The Deep Archives

I've been (slowly) dealing with paper organization and my monstrously overstuffed filing cabinet. This week that has involved taking out large chunks of the cabinet, relocating the files into tote bags from writers' conferences, culling, relabeling, and refiling.

Then I got to the (sizable) chunk dealing with medical records, which I was ostensibly saving for research purposes.  Ob/gyn records from freakish bleeding episodes in grad school, fertility treatment and miscarriage round 1, pregnancy with LG, fertility treatment and miscarriage round 2, pregnancy with Tiny Boy.  Donor sperm.  Donor egg.  All ye old IVF paperwork in folders from Dr. Gorgeous's office.

Could not bring myself to look at any of it.  Just stuffed it back in there.

Who said repression doesn't work as a life choice?

Anti-Procrastination Thursday

Things accomplished today:

1. Wrote some sentences.
2. Finished reorganizing book manuscript #1.
3. Read a large chunk of book manuscript #1 aloud, until the crying ensued.
4. Wrote cover letter for book manuscript #1.
5. Emailed revised book manuscript #1 to editor.
6. Emailed editor to inquire about the status of a manuscript accepted in June.
7. Emailed different editor to inquire about the status of a manuscript accepted in July.
8. Took an OPK. (Note to self: this is the problem with unmedicated cycles.)
9. Called a friend to deliberate what to do about the nearly-positive OPK.
10. Called Crazy Nurse to switch monitoring appointment.
11. Emailed former student about statement of purpose.
12. Emailed current student about appointment.
13. Revised cover letter for book manuscript #2.
14. Went to post office to mail book manuscript #2.
15. Called friend to see if she's up for company following monitoring tomorrow.

The kitchen is a mess. My desk is a mess. I can't quite sit still, but I'm not sure what to do.

A purely rhetorical question: why can't my body do ANYTHING according to plan?!

Tuesday at Chez Gwinne

It is in many ways a typical Tuesday here at Chez Gwinne, but it's been so long since I've had a day like this that it seems atypical. I don't teach Tuesdays this term so it is, in theory, a day for "research" (or, more accurately, reading and writing). In practical terms, though, many of my Tuesdays are eaten up by grading, prepping for class, meetings, and, more recently, doctor's appointments. I've had a few free Tuesdays recently but no sense of what to do with them, as I'm sort of between projects at the moment. So...today.

LG comes in for snuggle time around 7:15. She drinks her rice milk in a sippy cup, pets the cat, listens to NPR with me ("Mommy, they said OBAMA!"). Eventually I oust her from the bed so we can get dressed and on with our day. She watches five minutes (literally) of TV while I finish making her lunch and then we're off for daycare at 8:30.

Back at home, coffee and oatmeal (with sliced banana and almonds, a drizzle of maple syrup) as I sit down at the computer, check to see if there has been an email crisis overnight, and sit down to write. I started a piece last night, after seeing a photo of an old friend (a lost friend) online. This morning, I come back to it, easily write a few pages of something (not quite sure what, but the sentences are good). I remember I need to take my little blue estrogen pill. I write the introduction of a critical article; I hunt around for sources (one new one, yay!). I check blogs and such. The morning is gone.

I decide I'm hungry and eat an early lunch. I make a few necessary phone calls (LG needs a new pediatrician, I need prescription refills). I make a list of things that need to be done before tomorrow and realize that *nothing* must be done at this moment. I remember that theoretically I get paid, in part, to read.

I go to the library. Lose myself in the stacks. Bring what I can carry to the circulation desk. The most unexpected find: a book on eating alone. Not a recipe book, a book of essays. I bring it home, brew some tea, and begin to read. I also skim a book on productive writing for academics, which leaves me more than vaguely annoyed (but that's the subject of another post).

That brings me to a few minutes ago. I have roughly two hours before I will pick up LG (more if I let her stay "late," which she likes to do). I will clean my kitchen. Make some oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies. Contemplate our dinner options (I think leftover taco meat will become some kind of soup; perhaps alphabet soup for LG and turkey, corn, blackbean stew for me).

I like Tuesdays. Summer is having Tuesday every day. And I can't wait.

Anti-Procrastination Tuesday

It's Anti-Procrastination Tuesday! Hooray!

Anti-Procrastination Tuesday arose as a way for me to deal with To Do lists that have gotten out of control. It involves doing tasks I loathe--like making phone calls--and therefore postpone until it is almost too late. It falls on a Tuesday because, historically, that has been a day free of teaching, meetings, and regularly scheduled events.

Accomplished today:

• Wrote a draft of a short essay for a collection (4 pages) [technically, this is Real Work, but I've been such a slacker about my own writing that I want to put it down here].
• Wrote a letter of rec for a student applying to grad school.
• Called the office of WFRE to figure out how to send medical records from 2002-2003, Apparently this involves fetching them from "long term storage" at a "remote facility." Last time I requested medical records, it took about six weeks. Do you think there's a chance my new RE will get them by next week?
• Called petsitter to arrange for vacation petsitting.
• Wrote way too many emails to students and colleagues about spring semester matters, including conference travel, student organization, honors theses, grad school apps, and more.
• Filled out my flex spending reimbursement form to deal with childcare expenses (you'd think money would motivate me to do this sooner, but I guess I hate bureaucracy more).

What remains on my Still Procrastating About List:

• Calling a plumber to deal with leak under kitchen sink.
• Making hotel reservations for spring conference.

Now I am taking a quick shower and heading out the door for IUI #3 [take 2].