Summer has arrived.

This is why I love summer:

I have time in the morning to make steel-cut oats, even if I didn't pre-soak them, and I have a stocked refrigerator and pantry so I can throw blueberries in and top them with walnuts and yogurt.

The relaxed mode of summer is ideal for reflection, but I've found over the past several summers that I can easily whittle away at my free time and feel like I didn't accomplish anything.  Now that the wedding is over, my scheduled class meetings are over, and I'm home for five weeks without scheduled activity, it's time to think through how I want to spend my days.  One problem I have had in the past is that I let myself do things I just want to do (like watch the Sopranos) that don't have any impact on me meeting my long-term goals.  I wanted to articulate some of my goals for the summer here so that I set out to work toward them.  I also considered the best way to meet my goals and thought about scheduling time each day on separate components, but I don't think that's the best way to go for me.  What I'd like to do instead is schedule each week on Monday that includes time for specific components.  I also know that one key thing for me is to included unashamed free time so that I don't feel like I'm scheduling my summer away.

These are the general goals I articulated earlier in my notebook, by category:

Cook:

*Bake our bread all summer.  There's no reason to buy when I have so much time on my hands.

*Preserve something from our CSA bounty--spaghetti sauce, pickles, corn... I'm not sure what, but I want to freeze or can something to use at a later time.

Read:

*Continue generating a list of "to-reads."

*Compose annotated bibliography for new master's research and start working through it.

*Read Canterbury Tales and Frankenstein in preparation for my M.A. Comps in February.

House: 

*Deep Clean the whole place.  This includes our disgusting windows that no one has bothered to clean in years.

*Make the living room, master bedroom, and porch desirable places to hang out. (They sort of feel like we just moved in.)

*Re-paint the upstairs bathroom.  (Much needed as 100 years of paint is currently peeling off the walls.  I believe I will tackle this next week.)

*Hang art and photos.

Write:

*I'd like to figure out a writer's notebook routine that works.  I think this will involve research of different ways to work on it and seek which I like the best.

*Write a few pieces about teaching and unions that I've been thinking about.

*Polish and submit at least 3 pieces for publication somewhere.  I had a student pressure me about publication this year--"It's so easy to submit," she said.  "You have no excuse."  She is right.  I can only be rejected if I actually try to submit something.

Teach:

*Writing for Publication syllabus/plan

*Block Standards into quarters and figure out my portfolio grading system

*Work on revamping first month of lessons

*Read as much YA Literature as possible to prep for new year.

Other:

*Run a 5K sometime in September (I need to look at possibilities and sign up for a race.)

Goals for the Week:

1.  Finish cleaning and putting away wedding gifts, recycle all packaging, and finish thank you notes.

2.  Try writing by hand on a daily basis with sketches.

3.  Go to library to pick up copies of books for comps and books about student reflection; complete as many requirements as possible for summer class.

4.  Pick out paint chips for upstairs bath and research steps I will need to take to properly repair, clean, and prime surfaces.

5.  Wash five windows in the house.  I have to start somewhere.

2010 Goals

I've always been a better list-maker than doer, especially when I'm working with things I don't really want to finish. As a kid, when I needed to clean my room, I was great at making a checklist of things I needed to do, categorized by area of the room. Unfortunately, I would only actually finish the first two items on my list and my room would still be a pit. I would spend just as much energy on the list as the task at hand.

I always feel tempted to do this with new year's goals as well. I start thinking of all the areas of my life that could be improved, and I make lots of lists and goals and end up so overwhelmed that I don't really accomplish any of them. I decided that this year, because I already feel like I'm moving in the right direction (no major overhaul needed), I might try to focus on one goal each month. As I write that, I'm tempted to list all the other things I want to accomplish in 2010, and assign months to focus on each. I will list. I won't assign.

1. Send prompt thank-you notes and birthday cards.
2. Continue developing writing habit, and finish novel first draft by Spring Break.
3. Further automate money and re-allocate funds so I am giving more to charity.
4. Push myself as a teacher by doing more reflecting and deeper planning. I feel like I'm connecting well with my kids and serving them well on a daily basis. I also think my best planning has gone by the wayside as I work on my master's degree, and I'd like to spend more time with this so I can really feel that I'm doing my best teaching for student learning.
5. Throw a meaningful ceremony and kick-ass party (with John!) at our wedding in June.
6. I ALWAYS want to stop biting my nails.
7. Continue making our house a home. I hope that by the end of 2010, our house reflects us much more than it does right now.

That's a pretty tall list. I also feel like I want to work on them all right now. I suppose that's a good sign that they are all important. Which should I work on first?

One of these, however, is keeping me up at night and waking me in the middle of the night: #4. I am concerned about my writing elective the most and apparently it haunts me. If I'm going to do #1, I feel that I need to start now. But that one seems easy... get the cards ready at the beginning of the month, and mail them out as the dates get close. #5 is a goal with a deadline, but so is #2. Yikes!! This is why I schedule and make checklists that are never completed.

(Note to anyone who might actually be reading this blog: I plan to continue thinking out load and incoherently as I figure out how to attain these goals.)

There is also a health goal that I will address in another post (looks like today will double the amount of posts I've written on this blog) but that seems totally separate to me as it's a short-term detox rather than a long-term change.

Here's the plan:
1. Send deposit checks and complete any necessary tasks for wedding (ones that need reservations) by next weekend, January 9th, so I can relax from wedding planning for a month.
2. Start #1 today. Then I will have something to show for my new goals.
3. I'll write another post about my plan for #4.

As I re-read my first paragraph, I'm chuckling at myself, because I've just made a big list and another big plan. Apparently it's in my nature and I might just need to embrace the fact that the big changes, the ones that will keep me up at night, will naturally come to forefront as the thing to work on next.