do first things first

1. Clean the kitchen.
2. Exercise 15 min on my exercise bike.
3. Hug my children.
4. Smile. ;>

Here is a short list of six goals for today:

1. Finish revising and correcting the first twenty pages of my intro so I can hand it in to my supervisor on Wednesday morning.

2. Buy bread.

3. Look on the internet for the bus and train departures to get to Brussels tomorrow for a meeting.

4. Write in my “Couple development” notebook that it is important to take breaks (5-10 min) from work, from a heated discussion from a meeting…(every 50 min or so seems to be a good lapse of time).

5. Fold dry clothes and hang up wet clothes (this is good for making a smaller ecological foot print, too) I’m using the dryer very, very rarely (once every 3 months! Not bad for a family of five, eh?).

6. Keep on schedule: Leave work at 4:30 pm or a little before and be in bed before 10:00 pm (this last goal is a tough one).

Ok after diving (being offline) for 4 months I’m back on 43t. It feels good to see you are all still there!!! I know I won’t be up there with snowleopard10, Moose, Zanna, Aborealis, silvie, cate, lesleyegg, wren, Ish (and the list goes on) for having the most entries…but hey I’m still there, and that’s what counts.

I’ve been through a lot with this silly degree that I still haven’t finished. Now I have a due date for the main manuscript because the jury is getting together on the 25th of June to make comments on it. The final public presentation will probably be at the end of August. So thigs are looking a lot better than they did at the beginning of the year…COOL. I’ve made a lot of progress and should reaonably be able to finish by the due date.

Sorry for this long entry, but I thought it was important to update you all after such a long absence….I’M GLAD TO BE BACK!

Here’s my to do list for today (I see you’ve been keeping up the traditional “first things first” entries. Bravo!)

• leave work at 3 pm to get kids who are doing their last day of activities before school starts again Monday ^done

• buy ink cartridge for printer downtown ^{done, but I found out I have to order it by internet}

• finish all the easy corrections on my first 20 pages for the Introduction ^{done, now I have to do the harder ones…}

• get the papers from my colleague to correct for her over the weekend ^done

• find something to laugh about ^{done, thanks to YG’s bouncing!}

- work on article 2 and send it off to BG. done
- work on article 3 (Results section)done, looked at next step
- vacuum upstairs
- phone El and Jn done, sent email
- phone bank done
- have plan for dinner done

What a nice sunny day. The roads are wet though. When I went to bring DS’s swimming bag to school (he forgot it at home) I almost ran over someone with the car (an old lady). Boy I feel aweful. The sun was low and in my eyes and it was also shining on the wet road making a big bright spot so I was blinded from above and below at the same time. I was turing sharply to the left (that’s the way the road is – nothing to do with my driving skills) and the old lady crossing the road was in the shadow of a building. Luckily she was pretty quick! I realized she was there when I passed close to her with the side of the car. CARS ARE DANGEROUS! Then again, no, BLINDED DRIVERS ARE DANGEROUS!

My first article was finally accepted yesterday! I feel really motivated to finish writing this thesis. With one part down, I have ONLY five more to go…

- work 3 hours on doctorate degree: work on article 2 done
- vacuum living room
- prepare dinner
- put some heat on my neck (oooooh does it hurt, I have an appointment with my physiotherapist only on Saturday, I hope to stand it until then! Of course, I’m also taking ibuprofenum painkiller!) done

- work on doctorate two hours
- read about MBTI personalities on web done
- take a little nap (about 1 hour) done
- go to meeting with thesis director at four
- figure out what’s for dinner and buy it
- read a little ELP (Eat Love Pray, its a book) before nap done
- set out clothes to dry after having folded and put away the dry ones
- buy colored paper for a project
- have fun with kids when they come home
- spend quiet evening with dear husband

- read 50 more pages of EPL (Eat Pray Love). I’m sure all of you have read it already. I have a friend who just gave it to me as a gift a few days ago. What did you guys and gals think about it? So far its really funny, and at times I laugh out loud! Sometimes I find that it lacks depth. We’ll see my general impression at the end.
- work one hour on doctorate today
- I already cleaned out two boxes from G’s room, threw out a bag of clutter, brought some toys, trinkets, cookware and a bedspread to good will and gave some clothes away.
- buy water bottles for MP and J. They need them for school and their old ones are already trashed after just a few months of use. I got them ones used by the swiss army. I hope they’ll stand the test of rugged use by a 4 and a 6 year-old.

Over and out.

I went to the job interview and I did pretty well. I’d be surprised if I got the place though, I should have prepared more. I was in a good, positive mood and came off as a warm, friendly and kind person. I’m not giving up working in that field, I’ll just have to continue trying. The final result will only be known in a few weeks.

I need to do these things today:

- shopping (going on foot to take advantage of the finally sunny weather!) done
- e-banking done
- open new e-bank account
- order books done
- declutter one box from G’s room done
- vacuum downstairs 15 min
- prepare to-do list for tomorrow
- get supper ready
- get kids at school around 4:30 PM done at 5:30 PM
- go shopping for shoes for MP done
- I already mowed the lawn (took me 2 hrs) go me! It was the first time in the new house with the new mower! done

EDIT: also, read about Bergwaldproject

The weather is still foggy and misty. No sun today. Tonight we’re planning “raclette” which is melted french and swiss cheese on potatoes with a salad, smoked bacon and cold white wine. We have the machine grill to put in the center of the table. Each person can then melt his own cheese on little trays. Its so fun and the children usually love it (so do the adults).
The new thing in our kithcen is a wipeboard where we plan menus for the week, urgent and important things (business in progress, things that need to be monitored) and our next important buys (like a fence). I have a feeling that it makes all the family members feel involved. I’m thinking of putting a chores list on the board, too. I hope there is enough space.

- work three hours on doctorate
- fold clothes, hang clothes to dry, put clothes away in wardrobes
- books to order (this is going to be fun!)
- declutter one box from G’s room
- go shopping for food and presents
- vacuum upstairs
- sweep downstairs

- work 4 hrs on doctorate done
- study for my job interview this Tuesday (Go me!)
- get some presents
- drink my water done
- go to parents meeting tonight for DD (4) at school done
- send email to BG
- show my TLC more done