Morning, folks. Hope you’re having a nice Sunday. The semester starts tomorrow, so I’m trying not to go into my usual panic-mode of trying to do ALL the winter break projects in the last hours before school starts.
I think my main goal for this year is to be more sane, which for me, mostly translates to not going into workaholic mode, where I just mindlessly go from task to task, feeling frantic about how behind I am, and neglecting the things that bring me peace and a clear head, like puttering in the garden, playing with yarn and fabric, chatting with friends, snuggling with my family while watching lots of TV.
If I feel like I have too many things to do, then I’m going to try to pause, look at the list, and schedule when they’ll get done, even if that means pushing it out a week or two or longer, even if it means giving up on some things altogether. Eep. Even typing that makes me feel a bit panicky, but I’m working on it.
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Goals for today:
– finish syllabi for tomorrow’s classes — DONE
– print class rosters, syllabi, and any other materials for class — DONE
– set up Slack forums for classes — DONE
– figure out what I’m wearing for first day (with matching mask, of course) — DONE
– water plants throughout house; they’ve been neglected, and are suffering — IN PROGRESS
– put away various piles of clean bedding in a more organized fashion than previously — IN PROGRESS
– cook another recipe for #30daysofveganserendib — DONE
This is a reasonable set of things for a Sunday, right? That’s about…four hours of work, I think.
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That’s what HAS to get done. What I’d really like to also get done:
– revise screenplay and send to Alex and Ted for comments before Tuesday evening’s class (can push to tomorrow if necessary, but better to give them more time)
– finish putting together belated holiday gifts for Serendib staff (they’ll be here for a meeting on Tuesday, so that can also be pushed to tomorrow, but I’m mostly done with those, so I think I’ll try to just finish it off)
– review “Interplanet Janet” (which we’re hoping to release as an ebook in February!)
– spend an hour or two on Serendib e-mail work
– spend an hour or two on SLF e-mail work
– bake a double batch of morning glory mini muffins (freezing half of them), so the kids have something easy and relatively healthy to grab for breakfast in the mornings once school starts tomorrow — DONE
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And then there are the optional things, which are mostly non-computer, and therefore far more appealing than the computer work…but none of these actually need to be done today.
– organize Serendib wrapping supplies (the dresser they’re on is piled with stuff right now, and the chaos bothers me every time I glance in that direction) — IN PROGRESS
– finish cleaning up seed starting area, so I’m ready to start tomato / pepper / eggplant seeds next weekend — DONE
– make sure I have sufficient starting medium on hand — DONE
– paint an abstract painting to hang in my office, so I have a more interesting backdrop for Zooming than my white wall — DONE (by Kavi)
– stencil a little border in the guest room (I’ve been cleaning it up and organizing recently, and this is the last task)
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I know, the list looks stupidly long for a Sunday. Well, we’ll see. The main thing is to try to not get pulled into optional tasks that are easier, and neglect the urgent things that actually need to get done. Maybe I’ll start with printing class rosters — that’s easy. Also lunch. Need fuel!
(Amaryllis is “Lovely Nymph,” which is indeed lovely, but also somewhat top heavy — even with a stake, once all four of the giant flower have opened, it really wants to flop down.)