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Things that I wanted/needed to do this summer:

1. Move into my new home.
2. Get my son enrolled on preschool, daycare and find a new babysitter.
3. Deliver a paper at my annual conference.
4. Host a pre-conference for same conference.
5. Lose 15 pounds.
6. Write that article already.
7. Begin dialogues for collaborations with colleagues in NY, Atlanta, LA and Pennsylvania.
8. Save some money for someday Disney Vacation.
9. Make a new 5 year plan.
10. Redesign all my current classes to fit the new student body I will be teaching.
11. Go through all the clutter in my work and home files and streamline.
12. Get my son to pee and poop on the potty consistently, put on his own shoes and his own jacket.
13. Visit all my old friends.
14. Unpack.
15. Unwind?

Well, now that it’s wrapping up I can’t believe it’s almost over. Don’t get me wrong - I have been on the road all summer and I want to get home. Get home and find a new babysitter. Get home and unpack the boxes. Get home and finish prepping my fall classes. It’s just this massive list barely got touched. And this is the short list – let’s not even get to the house stuff or cleaning or investment stuff I planned on learning more about. Priorities, right? What are our priorities? Sometimes it just ends up being more reflection than action, what gets done.

I didn’t lose 15 pounds. Not even 1 pound. I didn’t write that article or contact any collaborators. 5 year plan? Hah! I did get through the conference okay and I did find a nice preschool and daycare. And potty training is going alright; “consistent” might be stretching it a bit. It always seems like what gets done is what is most immediate – what fire to put out right now. Nothing like a toddler saying “I have to go now now now!” that can change your immediate course of action. Does anyone reading this ever feel like they need vacations after their vacations – or summers after their summers? If I just had one more month I am sure I could get two or three more of these knocked off – I’d feel ready, I’d feel prepared, I’d feel – relaxed? Maybe relaxed isn’t really in the cards for us academic parental types. And besides, if I had another month I’d probably have doubled the list anyway. Oh well. Bird by bird.

Almost home.

Okay so a very good friend read this entry and wanted you all to know that I

1. Purchased a house and moved into it
2. made new unexpected contacts
3. worked on files at home
4. did visit old friends and they visited me
5. worked on classes and that they do not need to be completely re-designed anyway
6. did have many moments of wonderful relaxation at beaches, lakes and taking a motorcycle ride over the continental divide

In his estimation – I accomplished about 60% of the list, which he thought is more than “barely touched”. Note he didn’t mention anything about the potty training. But yes, perhaps some things did get accomplished after all. Many thanks to him, for all the reminders.