My main takeaway this week has been to slow down and listen to my body (which feels like it’s been my life main lesson since Ellie was born). I’ve been feeling a little “off” lately, experiencing things like shortness of breath and a racing pulse. I happened to have a doctor’s appointment scheduled for my back and was considering whether I should ask them to give my heart an extra listen… turns out I didn’t have to ask.
Read MoreWeek 1 of the term is done. Even though I’m not teaching this term I still felt that nervous excitement (or is it apprehension 😄) about the beginning of the year. I’m also still in disbelief that it’s October already. Time just keeps on going. Although this week felt pretty light in terms of the number of things I was doing, I did have some big wins (quality, not quantity, right?!). I submitted my fourth year review, finished the initial round of reviewing article titles for a systematic review project with a collaborator, finalized a poster presentation for a conference in November, and am 99% done my prep for winter term!
Read MoreThis week we welcomed the newest cohort of students to our program, part of which involves all faculty and staff getting on stage and introducing ourselves in front of a very large room full of people. Which is probably the most nerve wrecking time of year for me… and now I don’t have to do it again for another year, whew! I get it into my head that I need to have something clever or inspiring to say and then when I get the mic it’s a wonder I remember my own name. I don’t see my career as a motivational speaker taking off, ha! Perhaps I just need to take some of the pressure off myself.
Read MoreNow that I am officially back on contract I am bringing back my weekly updates for the school year. I kicked off the week by working from home and then ended it with meetings (because it wouldn’t be academia without them!). My office still looks like I just moved in… and honestly, it’s not high on my priority list so it’ll probably look like this for awhile. I did get a small table this week to put under the white board for when I have meetings. So… now I can just shove things underneath the table to make it look a little less cluttered. Before having Ellie, I used to need my work spaces to be super organized before getting to work… after Ellie it doesn’t phase me at all.
Read MoreMy July monthly update is that, I’m not going to do monthly updates for the summer, ha!
Since I’m planning to do a year 3 goal review at the end of the summer, I felt like they’d be pretty similar to one another. Plus, I shared a number of updates in my movement/nutrition post (and will share a few more in my upcoming budget post next week). With 2 posts this week, I wasn’t up for a 3rd (in-depth) post! I’m working on running the blog and keeping it enjoyable… not letting it run me and feel like an obligation!
Read MoreIf you’re just tuning in, I’m dedicating the next few posts to my goals/progress for years 1 and 2 on the tenure track (a year 3 post will come once the summer is over). Now, on to year 2, which felt drastically better than year 1. We’d been in Portland for a full year, we were living in a more permanent space, we had solid friendships, and overall just felt a lot more settled. First, I’ll share what was going on during year 2…
Read MoreI have been busy behind the scenes and have two big updates for you!
First… I have a mailing list! Which feels like a huge deal to me… not really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but it makes this space feel so much more official. You can sign up for it on the main page: www.toddleronthetenuretrack.com. As a thank you for signing up, you’ll also get a 7 step guide that I put together for planning a tantrum free (ha!) academic year.
Read MoreOver the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing a recap of my first and second years on the tenure track, along with some reflections about what I learned each year. Once summer is done (for me, that’s in September), I’ll share insights from my third year (still got a few more months to work on those goals!).
Read MoreIn the words of Daniel Tiger… “that was fun but now it’s done.” We had two major endings this week. We ended our two week trip to the east coast and I officially ended my third year on the tenure track (my contract ended last Sunday and grades were due on Tuesday… don’t ask me why they make grades due after our contracts end and after graduation…). With these 2 big events coming to an end, I’ve been thinking a lot about the passage of time. When Ellie was an infant, I sporadically listened to the podcast, The Longest Shortest Time, and I think about the title often because it so accurately describes life with a young kid. In the midst of the year, it felt like time was dragging and that our trip to see family was light years away, and now here I am settling back into daily life and it’s all done.
Read MoreWe are. Still. Traveling. We’re coming up on the two week mark and I think that might be my limit. Or at least my limit of not having a consistent schedule.
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