovely view, and there's a balcony from one of the rooms that's truly spectacular. Not quite sure how strong its supports are, though--I'll need to look into that.
Don't be fooled by the three stories; it's not exactly a big house. It's narrow and tall and...winding, somehow. Maybe it's the spiral staircase that creates that effect, and all the nooks and crannies filled with shelves--many of them still crowded with books. The walls are painted all sorts of colors, though a lot of the paint is chipped and worn. I'm torn between feeling overwhelmed and remarkably cozy.
(Partly inspired by the Spiral House that I recently saw the outside of--I hope to get an inside tour one of these days!)
Last week:
1. Meet with a couple of folks about the committee. - Yes.
2. Write 2500 words. - Yes.
3. Exercise 4+ times, sit 1+ times - 6 times, 1 time.
This week:
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.
Goals are a little weird at the moment, as I'm figuring out what this job involves!
I look forward to hearing more about your house as you discover it! Good going on the goals!
DeleteMy house is an old fisherman's cottage on the Northumberland coast that has been extended over time so that the upstairs loft now has bedrooms, and there is a proper kitchen and bathroom. No matter how surprised I am by this gift, I would not manage a house without indoor plumbing. I'm too old for that. It's not a big house -- downstairs has a big sitting room/kitchen/dining room that is not completely open, but well connected, a powder room, and a small study/office. Upstairs, two bedrooms and a bathroom. One of the outbuildings could be a studio, but we'll see.
ReplyDeleteHOW I DID:
Review earlier papers I've written that I can use towards what I do this fall YES
Figure out how tantalizing bits of information might fit into them, enrich them, expand questions etc. NOT YET
Read through 4 reels of microfilm. HAH, NO.
Other: try to walk every day NOT REALLY
Motivation has been hard. However, I've seen a bunch of friends, so it's been a social week, and one friend I saw and I are thinking of doing an edition of some documents together, so that was fun. And after a walk with a friend yesterday, I discovered a new restaurant in the neighborhood, so that was good.
Goals for this week:
DRAFT THE DAMN PAPER. (I have a plan, really, I do.)
PACK
Organize life
I fly halfway home on Saturday, stopping in an eastern Canadian province to visit a friend and give a talk. I'm looking forward to exploring a new place! Then next Wednesday I fly the rest of the way home. I'm ready.
Are you and JaneB and Julie all in the same village?? What are the odds?
DeleteA plan will get you a long way on the damn paper! Have fun with your talk & exploration!
My house is a small log cabin with a simple lay-out. The bones are old (early 1900s?), but the interior has clearly had some additions made (grateful for indoor plumbing, and electricity). The ground floor is a single room, with a basic kitchen area, a separate bathroom as an add-on (looks like 70’s vintage perhaps?), and the best part is the giant hearth with chimney (built out of interesting rocks of course) that heats the ground floor and the upper level. The floor is made with roughly shaped pieces of local slate. The upper level is a semi-enclosed loft-style bedroom, under a pointy roof, all exposed beams. It is about half the width of the house, the rest is a walk-out balcony (ok, more like a flat part of the roof) from which I can see the bay, the ocean, and since it faces south, lots of sun from all directions. Someone dragged a couple of very heavy Adirondack chairs up there, so assuming they don’t regularly blow off the roof as would happen where I live now…
ReplyDeleteI want to keep it for a retreat spot, to go kayaking, and because I’m dead curious about the history and because I still do not know why I have it in the first place…
Last week’s goals
Take day off! DONE
Finalize syllabus and teach first classes DONE
Read and edit student chapters DONE
Read and edit student’s paper draft NOT YET
Sort out teaching assistants DONE
Sort out my schedule DONE
Last week’s goals felt a little like cheating because they all had to happen… But I will take it! This week is a pain in the next because construction mistakes (3 in a row) means I have no running water in my kitchen. And no idea when it is coming back.
This week’s goals
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
That's a lot DONE! Even if it had to happen, it did, which is always a win. Good luck with the kitchen. Running water in a kitchen is incredibly useful.
DeleteDefinitely take the wins where you can get them! I hope you soon have kitchen water again.
Delete