This Is 46
Reading since September 13, 2024: 253 (Latest reads can always be found on Goodreads)
- Senior Associate Director or AI in Teaching & Learning at Northeastern University (full-time)
- Teaching courses at College Unbound & North Shore Community College
- Consultant Facilitator, Speaker
Favorite Blog Posts of the Year
Looking Back
Professional Changes
So, yeah. This past year was a banner year for me professionally. I know some of it is the compound interest of many different strands of work I've been weaving together for the past 5, 10, 15, or 20 years or so. In that way, it makes a certain sense why it has happened. But also, it continues to feel strange about the range of professional growth. It's that weird dynamic wherein I know that one part of this is a variety of intentional and thoughtful moves I've made over the years; another part is just luck; and yet another part is privilege. And it's not always clear which one is strongest at any given moment.
Home life
Personally, the year has been all right overall with some ups and some downs.
We lost Pumpkin, our beloved 14-year-old cat in May. That was heartbreaking. She was diagnosed with cancer in March but was largely functional until May. One night, her back leg stopped working and we found out it was either a blood clot or the tumor had grown so big it was blocking a nerve. There were no good options at that point and so we had to put her to rest. We had time to say all our goodbyes and tell her how amazing she was and will continue to be. She was my first cat and had been with me from before I started this whole career trajectory and was still doing the full-time adjunct shuffle. She was the epitome of sweetness and I still think about her daily.
My partner and I celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary and got to do some traveling in the past year, including to Alaska as part of a family trip and Paris as our anniversary adventure. We did a Rick Steves Tour, which we found to be really helpful, both for learning to navigate the city and for having a community of folks to connect and talk with.
The garden this year was not too successful. I got produce, but there was a lot of failure. I started off with doing the square foot method and breaking up the garden into a grid. I then proceeded with what I called the "Order and Chaos" garden method; where I took a bunch of lingering seeds from the last 3-4 years and mixed them altogether into one container. Then, I took handfuls of those seeds and sprinkled them into the squares and covered with dirt. Lots of stuff grew but some things grew and dominated more than others. So I got plenty of radishes and turnips. Also, the squashes, cucumbers, and greens--they got destroyed by a groundhog that I was quite ready to go full Caddyshack on. But my partner did not find that acceptable, so next year, I will be doing raised beds, apparently, or building a trench and fence. I got a good share of tomatoes, herbs, potatoes, peppers, and the chard is finally coming in; I may also get a watermelon or two.
Another exciting thing (for me) was that we finally got a Little Library. I actually talked about this in a previous annual reflection (42). It's real now and stacked with books. I'm not sure how much traffic I'll get. Still, if anyone knows me, they know my love of libraries is strong and having one is definitely peak excitement for me.
Health
It's been a good year overall for my health. I've maintained the weight loss from last year and found new ways to care for my body (a bit more stretching, some weights and other anaerobic activities).
I did my first half-marathon in a while and came in at about 2 hours and two minutes, which was great given that I hadn't been pushing for speed. That was early in the season (May) and I worked on building up speed and better lung capacity. Then, I strained my calf in June, and it took till August to recover. So I spent the summer doing a lot more cycling. But I found for the first time in a long time, I was able to still do higher cardio on the bike than normal and maintain some of that speed as I returned to running. I'm back up to running 12-15 miles regularly and hoping to add more speed in the next month or so.
I don't know that I would say I'm in the best shape that I've ever been, but I'm definitely in that realm and appreciate what my body is capable of doing at this stage of my life.
Looking ahead
With the PhD done, there is definitely something to be said about coasting along for a while and relaxing a bit. And, for those who know me, know that probably isn't likely. I would say there are a few goals that I'm hoping to get started or make progress on in this next year.
The first is pretty straightforward, and I've already applied. I'm hoping to complete University of Rhode Island's Master Gardener program to learn and do more with my garden in the ensuing years. Chris may also take this, which means it will be even cooler to work together with her on gardening plans!
The other two goals I anticipate starting but not necessarily finishing in the next year are running a double-marathon (52.4 miles) and writing a memoir. I've been a runner for nearly 15 years--in fact, next summer will be 15 years of running. I'd love to commemorate it by doing a doube-marathon. To be clear, that's the longest distance I'd want to do before going back to my favorite distance, the half-marathon. There's something powerful for me in going from a person who couldn't run for 5 minutes to someone who can run for 50 miles in the last 15 years. But that's an intensive investment of time, energy, and planning. So, I have to figure out a way to fit it in with...well, everything else.
I have already started the other goal. It has been sitting with me nearly as long. In fact, I had a name for it well before I had a sense of what it was going to be. But yes, writing a memoir is something that feels important for me. If you've been reading long enough on this blog, you know that I navigated my teenage years grappling with bulemia, depression, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and several attempts. I'm also in a place so far on the other end of that spectrum. There's a lot that has happen to move from one end to the other and through lots of writing, reflecting, conversations, and learning, I think I can speak to something distinct and thoughtful about it. So, let's find out!
Beyond that, there are other projects, ideas, and small hopes for the year to come but think I'll hold off on a list for fear of overwhelming y'all.
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