Summer List - 2012

In no particular order, here are my goals for this summer:

-recover my home office

-get a password management system up and running

-get tap shoes and use them (for clogging)

-ride at least three 50+ mile road adventures

-tromp or ride in the woods once a week

-put a ceiling in the basement

-read books everyday

-put new edging around front beds

-grow out my hair or chop it all off (decide before Sept 4)

-draft 3 chapters of my book

-write 2-3 new urban history lectures

-sort all my teaching files

-ride to AA to work once a week (when not traveling)

-take kids on an overnight backpacking adventure

-donate or trash at least one bag/box of stuff for every week of Jun, July, and August

-paint Emma's door to look like the Tardis (I could use help with this)

-teach Emma to cook

-help Owen find a sporty activity he loves

-develop a workable chore schedule for the kiddos

-avoid all contact with poison ivy

My favorite time of the term

I love this time of the term -- the shift into finals really changes the culture. People are studying everywhere, but the whole pace of campus is slower and the sense of camaraderie is higher.

When I was at Agnes Scott, we could take our finals when we wanted to and many of the freshman raced through them as fast as possible in order to leave campus for the holidays. By the end of second term, however, we learned what the older students already knew and we took more time with the finals, concentrating our studying, pacing the test-taking, and taking all the time we could.

At Indiana, I remember having an exam in the last possible slot at the end of winter term my first year. It came long after my other courses were finished, affording me days of luxurious studying and, frankly, lounging. I don't remember anyone rushing... not like during the term, anyway. And then the dorm and campus became increasingly empty and peaceful, and it was lovely (and I aced the exam).

See, I told you it was about privacy...

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