"But I don't know where to start..." That's NO EXCUSE!

You've probably all heard me say (at one time or another) that "I don't know where to start!" Maybe you've even said it yourselves:-) Yesterday, when I met with Trudy, I heard myself saying it once again, until I realized that it was just an excuse. I had to decide if I was going to continue to make excuses, or determine to move forward. I have chosen the latter, but as always, I need your help.

Trudy gave me some suggestions of things I need to do to get started. Of course, now I cannot find the paper on which I wrote her suggestions, which is one of my biggest frustrations! However, I am going to use that as motivation.

Here is what I remember:

1. Post "To-Do" list on blog entry. [I did that last night--see previous entry].

2. Set up Google Calendar. This is what I have so far: http://www.google.com/calendar/render?hl=en&tab=wc

3. Look online for new desks to put in office, which I am preparing to set up in the front bedroom (formerly a mess). The desks below are examples of some that I found online. As you can see, these are quite nice, but I have no idea what they would cost. One of the things that sometimes deters me from organizing is that everything I have is such a mishmash. I would like to have things match, and maybe even get furniture that I don't have to put together:-)

These look like sets that belong in a house that is bigger than mine, but they also contain some elements that appeal to me. I like the arrangement of the one below with the desk in the middle, and lots of storage. I am also looking for a desk on which I can put the keyboard. The desk I now have has a small slat that pulls out. In order to type on it, I cannot sit close to the desk. Also, the monitor is about 6-8" higher than the height of the desk, which gives me a crick in my neck whenever I use it!

The next one has a lot of storage. I'm not sure what kind of wood I would like in the room where I will have my office, but I am thinking lighter rather than darker would be better. Most of the book cases I have are some variation of oak, so that would always match. I don't think any of these examples are oak.

The next one looks neat and functional and would fit with anything I have. Let me know what you think of the three arrangements. In addition, if you come across something simpler, let me know that too. I found these at the following website: http://www.closetfactory.com/home-office.php

Continuing my "to-do" list:

4. Clear out stuff in front bedroom so I can move office into it. Thankfully, Lori helped me to get started by transferring a lot of stuff to the basement. I still need to put all of my video tapes somewhere, but I will return to that later.

5. Once I have cleared everything out, I can sweep and clean the carpet to get it ready for setting up the office.

There is one more link that I found while I was searching online and that was Julie Morgenstern's website, so I wanted to include it here: http://www.juliemorgenstern.com/Organizing.php

Tomorrow, I will continue with steps 4 and 5, AND will post another blog entry so you can see how I am doing with the "To-do" list.

btw, several people said they could not remember how to post a comment on the blog. One way is to sign in to your gmail account. The other is to write a comment, and then when you go to post it, it will ask for the account or password that you use. I'm not sure if that helps, but I hope it does. Thanks, in advance for everyone's help and support!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Things to do

Note: I wanted to post another blog entry today. As you may remember, I spoke about making a list of things to do. I actually started this list about two weeks ago, but never finished it and consequently never posted it. I am going to explain more and also indicate which of the following I have completed. But, since I would like to get to bed before midnight, I will leave it at this for now.

Doctor’s and other appointments:

1. Dentist (Dr. Trent Hire): teeth cleaning
a. Implant (upper left)
b. Sensitivity (front teeth)
2. Eye appointment (check with Dr. Archer in BG, Diane Euler’s recommendation)
3. Ck. on results of tests at Dr. Horrigan’s
4. Hair appointment (mid-June)
5. Pap smear
6. Mammogram
7. Foot doctor (in Toledo) to check on arch support and plantar fasciitis
8. Massage
9. Check-up on thyroid (Cleveland Clinic)
10. Appointments with Trudy

Grad Students

1. HMSL 6350: Sport & Society
a. Provide feedback on Group (Olympic) project
b. Finish giving feedback on blogs and journals
c. Organize notebook with readings
2. Bryan Gasser (check online posts)
a. Meetings typically at 4-4:30 Fridays
b. Poster Presentation: Tuesday, June 22
c. Final Project due: July 29
3. Nick Porter: not registered
a. Poster Presentation: Tuesday, June 22
b. Final Project due: July 29
4. Adam Brill: moving to AZ at end of June
a. Meet to decide how to complete project
5. Nathen Eldridge: meeting times vary
a. Not graduating until next spring
b. Working on project with Mickey Cochrane
6. Grant Wallace: need to find time to meet
7. Steven Wright: finished in Spring
a. Grade interview assignment
b. Submit letter with change of grade

Undergrad Students

1. SM 3950: Sport in the global marketplace
a. Go through and select readings
i.Submit selected readings for E-Res
b. Make up course outline
c. Determine topics/speakers for each session
i. Invite speakers [Geoff/Adrian (soccer/futbol); cricket; Sungho (Korean
golfers)]
d. Make up assigned reading list: submit with selected readings to E-Res
2. SM 2210: History & Philosophy of Sport
a. Organize stuff from Sport Centennial Project
i. Decide what to include for Fall semester
ii. Submit stuff to Archives at Jerome Library
3. Generally need to keep up with requests to meet and/or do paperwork
4. Go through list of advisees (n = 100)
a. Update advisees with files
b. Remove files of students who have graduated
c. Make files on computer to update messages

Living Room

1. Sweep carpet
2. Put away videos
3. Arrange books in book shelves
4. Finish arranging furniture, including lights
5. Put up pictures
6. Decide where to store guitar and music
7. Take “after” photo for blog

Kitchen

1. Clear off counter (permanently)
2. Arrange stuff in shelves so that things are more accessible (e.g., bill paying,
letters)
3. Decide where to keep exercise bike?
4. Throw out stuff that I’m not using! (e.g., empty medicine bottles)

Dinette

1. Take “before” picture
2. Sort through containers and furniture
3. Finish shredding papers
4. Move big circular chair out and decide where to keep it
5. Clear off kitchen table
6. Decide which books to keep in kitchen (or move book shelf to another room)

Saturday, June 12, 2010: USA vs. England in World Cup

This will be a brief entry today since it is already late afternoon and I still have not finished writing and revising the chapter that I had hoped to complete by today. Earlier, I took time out to watch the World Cup game between the U.S. and England (it ended in a tie, 1-1, which is a virtual victory for the United States, in case you have not been following the coverage). In any case, I tried these two arrangements of furniture.

View 1: Couch is to left (facing it) of coffee table and color of vase picks up colors in the two pics.

View 2: This arrangement was suggested by my friends Antonia and Geoff, who visited a few nights ago. In this view, the couch is closest to the wall, and sits at an angle, while the coffee table is to the right.

The one other thing I might change is the arrangement of pictures. When Mary Jo did them before, she had them at different heights and I liked that better. So, I am thinking that I will put the middle picture higher, and the picture on the right lower. Let me know what you think.

Friday, June 11, 2010: New Beginnings

I have now finished putting the living room back together and here is what it looks like: The top photo shows where the new TV is.

The second photo shows where the small couch is. I like this arrangement, at least for the time being, because it opens things up and will make it easier to have company. Now I need to decide where to put the pictures that were formerly on the front wall (where the TV is now). I really liked the arrangement Mary Jo did before. Any suggestions?

The following is what I wrote earlier in the day, so my next blog post will be tomorrow. I'm baaack!:-)

A few days ago, Mary Jo asked if I was keeping up with my blog. And I had to say that I had not made any recent entries. I have written here sporadically, even though I had intended to write on a daily basis. The idea behind keeping up with this blog was that I wanted to do what I have been doing with research. Almost two years ago, I joined the Academic Writing Club. It is a network of academics who need external motivation or structure to keep up with writing on a regular basis. Each day, people write their goals for the day, and how much time they spend writing and/or reading. My ultimate goal is to spend about 2 hours per day on research. By doing it on a daily basis, and prioritizing, I find that I have greater continuity. I had hoped to transfer that same principle to organizing and managing my time. However, it was easy to put that aside since I had not yet prioritized; therefore, if the French Open was on, or I didn't get as much sleep, I excused myself from following through. Today I realized that if I do not set this as a priority, it will never become a habit. So, I wanted to start today by saying: this is a priority. For now, this is all I will write, because I am going to work on research. But I will be back later today to provide more input about what I want to accomplish--today and in the days to come.

One other thing I want to add: one of the motivations of doing the Writing Club is that there is a "community" of others who have similar goals. Therefore we are encouraged to write comments or give "applause" to those others as they meet or even strive for their goals. That is why I have asked you to read and provide feedback for my project. I want to thank and express my appreciation for each person who does that. Thanks for now. I will return:-)

My goal for today: clear off the counter in the kitchen.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

I know it has been over a week since I last posted on my blog. That was because I decided to take a real break until after the French Open. I have still been working during that time, making gradual changes in the living room, doing research, and trying to keep up with student advisees (an ongoing responsibility). The first pic below shows the results of cleaning the second half of the living room. The carpet is now dry and I have pretty much put things back together, including my new big-screen TV (2nd pic below). The first picture was taken about a week ago when the carpet was still drying.


The second picture shows the big screen television I got about 10 days ago. While it arrived and I have been able to watch it since a week ago Sunday, I had to make a number of adjustments, so it wasn't fully operational until this past Friday. If you ever get a big-screen with HD, you will need to get an HDMI cord to plug in to the TV and the cable box (it cost about $20). I didn't have it at first, and the picture was not as clear as it now is.

I will send another pic of the room after I do some more rearranging--hopefully later today. I have also made a list of all the things I would like to accomplish in the next 10 weeks. I got quite a bit done yesterday--not so much in the way of organizing, but doing errands at school. I will figure out a way to share the list.


Right now, the main thing I need to do is find a way to get a good night's sleep. After getting up around 11 a.m. yesterday, I have not slept at all, which means I am going on 28.5 hours without sleep. And I have taken two 20-mile bike rides in the interim! Hopefully I will still have enough energy to make some progress organizing today!