oh, those goals

 We're closing in on three weeks of official sabbatical, and the time is glorious. I am reveling in the chance to be free, to think and to read, to write and to plan. I am finding my rhythm for each day, each week. I'm sloughing off the stresses of the past year, with apologies to my friends and colleagues still in the thick of it. I'm cherishing this time.

And I'm making stuff happen. While I don't want to bore you with all my amazing productivity (and, of course, we should always question the emphasis on productivity as a main goal for all things), I have been making steady progress on my goals, both personal and professional. So I decided to finally commit them to (virtual) paper, though it's a little scary to share them beyond the printed document stuck on my bulletin board.

Personally, some of my goals were to focus on my running and build up strength. I have been running steadily and consistently the last few months (and feel that I can run 5-6 comfortably and stretch to 7-8), though I have to be conscious of my healing foot. This week, I haven't been able to run as much because of the terrible air quality and smoke, but that's how it goes sometimes. The other part--strength--is being helped along by my participation in a strength conditioning group with a kinesiology student trainer. I volunteered myself as a participant, and in return, I get to try to work toward doing full push-ups. Yes!

Other personal goals are to make time for my hobbies, like reading lots of books and making macramé wall hangings and knitting and sewing stuff, so it's been fun to have time and energy to do those projects. Also, no pressure to do them--I'm fine with a slow and methodical approach.

Professionally, my goals are to work on my BIG SABBATCIAL project, or the thing I submitted as my project, which is to listen to stories of students' experiences with team writing in engineering. I'm making great progress on that, as I just submitted my IRB proposal and got permission to recruit students from three programs, so that's exciting.

My other projects involve written deliverables: a book chapter (due next week), finishing up an article draft I've been working on for a while, and finally FINALLY getting around to wrapping up an R&R on a project that I submitted two years ago (oops). I'd also like to get a grant application together to submit for my first NSF grant (based on my research). I'm also creating some faculty development for a program. Essentially, by the end of this year, I'd like to have four published/submitted things (articles and book chapters), a grant application, and materials related to faculty development, along with some conference presentations. I might stretch myself to a fifth article/chapter. It's ambitious, but I think I'll be able to accomplish most of it, even if it's getting a draft finished and submitted, or a draft planned and started.

Finally, I'm also reading--diving into the scholarship I haven't had time to read or stuff that's interesting to me. This is the part where I'm realizing the joy of sabbatical--the ability to sit and think and to explore. And I'm all for it.