27 September 2009

Accomplishments

Amid the pressure of having assigned a lot of material to grade (what was I thinking?) and serving on a committee with a heavy workload, I am rediscovering the pleasures of crossing things off a list of items to do.

Friday I got up at 5:15 to start grading papers from one section, which I managed to hand back at 11:00.

Today I have successfully avoided grading the grad students' papers (what was I thinking?) in favor of crossing off a whole batch of Life Stuff items: re-potting house plants, ordering two different sets of tickets online, ordering new swimsuits online (I usually try to hit local early-summer sales to stock up, but didn't manage that this year, and I'm on my last suit: if you spend as much time in the pool as I do, they only last about 3 months), ordering a pair of trousers online, beginning to tag old posts, talking to a neighbor about possible roof problems and window replacements. It doesn't sound like that much, but all this took me about 4 hours.

Tomorrow may be awful, but it makes me feel good to get some of these things crossed off the list. Many of them have been on it for a long time, and most of them are things that will Stay Done (unlike grading---what was I thinking?).

2 comments:

Fencing Bear said...

"What was I thinking?" Oh, yes, I know that feeling. I'm handing out syllabi on Tuesday that will then commit me to how much grading every week? What was I thinking?

I think you spent your day very well!

Dame Eleanor Hull said...

And I also sent two e-mails about car stuff (one oil change appointment, one about a parking permit). And cooked. And swam. It felt like a real weekend. But I also feel like I'll be starting the week already behind.

My captcha is "penal." As in colony. Hard labor!