Day 9: Domesticated

Hello,

The big news for the day is that the Chair of my committee is now back in the U.S.!!!  This means he might actually check his email and respond to drafts of my work.  That has been, by far, the most frustrating part of my dissertation journey this summer.  I put my entire family on financial hold so that I could concentrate full-time on writing my dissertation and whose schedule doesn't jive?  My Chair's.  An important research paper, presented in Prague, really threw a wrench in my productivity plans. 

In one of my blogs (I skimmed but couldn't find reference) from either earlier this year or last year, I focused on my weakness in enjoying the process of things. Hey, I'm a checklist gal and I can't help it.  I somewhat enjoy what I do but I enjoy giving myself credit for what I do just as much - and that means even during my free time.  It's a little obsessive but I believe it is how I can multi-task well enough to do what I try and do.

Anyways, I remember starting on my full-time writing gig in June and people asking me whether this'd be enough time to complete by July 31.  I'd answer, "Well, it better be because it's the only time I've got."  And slowly, as my advisor failed to respond, as I learned of his departure from this country during just the time that I had set aside, as I read one of his few responses questioning an entire 2-weeks of work product, and as I considered making this project a masters' thesis I realized that God was probably laughing...   I thought I had it figured out and I prayed every night that God wouldn't make this any harder than it had already been. I told Him I'd put aside the time and that this was it and I needed it done now.  Sort of like what I am planning on doing with this 75-Day Challenge, but in this Challenge I have conceded to the fact that I'm managing multiple things and my time won't come easy and each decision I make will be a sacrifice to something else I could or should be doing.   I get it.  I am learning to enjoy it - enjoy the process.  Submit. Surrender.  Succeed.

So here's to hoping that the draft I sent him this morning (with MANY disclaimers about things that should have been done here, or will be done there) will arrive with comments on some near-future-date that indicate I'm at least on the right track...

To do list:

9. PINTEREST, Baby!  That's right, I've never looked KNOWING it is a time-sucker!
8. Clean out the garage
7. Complete the scrapbooking projects I have for the girls
6. Fix up the area I envision as a mudroom (which will cut down on dirt in the house)
5. GO TO THE GYM as often as I want (without feeling guilty)
4. Read a newspaper with coffee in the morning (without feeling guilty)
3. Write a will
2. Read a novel (without feeling guilty)
1. Learn Spanish