Administrivia - heu mihi, please get in touch to be added as a blog author!

Hi heu mihi,

Sorry for the public call out but I don't seem to have an email for you anywhere!  If you email me privately (at mollimog at gmail dot com) I can add you to the blog so you can make posts, and connect you with humming42.

And happy end-of-year to everyone!

Week 15 - The finishing line (of sparkly tinsel)

Hello Everyone,

I hope you're having a good mid-winter and that the past week has been easier than expected. There's so much going on for everyone at the moment.

This week we have final weekly check-ins and then the check-in against the final session goals. 

Thanks to all for participating this session.

Amstr

-revise 2 PBs

-finish MF stuff by Thursday pm

-exercise 4x

-mediate daily

-figure out and execute work time

Dame Eleanor Hull

1) Self: stay healthy via exercise, stretching, safe food.

2) Grade undergrad lp2.

3) Life stuff: deal with the bills and parental issues.

4) Resolutions: Live with uncertainty, work the process, show up, be kind.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Get completely well.

Finish second stocking.

Plan for holiday travel.

heu mihi

1. Figure out something to do in final classes. (Really. I have no idea. I'd thought it likely that tomorrow would be a make-up day, but I didn't cancel any classes, so there's no need.)

2. Actually finish the draft of this terrible novel.

3. Grade All The Things for Big Class.

4. Relaaax! Have a massage (--already scheduled)! Go Christmas shopping!

5. And, okay, start reading the book that I was supposed to have reviewed this fall.

humming42

1 30 minutes recherche (reading, writing, research, project admin) every day

2 Write first Snow blog

3 Write task list for Tiny project

4 Finish all grading!

JaneB

1) If I go to the conference, go to the conference, make the most of it, and feel entirely free to refuse evening activities if I don't feel like it. If I don't, do Gallimaufrey stuff and organising stuff which I've been putting off.

2) Stay in the office for minimum hours on Friday - priority is to attend a couple of meetings, then post parcels etc.

3) self-care and not wasting energy telling myself I've not done enough, indulging in self-blame or listening to any other Bugges with their nasty shrill mean needle-y voices

KJHaxton (carried over)

1. marking

2. prepare lectures for the next couple of weeks

3. work more on ethics forms

4. carry on with Christmas stuff

Susan

1. Write abstract for essay collection

2. Finish footnotes on R &R

3. GRADE

4. At least one walk

5. Party preparation includes decluttering & at least tidying.

Session Goals:

I've included original and revised goals where they exist - a few folk struck things off the session goals as complete half way through but I think it is important to count all successes for the session. 

Amstr

-Draft half of my novel (now aiming for a quarter)

-Develop submission packet for picture books/start submitting

-Finish prep for and teach weekend course (October)

-Develop website for editing

-maintain consistent exercise and eating habits (4x/wk exercise; daily meal planning)

-get more sleep! (7-8 hours a night)

Contingent Cassandra

--Continue working more regular movement into my routine: keep lifting weights on a regular (or semi-regular) basis, get back into habit of walking several times (or more) a week.

--Work more academic reading into my routine (with likely focus on Spring '18 class prep)

--Work in at least some other self-care (eating well, sleeping) and/or financial/household TLQ work when possible.

--Generally try to observe what works -- and doesn't -- in terms of forming new routines, keeping up with existing positive ones, avoiding bad habits (like creeping-forward bedtimes and too much reading on the internet when I'm tired/overwhelmed)

Dame Eleanor Hull

Live With Uncertainty and Keep Working the Process

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Session mantra: Organize, plan, contemplate

Continue to organize paper and electronic scholarship files.

Plan future projects.

Figure out my scholarship path.

Two hours on the book.

Walk an hour every day.

Keep up with medical needs.

Good Enough Woman

 Goals for the session:

1) Develop more stress management strategies, including exercise and, perhaps, exploring meditation and telling others how I feel.

2) Submit one article.

3) Either do NaNoWriMo or make another plan for drafting some of a novel, and develop a regular writing habit.

4) Make progress on bags and piles in the garage (this involves sorting and framing art pieces, finding places for supplies and books, and etc.)

Revised Session Goals:

1) Move more (more being "some").

2) Write at least five minutes every day in November (starting Nov. 2).

3) Decide on a journal target for the article. Complete one revision pass. Create bib of needed sources. (I have a lot of internal conflict about doing the article, so . . . )

4) Get bookshelf for the witch hut so I can clear some books out of the garage.

heu mihi

*Research:*

1. Submit my manuscript to the interested publisher. I have a full draft of everything but the conclusion, and I've just reread/re-revised the introduction, but the five subsequent chapters need their own rereadings and re-revisions. I would like to have it sent out by November 1.

2. Plan/outline/research an article that would come out of a conference paper I delivered last year.

3. Submit an abstract to a conference (due late October).

4. Meditate four times a week. It's a habit that I've been wanting to establish, and I need it.

Revised session goals

1. 40k words of NaNoWriMo novel--not enough to "win," but plausibly realistic?

2. Start running again when daylight savings ends and it's not actually dangerous to do so in the mornings.

3. Make some kind of headway on planned article. (This is a terrible goal because it is vague and unmeasurable, but whatever.)

4. Meditate 3x week, but build it into a genuine self-care routine, which may sometimes include blowing it off to lie in bed with the heating pad on my neck watching Netflix instead. I've had too many stress headaches this semester.

humming42

1 As ever, write 5x/week

2 Submit manuscript

3 Submit grant proposal

4 Find funding for December conference presentation

5 Submit abstract for photo essay

6 Submit Snow abstract

7 Catch up with co-author and resume Talk project

Revised goals:

1 write and submit blog post

2 send letter of inquiry about February article

3 submit Buildings abstract

4 draft Camp article

5 finish and remaining book reviews

JaneB

1) self-care, self-care, self-care.

2) Research, money acquisition - get rid of the GrantINeverShouldHaveStarted, get a full draft of GallimaufreyGrant written.

3) Research, writing - don't start anything new until the current horde are out of the gates. I got a lot of stuff pushed from things I ought to do to actively being worked on this summer, so now just to keep it moving... Here's the current list, to be annoying

3a) ProblemChild1 and PC2 - hopefully submitted last week but no news yet from co-authors.

3b) PC3 - waiting for co-author to write their sections next week, then the discussion needs drafting, deadline of end of September for a special issue (AARGH)

3c) Tagalong paper - with co-authors for final checking, should be submitted by the end of September

3d) Gallimaufrey Review - a cast of tens, driving me nuts, but more herding than long slog on my part. end of December submission desired.

3e) MScPaper - a revise and resubmit to a new journal.

3f) Ferrett - needs the figures finalising and a final check of references, then will be ready to submit.

3g) PickyPaper - my baaaaaby, about half drafted and keeps changing shape. This will take up any quality writing time I can get my hands on.

3h) ExcessivePaper and SurprisePaper are both with journals at the moment, so waiting for comments. SpecialIssuePaper is awaiting proofs (submitted the R&R last December, accepted 4th Sept, have 3 days to do proofs sometime during my leave, sigh...)

4) Other Academic Stuff that is TLQ - I'd like to spend a little time working on the new second year modules this semester before they are urgent. I have some ideas about incorporating group work and mini-projects, and know from past experience that with multiple academics involved and general student dislike of group work that this will work a LOT better if it's really carefully designed and planned and practiced, for this first year. And that takes time.

5) Stuff For Me - I want to finish a big crochet blanket/hanging project, and complete NaNoWriMo - I'm thinking of working on several short stories set in my fictional university setting (Department of effectively Magic based in a normal middling sort of contemporary university, which has exchange arrangements with a University in a parallel world where magic/fantasy elements are standard and technology levels lower - what with the talking cats (no-one is sure if that was an accident or an Evil Plan overtaken by events), non-human exchange students and staff, a dragon living in the boiler room (helps with the budget juggling) and students who keep trying to use mobile phones in zones where they really can alter the nature of reality, there's plenty of material, and I haven't worked on short stories for ages, so...)

karen

1. I have a whole lot of research deliverables (to drop into business speak) that need to be done before the end of the year: co-authored conference paper, solo conference paper, co-authored curriculum paper, community project, dowry grant, grass work. To get these done with any quality and without major panics I need to make time for progress each week, so the session goal is probably something about process as well as product.

2. The curriculum project - complete draft needed by end of year to meet timelines.

3. I have grand garden visions, but if I can have a vegetable patch with the complete set of planned summer veg and repeat sowing I'll be happy.

4.Cultivate inner calm by moving, sleeping, declutter/organising and carrying out creative activities.

KJHaxton

mantra: be sufficient

1. grapple with the scholarship and research issues and try to reach a plateau if not a conclusion and new direction. The current state of freefall with arms flailing cannot persist.

2. get to Christmas as intact as possible.

3. finish Machair blanket, beach cushions, and tree printing project.

4. Submit an article

Revised Goals

1. continue grappling with scholarship and research

2. get to Christmas as intact as possible

3. finish beach cushions and tree printing project

4. submit an article or ethics form

Matilda

1. Finish writing drafts of Chapters 1, 2.

2. Finish writing first drafts of Chapters 3, 4.

3. Finish outlines and structures of Chapters 5, 6.

4. Exercise every day.

5. Eat well.

6. Organise my day.

Susan

1. Finish Way Outside paper, that was a summer goal

2. Write article review for journal

3. Write late book review

4. Do revise and resubmit

5. Get regular sleep, aiming for 7 hours a night

6. Keep moving

7. Make sure I do one thing for fun each week

Week 14 - the push before finish

We're approaching Christmas, the end of semester and the end of the latest instalment of Top Left Quadrant.   Next weekend will be the final check-in for this round.

If you are interested in hosting the January - March iteration, leave a comment. 

So, a theme for the week - what would you most like to find in your Christmas stocking? 

Amstr

-revise 2 PBs

-MF work (scenes in order, character sketches and cheatsheet, map, timeline, list of what's next)

-write 1 blog post

-menus/grocery shop

-mediate for 5 min each day

Contingent Cassandra

--Move a little, somehow, sometime

--Finish book order & course description

Dame Eleanor Hull

Weekend goals:

1) Self: keep up the good work on exercise, stretching, food, and language prep. Good on food, minimal on exercise/stretching, no languages.

2) Teaching: comment the grad drafts, start on final exam. Drafts commented and returned. I may cancel the final exam, depending on news today.

3) Research: try for 2.5 hours a day, in 1/2 hour chunks if necessary. An editor is breathing down my neck, with reason. No. Have explained circumstances to editor.

4) Life: Do something fun with my husband. We tried; it was just TV after dinner, and every time, I had to take phone calls about my father.

Minimal goals:

1) Self: stay healthy via exercise, stretching, safe food.

2) Grade undergrad lp2.

3) Life stuff: deal with the bills and parental issues.

4) Resolutions: Live with uncertainty, work the process, show up, be kind.

heu mihi

1. Finish the novel??? (Or get close. I can have until the 15th if I need it.)

2. Grade everything pre-finals.

3. Order books for second class (due a month ago, but there were scheduling snafus and I wasn't sure whether it would run).

4. Get organized for next week's UC meeting

5. Schedule a room for February lecture

humming42

1 Read articles and organize information for meeting next week with other co-author

2 Really, send that query letter about February article

3 Write task list for Tiny project (which is, of course, huge)

4 Sort out plans for Snow blogging

JaneB

1) write and print two posters for a conference

2) remember to fetch my tickets for said conference (which have to be purchased from the approved supplier by the faculty office, who refuse to use the internal mail to deliver them to other buildings on campus, and for no doubt VERY LOGICAL reasons the faculty office is on the far side of campus from the buildings of the constituent departments/schools/centres/institutes of said Faculty, so I keep not getting around to going over there to get my tickets (I also have to coordinate with THEIR closing hours...). I don't get why they don't use the post!

3) I should look at ProblemChildPaper2, but I don't want to

4) I need to send some emails related to SocietyThing and GallimaufreyPaper

5) grading, present wrapping, card writing, self care, the usual.

KJHaxton

1. marking

2. prepare lectures for the next couple of weeks

3. work more on ethics forms

4. carry on with Christmas stuff

Susan

1. Write abstract for collection of essays

2. R & R footnotes: 1 hour

3. Read job applications (this is TRQ, but I need to list it)

4. Pay some bills

5. Get back into exercise at least 4 days

6. Do some decluttering (it's bothering me, so it's time.)

Week 13: Do What You Can

Okay, so I’m tapping this out on my phone in a relatively bare room. Seated on a tatami mat and with a bed laid out on the floor next to me with a small sleeping girl in it, I’m reminded that sometimes, simple is enough. use what you have, do what you can.

I’m not able to cut and paste across from last week on this set up, so would you all mind looking back to last week to see what you posted? And if you’d like to reflect, how can you do what you can (even if not perfect) to make progress on your session goals as we head towards the end of this session and year?

Week 12: Being Thankful

Well, tis the season after all. Let's keep things simple: what have you been thankful for in the past week?



Dame Eleanor Hull
New goals: I will spend most of this week with family, and I plan not to try to do any real work during that time; I'll keep up with languages because they're soothing.
1) Self: daily exercise and stretching, enough sleep, work on at least 2 languages, do the necessary cooking so I can eat safely.
2) Others: be kind to everybody even if they don't deserve it; maintain detachment (maybe I'll start sitting again while I'm there).
3) Remember my session goals: Live with uncertainty and work the process.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Write Faculty Council report. (TRQ)
Sew Christmas stockings.
Plan Thanksgiving for myself and sons.
Get to 50K words on NaNo--for the win.
Tai Chi ten minutes a day.
Leave more comments than last week.
Clear my half of the study.

Good Enough Woman
1) Grade two stacks of drafts.
2) Get the evals done.
3) Three walks/jogs (could sub one other outdoor activity).
4) Prep for writing club.
5) Read chapter/article draft.
6) Be present for the family despite the need to do the above.
7) Prepare Christmas presents for shipping

heu mihi
1. To 51,500 words of the novel (including the 8300 written in October)
2. Read SGGK in full; prep day 1 of teaching it (and ideally day 2--I've taught it in a different context a million times, so this shouldn't be too hard. The challenge is that a lot of my students have read it before, too).
3. Prep for first two days of new book
4. Meditate x 3. Just keeping it on here.
5. Run x 3.

Humming42
1 30 minutes writing/research every day
2 send query letter about February article
3 try to live an orderly life, in whatever ways that manifests
4 track time this week

Karen
- do Couch to 5K run 3 x each week
- complete draft of upcoming conference paper
- remeber to breathe, slow down, and enjoy the journey

KJHaxton
1. finish marking
2. science comm activity planning
3. finish planning and run outreach event
4. tackle ethics forms for two projects
5. email collaborators for other project

Susan
Deck clearing (tomorrow)
1. Deal with at least some of the paper
2. Finish the book review, email journal for guidelines I've lost
3. Try to complete R & R, except maybe the footnote fixing.
Other:
4. Exercise - especially over the weekend (walk tomorrow, walk/go to gym when down south
5. Try to start another book
6. Send off one set of letters; write another

Week 11: Clear the decks

I'm about to hand over final marks and jump on the plan for a big family adventure. This is our first overseas travel with the kids, so cross fingers and wish me luck!

In preparation for getting ready, I've been frantically trying to tick off tasks to be done: some of that has involved completing (or letting things go), in other cases it's been finding the right people to take up tasks and add more than I could anyway. I've even had to move my office plants out to where someone else can keep them watered. Clearing the decks has been literal as well as metaphorical, and rather cathartic.

What would you like off your deck this week?

Amstr (brought over)

-catch up on MF goal (3000 words)
-submit to 5-7 agents
-menu plan/grocery shop
-get hallway cleaned; schedule some time for dreaded house project

Contingent Cassandra
--move a bit (walk at least 1x, weights at least 1x)
--get the most fragile bulbs in the ground
--get the #$@! course description done
--get 2nd book order done
--Make substantial progress on pedagogy project grant application

Dame Eleanor Hull
1) Self: daily exercise and stretching, enough sleep, work on at least 2 languages, do the necessary cooking so I can eat safely.
2) Research: 7 hours on main project, focusing on product. 3 hours on translation.3) Teaching: grade undergrads' tp3, grads' kw2.4) House/Life: pay bills, prep for Thanksgiving travel.5) Remember my session goals: Live with uncertainty and work the process.


Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Finish strategic plan (TRQ)
Finish group article (TRQ)
Plan presentation for the end of the month.
Keep up with NaNo.
Sew one stocking together; pin the second one.
Tai Chi for ten minutes a day -- before work.
Reply to other comments.

Good Enough Woman
checked in, no new goals

heu mihi
1. To 37k on novel.
2. Run x 3.
3. Prepare for and give a little presentation on Wednesday.
4. Ch. 2 of dissertation, for real
5. Meditate x 3, FOR REAL. Maybe shouting at myself will help.

humming42

1 30 minutes writing/research every day
2 write and submit Signature abstract
3 set up interview with blog post contact
4 revisit Pink Research to see if it’s a viable project

JaneB
1) keep up the good practices around evenings-and-mornings, and get off my phone earlier
2) look over where GallimaufreyReviewPaper is up to, and email an update to everyone to check in
3) Take one small BlackSummerProjectPaper action
4) make hopefully final edits to GrantINeverShouldHaveStarted
5) Spend an hour on ProblemChild3's text, and make contact with FormerPDF to divide up the work on the figures that needs doing.
6) enjoy NaNoWriMo
7) stay a week ahead on class stuff

KJHaxton
1. Finish marking big assignment
2. Apply for supplementary role
3. Make initial enquiries about science communication activity
4. Writing for 30 mins each day
5. 2 hours of research

Susan
1. Send off review
2. Work on R & R,
3. Write two more letters of rec
4. Expenses from conference
5. Walk three times
6. Continue not bringing iPad to bed/ disconnect from social media

Waffles
1. Try to finish draft of F32 paper
2. Submit IRB
3. Really work on the PTSD intro this time
4. More work on the review 

Week 10: Small moments of delight

The Christmas drinks are in the coffee shops. I have opinions. I can't understand the obsession with salted caramel. I mean, I quite like the contrast but it's in all the things now and I grow tired. I don't like black cherry either, nor mint particularly and I'll not mention the curse of pumpkin spice. I got through October with Apple Cinnamon tea (one of the tea pig brand) and it was delightful - not too acidic as many fruit infusions can be, nor laden with the root of all evil (also known as liquorice).  But we've transitioned from Autumn drinks to winter drinks and Spiced Berry tea doesn't have the same appeal. So then there's hot chocolate orange which is the regular hot chocolate with a splash of orange syrup and it's OK...but when done right a good hot chocolate is a thing of delight. And no matter what your milk requirements are - soya, nut, cow or oat, and your chocolate choice of white, milk, dark, no sugar, it's a possibility. 

So this week, what brings you a small moment of delight? Perhaps it's one of those moments that make you feel reconnected to something you mentioned last week. Perhaps it's a seasonal beverage that you'd forgotten how much you love. Perhaps it's the discovery that there's such a thing as no added sugar milk chocolate.  

Amstr (brought over)

-catch up on MF goal (3000 words)-submit to 5-7 agents-menu plan/grocery shop-get hallway cleaned; schedule some time for dreaded house project

Contingent Cassandra

--get the #$@! course description done.

Dame Eleanor Hull

1) Self: daily gentle exercise and stretching in 2-3 small chunks, enough sleep, work on at least 2 languages, do the necessary cooking so I can eat safely.

2) Research: 7 hours on main project, focusing on product. 3 hours on translation.

3) Teaching: edit one assignment, grade two more (at least start).

4) House/Life: tidy/organize in the basement.

5) Remember my session goals: Live with uncertainty and work the process.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Keep up with NaNo.

Five hours a week on the book.

Work on the grant 1 hour a day.

Finish one of the stockings.

Pick one writing project and begin to outline it.

Tai Chi for ten minutes a day.

Respond to other participants.

Good Enough Woman

1) Have one or two activities just with my son.

2) Write everyday for at least five minutes.

3) Finish one stack of essays by Thursday and another stack by Sunday (not sure about the second stack b/c I'm on kid duty all weekend, and I want to focus on them, but it would be good to make that progress).

4) Walk 2x, even if the walks are short.

5) More progress on Christmas list for extended family.

6) Read a few pages of the rejected article (former diss chapter) that I think I want to resubmit just to see how it makes me feel.

7) Do fun things with the kids this weekend so it feels at least a little bit special (husband will be out of town).

heu mihi

1. Get to 24k words of NaNo novel.

2. Read ch. 2 of dissertation--or at least half of it. (It's 60+ mostly-single-spaced pages.)

3. Remaining prompts for undergrad papers.

4. Read up to Thanksgiving in upper-level class; through Monday for lower-level ones.

5. Meditate x 3.

Oh, and: Run x 3!

humming42

1 finish another book review

2 contact other person for blog post

3 update reading lists

4 draft outline framework for Perform paper

JaneB

1) keep up the good practices around evenings-and-mornings, and get off my phone earlier

2) look over where GallimaufreyReviewPaper is up to, and email an update to everyone to check in

3) Take one small BlackSummerProjectPaper action

4) make hopefully final edits to GrantINeverShouldHaveStarted

5) design poster for SocietyTHing

6) Spend an hour on ProblemChild3's text, and make contact with FormerPDF to divide up the work on the figures that needs doing.

6) enjoy NaNoWriMo

7) get a couple of weeks ahead with class stuff - complete last batch of lab reports which arrive tomorrow, sort out class datasets and copy handouts for the next set of labs, chase up the TAs, go over class data and check on the progress of all students.

KJHaxton (held over)

Trying to get by

Susan (held over)

1. Read more of the book for review
2. Get started on my research project3. Move: walk at least three times4. Enjoy myself at the conference.

Waffles

1. Try to finish draft of F32 paper

2. Submit IRB

3. Really work on the PTSD intro this time.

4. More work on the review

5. Summarize YRBS findings.