Summertime buzzyness
My mother-in-law spells busy-ness that way sometimes, and it fits--especially for summer. It's been sweet so far: a mix of too-much-work-to-do panic with wow-this-is-great summertime moments.
Summer is that time when people ask me, "don't you have the summer off?" Of course, it's a reasonable question--I'm not teaching, and most professors aren't even on contract, so what else would I be doing in the summer? I *do* get to work slightly less in the summer, and my time is much more flexible--an aspect of academic life that I do not take for granted, believe me. I get to spend even more time with my kids--a good thing.
I also have, for work:
2 articles to fully draft
3 to revise
1 human subjects proposal to finish (if you don't know, and you don't need to, any academic research project involving human subjects -- ie students, in my case-- needs to be reviewed by a committee at my school to make sure that I'm not drawing any blood samples. This involves writing lots and lots of explanations and consent forms and sample interview questions and...)
2 classes for fall to plan, including one that starts before school does for eight 9-5 days
1 wiki to start (related to one of the courses)
1 big, important (in my tiny universe, at least) report to write
1 newsletter to initiate and write
4 letters of recommendation to write
several memos to write
2 conferences to attend (one down, one to go)
I'm not complaining--believe me, I'm not. But in case you're wondering, this is how I spend my time when I can--at least a few long days a week, and all evenings as soon as the kids are in bed.
In the meantime, we also have a 1981 house needing lots o'updating (where to start?) and painting. And of course, there is ice cream to be eaten, fiction to be read, fairs to be attended, summer library reading forms to fill out.
But, here's the this-is-great part. We had a relaxed, fun lunch yesterday with some good friends, out on our deck (with our run-down folding chairs and half-chopped-off railing). The food was fine, the company was great--we laughed a lot, which is my signal of a good time. At one moment in lunch, I thought, ah--now this? This. is. good.
Happy summering!
Summer is that time when people ask me, "don't you have the summer off?" Of course, it's a reasonable question--I'm not teaching, and most professors aren't even on contract, so what else would I be doing in the summer? I *do* get to work slightly less in the summer, and my time is much more flexible--an aspect of academic life that I do not take for granted, believe me. I get to spend even more time with my kids--a good thing.
I also have, for work:
2 articles to fully draft
3 to revise
1 human subjects proposal to finish (if you don't know, and you don't need to, any academic research project involving human subjects -- ie students, in my case-- needs to be reviewed by a committee at my school to make sure that I'm not drawing any blood samples. This involves writing lots and lots of explanations and consent forms and sample interview questions and...)
2 classes for fall to plan, including one that starts before school does for eight 9-5 days
1 wiki to start (related to one of the courses)
1 big, important (in my tiny universe, at least) report to write
1 newsletter to initiate and write
4 letters of recommendation to write
several memos to write
2 conferences to attend (one down, one to go)
I'm not complaining--believe me, I'm not. But in case you're wondering, this is how I spend my time when I can--at least a few long days a week, and all evenings as soon as the kids are in bed.
In the meantime, we also have a 1981 house needing lots o'updating (where to start?) and painting. And of course, there is ice cream to be eaten, fiction to be read, fairs to be attended, summer library reading forms to fill out.
But, here's the this-is-great part. We had a relaxed, fun lunch yesterday with some good friends, out on our deck (with our run-down folding chairs and half-chopped-off railing). The food was fine, the company was great--we laughed a lot, which is my signal of a good time. At one moment in lunch, I thought, ah--now this? This. is. good.
Happy summering!
posted by prrrof at 8:47 AM
2 Comments:
Sounds delicious and delightful! Besides, good friends can always overlook a funky porch railing or two! Can't wait to see it someday (soon?)...
Ach froon, sounds like life is buzzy all right. I had my house cleaned by several very enthusiastic cleanliness experts today whose standard of cleanliness is far higher than mine! Oh boy! So I am feeling very spoiled. Oh, and we have morning and afternoon teas every day too. Time to let those elastic waist bands out again. So it looks like if we want to see you over here, we will have to take a number? bummer.
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