This week, I had to submit my annual faculty portfolio. This is in addition to the promotion portfolio I submitted several months ago. It's a lot of work. It frustrates me every year. This year was no different. But, it's always a good reminder about just how much I've managed to accomplish. Plus, gathering all my "evidence" requires me to deep dive into my email. This includes my folder of happy emails. About two years ago, I started saving all the positive feedback students and faculty send me. At first, I did this so I could "prove my impact" in my portfolio. While I still do that, I mostly use this as pick-me-up on hard days. I like to open that folder and read all the good messages. Even re-reading just one message can help improve my day. Do you have a happy emails folder?
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I came to the office today not because of work but, rather, because we treated ourselves to a professional house cleaning. Friday, I normally work from home but I am more than happy to give that up if it means I get to return to a beautifully clean space. Here's what else made me happy this week:
I read a lot of books with my kiddo. Kid Reads is a biweekly look at what we've enjoyed recently.
*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org
I always think spring break will be an "easy" week and it never is. The students might not be here but I try to cram in too many projects. At least I got to have some fun with drink umbrellas. Here's what I'm working on:
This week I (finally) got to book my travel for a work conference in May. It's out on the west coast which always presents a dilemma. Do I get up before the sunrise so I can minimize delays and arrive at a normal hour but show up exhausted? Or, do I sleep to a reasonable hour, leave in the afternoon, but arrive quite late? So far, I've always opted for option A. For some reason, I prefer getting up at 3:30 in the morning to make those 5 or 6AM flights. I like knowing that my plane is already there and that I have a better chance of making my connections. Then, when I arrive on the west coast, I have the chance to settle in and, just maybe, sneak in a few hours of sightseeing. But, I always end up struggling to stay awake past 8PM. At my last west coast conference, I fell asleep at 8:30PM and awoke at 5AM the following day. I never really did settle in to the time change. Getting up that early makes for some very long conference days. I generally break down and get an afternoon coffee for an energy boost which is something I rarely do. Do you prefer early flights or later flights?
This week, I saw some crocuses start to sprout out of the ground. Spring is nearly here! I love it when the flowers come back. Here's what else made me smile:
Just Stab Me Now Jill Bearup This is a romance novel based on an insanely good video series. Bearup never intended to write this book but her viewers (including me) clamored for it. I'm about a third of the way through and the book is just as delightful as the series. It's included all the main points from the videos and expanded upon things with more description and nuance. The book bounces between viewpoints and the changes in font for each section help keep things understandable. While I already know how this ends, I'm still loving it. *Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org On our internal chat, my colleagues and I chatted about all the various things on our plates right now... and how all we want to do is nap. One of them shared this image and I've decided this is going to be the mascot for the next few weeks. Here's what I'm focusing on:
Parenting is full of surprises. Certain things I knew I would definitely do... or not do. Some things I left to fate. Other things I have done complete about-faces on from what I thought I would do (lol the idea of making my own baby food). And then there are the things you can't plan for. I always thought I would be a "Mommy." It's what I called my mom. It's what I call myself. It's what my husband calls me when talking to our kiddo. I figured, because that's what we did, I would be "Mommy" until kiddo outgrew it... hopefully not until college. I did not count on the influence of Daniel Tiger. This was the first TV show we freely let our kiddo watch and she was quickly a fan. On that show, Daniel's mom is Mom Tiger. Mom - not Mommy. Slowly but surely our kiddo stopped calling me Mommy and moved to Mom. I had no idea how sad I would be about that change. But, I let it happen because this was definitely not something that needed to be corrected. Then, this week, out of nowhere, kiddo started calling me "Mommy" again. I don't know what prompted the change but those extra two letters coming out in our kiddo's cute voice makes my heart melt. I don't think it will last, but I'm going to relish being "Mommy" again for as long as I can.
Earlier today, I presented at an online library conference. Whenever I do a presentation, I always plan for about half content, half Q and A. Sometimes that means we wrap up early, but today I had a lot of questions. I love it when people want to keep chatting! Here's what else made me smile:
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