Well, here it is: my initial check in for my first round of participation in Row80. This week had progress, but it is still an easing in process with the new year and all that stuff, but I’m pretty sure many people are in the same boat.
So that being said, I will report on what has been happening (or not happening) with my goals. Then I will list the goals that have emerged during the past week that need to be added to Round 1.
Finish Accreditation Editing (DEADLINE: January 30)
This project is going well. Ten of 15 chapters pretty much finished. The other five are well under-way. I have a meeting next week to finalize the recommendations. Then I can finish.
- The meeting is Tuesday morning at 9:00. Then I will push to see how far I can get by the end of the week.
Finish Co-Authored Paper (DEADLINE: January 11)
I’m waiting for my co-author to respond to my last take on the revision. This is relatively low-stress at this point, since we are largely in agreement about how to incorporate recommended revisions.
- Finished on time, except as many of you already know, I was given the wrong deadline, so we actually missed it. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that our apologetic submission at this late date (6 days past) will still be considered. If not, I will look for additional places to submit it.
Finish planning courses and upload materials to website
I have to update my assignments and projects for Intro to Criminal Justice, but the Intro to Sociology will take a little more effort. I haven’t taught this course in a few years, and it’s a hybrid course (a few in-person meetings and the rest online).
- Oh heck, what a pain in the *** this has been. It’s not that I haven’t done it, I just haven’t finished it. I did help a colleague get oriented to the system so that she can start her classes tomorrow. And I still have another day before mine start, so the initial stuff will be done in time, and I’ll continue to work to get the entire semester put up as this round goes forward.
Post on blog 25 days in January
I hope to publish something on my blog every day, but it’s better for me to exceed the goal than to miss it by one or two days. The January posts do not fit a specific theme. In fact, there is no real plan other than to experiment with all kinds of things, and see if anything sticks. Which leads to the next goal.
- This one is going very well. Since classes haven’t stated, and I had some momentum, I have gotten a bit ahead on this one. Here it is the tenth, and I’ve posted 14 times in January. I may make all 31 days at this rate, but I’m not going to stress. I’ll easily make my goal of 25 posts for the month.
Create a Blogging Plan
I am not talking about looking for a niche. I’ve made peace with the fact I don’t have to write about one or two topics and leave out things that don’t fit those topics. I admire people who have niche blogs, but as long as my life remains as eclectic as it is, I can’t expect my blog to be different. I’ll be looking for a couple of focal points for my life, but not necessarily for my blog. Still, I want to have a plan for publishing with a list of possible post topics and a rough schedule for doing so.
- I want to experiment another week or so before starting to construct a possible plan.
Read Draft Novels (TBA)
- Nothing on this yet.
Work Out a Weekly Schedule
With all the various activities I need to do in a week, I need to schedule routine activities like grading, course prep, tutoring review, writing, and personal time. No reason to waste thinking time on remembering and scheduling these activities over and over.
- I had hoped to start the semester with a plan in place, but it hasn’t happened. I will try to form a draft plan this week based on the way classes and other commitments go.
Finish Jack’s Quilt
I’m ready to start the machine quilting. I want to have the quilt delivered to my grandson and then post pictures online (my daughter-in-law wants to be surprised), so no posting until the quilt is delivered. 😉
- I arrived back in Michigan on Friday, and I unpacked the sewing machine today. By the end of this week, I will at least get started on this. My goal is to finish it by the end of the month. It might be ambitious, but I’d like to try.
Piece the back of Kate’s quilt
My daughter has given me until her 30th birthday to finish it, but I’m going to see how many months ahead I can manage to beat that deadline. (She’ll be 29 the lst of March.)
- This will be on hold until Jack’s quilt is done. But Kate’s is next before any new projects.
Get back into regular music activities
I got a call about scheduling some dates to play at a church nearby, and once I get back into it by working with them, I can be on a wider sub-list. this is one of those two-birds-with-one-stone kind of things. I want to brush up on my skills, and earning a little extra money will be good. Who knows, I may even pick up a couple of piano students.
- Good progress on this. I will do an observation on January 24. Then I will cover three weekends: the end of January, and the first two in February. Yay!
Determine longer range goals
I want to make this year really focused toward specific goals, but I haven’t yet really defined what those will be. The first half of Row 1 is going to be focused on creating a plan that will carry me through the year.
- No real progress yet, but this is something I will grow into over Round 1. Not expecting any big shift here until mid-February or so.
ADDITIONAL ROUND 1 GOALS
The following items have emerged as active goals for the first round.
- Move into new home. Immediate goals involve setting up utilities in my name. Start packing. Look into internet service.
- Get car serviced. Oil change. Other issues.
- Create rough outline of book based on student response to ESL writing course.
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This post is also part of JusJoJan for Day 11.
Container Chronicles 