Settled in the new office space now. Not entirely a fan. I’d evidently gotten used to working alone, because suddenly having all these people around, asking questions, wanting to chat, YELLING THINGS AT EACH OTHER DOWN THE HALLWAY, well…let’s just say that it’s a little freakin’ annoying disconcerting.
Goals for August:
- Finalize program plan.
- Select program committee.
- Prepare for first portfolio review.
- Submit Hugely revise and then submit paper on borderlands to a journal.
- Hugely pare down massive amounts of stuff in the house. Yard sale? Probably will just end up at Goodwill. It’s just not worth the little money we could get selling stuff; hopefully we will get some good karma from donating anyway.
Classes, that is. And then there’s the dissertation, which I’m trying not to think about–an impossible task, given that the one piece of advice that everyone in my program has given me is “Have every course and every class assignment be leading towards your dissertation.” I hear from people who had their lit reviews practically written before they even got to proposal stage and think, is *that* what I should be doing? It’s more than a little intimidating, let me tell you.
But right now I have six weeks free from classes, six weeks to enjoy the end of summer, watch our (teeny) garden grow, try to save the tomatoes from the maurading squirrels, play in finally hook up and THEN play in the old-school sprinkler, and hang out with the kiddos. Even though practically every weekend between now and school starting has some sort of major activity going on. And with Ramazan begining on (or about) August 22nd this year, coinciding with my going back to school…well, I think we had better enjoy the time off to relax while the getting’s good!
In, When it comes to kids, embrace the average, the author (a doctor) argues for allowing to kids to be normal. Not “normal” like, the opposite of “serial killer,” but as in “in the middle 50% of the population. Right along the curve of the growth chart.
I have fallen into the trap of celebrating my own kids’ early achievements. I’m, absurdly, slightly proud that both topped 8 lbs at birth. Why? I have no idea. Overall, though, I like to think that I’m a pretty relaxed parent. Probably because I also think that both my kids are GENIUSES who will no doubt excel in everything they do. And bring about world peace while they’re at it. Doesn’t every parent feel that way? (Sadly, I know that NOT every parent feels that way about their kids…)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the kids get older, they are funnier and funnier, and daily I hear them say things that I think, “gosh, I need to write that down!” Naturally, as they get older I am getting older as well, and more prone to forgetting their gems before getting to a computer. What is up with THAT?! Sigh. Must try harder. Perhaps should send myself text messages when they say something particularly cute?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A new site I’m really liking: http://www.hungry-girl.com/. I like that she takes a popular, full-fat, high-calorie dish and does a lower-cal version. It’s nice to have a not-so-guilty guilty pleasure mixed in with the “eat food. not too much. mostly plants.” mindset.
It’s only July 2nd, and yet I already feel the summer slipping away. Perhaps that’s too melodramatic; what I really feel is the summer weekends filling up with activities. All fun activities, all things I’d like to do, but still. When you’re working and in school, weekends are about the only time you have to do all those fun chores like cleaning the bathroom. Attempting to make food for the week. Or, much more likely in my case, playing with the kids. I have pretty much given up on cleaning the bathrooms in any way which cannot be satisfied with one of those clorox wipes (in my defense, I do try to at least wipe-down the bathroom regularly) in favor of rolling around on the floor with the babies. I also have discovered a new solution to clutter: don’t put it away. Give it away! In fact, we have gotten so good at this that Fast Turtle regularly finds a too-small teeshirt or a baby toy and brings it to me, saying, “Mama, this is for a baby. Let’s sell it!” or “Let’s give it to Baby Cousin!” And we do.
