2 weeks in, and still going

I've been taking it one day at a time here. I've got an ambitious To Do List most days, which are towards the long term goals of "Teach a Successful Class" and "Finish and Submit this Manuscript." This issue is that I've added a major distraction to my week at exactly the time I am supposed to knuckle down and mash out some good work. I'm trying to be as efficient as I can stand, which certainly means not wasting time doing stuff I don't have time to do well.

It also means I haven't had much time to look ahead or behind. Or blog, apparently. I had this great ambition to use this semester to really become the Wonder Woman I want to be- manage the stress of work balance issues by regular exercise and healthy meal planning. Ha! The whole plan isn't underwater yet, but this requires a LOT of leaning on Matt. To actually carry out the meal plan, and to be patient about actually seeing each other much. One insightful thing I did for this set up a 'Menu' for the house: 14 reasonably healthy meals that can be picked off the list, and assembled in about 20 minutes, which streamlines both shopping and cooking.

The semester seems to be progressing, but between staying late for office hours and getting up early to catch a bus that will stop for me (now that students are back, I can add and hour to my commute if I go in at the wrong time), I seem to spend the rest of my time trying to sleep. At some point in early graduate school, my brain lost the discipline to sleep after a long and stimulating day. If I can fall asleep, I wake up often thinking about my class, worrying about my science, and assembling the next to do list. I used to find thinking about the next day before sleep a relaxing way to end the day, but now that induces insomnia. And if I don't get enough sleep during the week, I universally get a cold- and being sick just doesn't seem to fit my schedule right now.

We did squash in some fun over the long weekend. We drove North of town, to Slippery Rock, stopped at a bunch of farm markets on the way, buying veggies and enjoying the drive. Then we had dinner at a really cool brew pub. It was a nice day out.