The Pope is Giving Up What for Lent? And ABD to PhD: Week 5

Why does headline grabbing news like to happen on my grading day? Last week, the body found under a parking garage in Leicester was confirmed to be Richard III and this week? Oh, you know, just a papal resignation - which hasn't happened for almost 600 years. No big. Whatevs.

OMG.

To learn more about the precedent for papal abdications, give a listen to our special edition podcast.

*Spoiler alert* I write about church councils. Unfortunately not papal conclaves, but if anyone wants to send Q, Z, and me to observe, I can have us packed in 20 minutes. The diaper bag is always ready.  H would rather go to the internment of Richard III (for the ale).

In even more exciting news, well, exciting personal news, an out of the blue technicality has now provided me with a producer credit. One of our potential podcasters - and a good friend of mine - is a member of SAG-Aftra.  Due to "new media" issues, she can podcast only if we are registered with them.  It is a really simple process, but they told her to have FH's producer fill that out and, apparently, that is me. Yes, your's truly is now the producer of Footnoting History for all intents and purposes.

Week 5

Goal: Continue to input information on 25 sessions a day into database.

Outcome: Did not happen. I think I inputted two days total, instead of the 6, which would have had the basic table completed and allowed me a guideline for my more in-depth perusal of the records (I am inputting from the calendar first and then checking the actual sources). I never recovered the will to work after my flu-cation. Then, on Friday, I thought I had mastitis, but, really, I just had a plugged duct and felt cruddy. However, my (involuntary) adjunct-cation (did I tell you all that I wasn't assigned a class for this term?) begins tomorrow and lasts a month (before I have training for another school, which just hired me), so I am going to finish a draft of this chapter. I'm going to step up my game. I'm going to make it happen.

Goal for Week 6: 50 entries a day. Complete tax table, so writing can begin next week. Make it so.

You may have noticed that my blogging has also dropped. Blame it on the flu-cation, but I might only do weekly updates for a bit as I really need to get the chapter drafted.

Richard III & My (belated) State of the Dissertation: January 2013

Oh my gosh, guys, they found Richard III. In Leicester. And they are going to give him a state funeral! And this is all very exciting and I'm *squeeing* because how can you not? And I asked H if I manage to finish my dissertation before 2014 - the estimated guess for the funeral is early 2014 - if we can go.

And, no, I'm not a Ricardian, although I do belong to the society and they have been very good to me. I don't know if Richard or Henry Tudor or a great number of many other people killed the Little Princes in the Tower. And, yes, I think someone killed both of them and, no, I don't think Lambert Simnel or Perkin Warbeck were really heirs to the throne. (Didn't you listen to my podcast?) And, as I've always - since 2002 - argued, none of it matters. All that matters is that Richard lost his crown and head and that Henry VII held onto both and what that says about (medieval) power and kingship. (If you are really interested, I can send you my senior thesis from college, which is completely about this.)

He's found! And there's your history for the moment. But let's move on to less pressing matters. At least in my mind. My dissertation.

First, I'm sorry there was no update last week. I have the 'flu. (The apostrophe is intentional.) But here is the state of my dissertation as of January 31, 2013 as well as an update for Week 4:

Weeks 3-4

Goal: My goal for this week was to finish writing up the section and to also write up a list of questions that I feel I need to address to complete the chapter.

Outcome: I have finished a draft of Chapter 3, which means the only chapters remaining to have the research written up are chapters 4 and 9. I have begun fixing up the tables for chapter 4 and was attempting to input information on 25 sessions a day, but ... 'flu.  However, my 'flu-cation is almost over, which means that I will re-start this process and my goal for the upcoming

Goal for Week 5: Continue to input information on 25 sessions a day into database.

Can I take a moment? I'm a historian. The only computer training I received was your basic gradeschool "turtletracks" thing and then typing in high school. Everything else has been learned "on the job" or by myself - via google and youtube or books. But I have taught myself how to create databases in Access and Filemaker Pro. I can create tables in word and convert to Excel. I can use Excel. Let's not think that the Liberal Arts can't include skills, which can be translated into the working world. It's life and we are all adapting to our ever-changing world, but this doesn't mean we need to focus only on STEM.

ABD to PhD: Week 2

Long-term Goal: write Chapter 3 (Overview) of my dissertation

Week 2

Goal: 1) Go back to records and fill in all the information about where/when the Convocations met in order to 2) complete short section on that and then write it up.

Outcome:  I was able to go and finish inputting all of the information about when/where the my meetings met and even discovered a cool tidbit that can be used - in conjunction with another section - as an article (my adviser suggested that when I told her). I only, however, wrote up a paragraph about it all.

Goal for Week 3: My goal for this week is to finish writing up the section and to also write up a list of questions that I feel I need to address to complete the chapter.

ABD to PhD: Week 1

Long-term Goal: write Chapter 3 (Overview) of my dissertation

Week 1

Goal: complete the "master" table from which I can write up information for my "overview" chapter

Outcome:  I probably should have looked at my chapter 3 and tables before writing my goals last week, because I actually had a lot of it done. It is over 20 pages and three of the 4 sections are drafted, if not great. I was able to complete my master table and I wrote a page of the remaining section as well as organized what I had already written. 

Goal for Week 2: What I need to do now is go back to my records and fill in all the information about where/when the meetings on which I am working were held - which I should have done 5 years ago - and then write it up. 

Social Media for Research?

As mentioned in my Contact and Growing My Blog sections (and if you noticed the button to the left), I joined Twitter this past Friday as @GradSchoolMama.

I have been having a blast. You know those "Blogs I Read Daily" also to the left? Okay, well, I started following Matt Logelin and he started following me! He does seem to follow a lot of people, but I still felt some love since he doesn't know who I am (although I have commented sporadically over the years). Then, last night when I wasn't watching the Golden Globes because I was trying to get Z to sleep, I tweeted back and forth for a bit with Heather Spohr. Yeah, all that happened. I know, you can't stand it. Neither can I.

But what's even more amazing (what could be more amazing? I KNOW! but it is) is that I tweeted a question to the Parliament Trust on Friday afternoon (@HistParl) and they not only tweeted back where I could find an answer this morning, but, then, they asked if I had access to a certain book and said - without waiting for a response - that if not they would email me a Word .doc with the information! I am seriously dancing for joy about social media making my research easier.  The information is just to set up some comparative history and isn't even a large chunk of the chapter I'm working on, but I know it's important and helps provide context. And this cuts down on the time I need to spend hunting up the answer (plus, when I can get my hands on it, I really want to check out the book they suggested).

I can't decide who I want to marry more: twitter or the Parliament Trust. Warn H.

So what are our thoughts? Is is alright to turn towards social media to help research endeavors or is it klassy (definitely with a k)?

Accountability and Writing: it takes a village

When we left NYC, my adviser warned that many students find it difficult to keep the momentum going once away from the academic solidarity of grad school.  As I had already experienced that during my year of "maternity leave" with Q (meaning I paid tuition, but barely did any work), I knew she was right. Luckily, I earned a fellowship for the next year of Q's life, which gave me enough to pay for Q to go part-time to a lovely in-home daycare.  It was a few months later, however, that H got a job across the country and my adviser sounded the above warning. I scrambled for childcare once we arrived at our new home and started hitting up the local college's library. I had an article, which I needed to finish, and I did manage to pull it together enough to do so, but I failed to hit a groove. I was writing for deadlines and, as many grad students know, those deadlines can be faraway and less than effective at inspiring work.

Soon after, we bought a house and the paperwork and moving was left to me (I might have said we would never move again at this point). Oh, and then we decided to have Z.

What I'm saying is: life, as it does for many of us, kept happening and my writing goals were always the first by the wayside.  (Today, for example, H was home from work, but the girls and I have colds. Z wanted to nurse most of the day and it is pretty difficult to write while checking printed materials and hold a nursing baby, so even with the extra help, scholarship lost. I told H that if he ever wondered why my dissertation never gets finished to look at today. He asked, "This happens every day?" I replied, "Something happens every day.") I kept trying to give myself deadlines by applying for conferences, but it wasn't sustainable.

Finally, as mentioned in my year in review post, I decided to write a page a day. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.  Two friends and I decided to keep on top of each other.  This method worked well until Z's birth, when she and my teaching load eclipsed all else (as noted in my hopeful, yet not reflective of reality weekly schedule).  Last week, however, another friend decided to introduce group accountability on a larger scale.  She got the idea from the Notorious PhD.  It is a 12 week system and we write up weekly goals. Those that fail to meet them will be booted. My friend even made up a cute website for us.

My goal this week is to finish my "master" table. I'll post an update of my work every Tuesday - that's the day we need to let everyone know how we did! For more on the success of making daily writing a goal, see this entry from Get a Life, PhD.

New Year's Resolutions

I know it's trendy not to do resolutions, because no one completes them, but I'm old school and like the idea of resolutions. Also, my friend, a hypnotherapist, used to say that one of the worst words you could use when planning for the future is "hope." Much like Yoda says:

Here we go:

(1) Finish the dissertation. Not just in draft, but done.

(2) Get ready to run a half-marathon in January 2014.

Should I put my Billy Wilder resolution? What do you think?

Year in review ...

Last year, I made two resolutions:

(1) To have a complete draft of my dissertation done by December 31, 2012

AND

(2) To watch at least one film every month either written or directed by Billy Wilder (other than the ones I had already seen, such as Sabrina or Ninotchka).

I definitely saw both as do-able, but, as it turned out, #1 was actually almost accomplished, while I didn't even see one Billy Wilder movie. For shame, Mom-in-Progress, for shame.

So what is the state of my dissertation? I have approximately 9 chapters (yes, 9. I had some overly long chapters and my adviser made me split them and now I have 9). Out of these 9, 6 are actually in draft form and the other 3 are in varying stages, although none are complete. They probably range from 25-50% drafted. To give you an idea of what this means, last New Year's Day, I had one chapter completely drafted and then a variety of sections with bits and pieces written.

How did I actually manage to almost pull this off? First, I presented two papers - one in February and the other in April - which required me to write up at least two of my sections. Then, when returning from the second trip, I decided to cut and paste a 'mock-up' of my dissertation and found that I had approximately 110 pages written (mind you, not written well, but written). I decided to set a goal of writing 1 page a day and, shockingly, managed to mostly follow it for the next 3 months. There were bumps, such as the orientation for my online course, which pretty much ate up an entire month and then there was the last month of pregnancy (or last 6 weeks, since Rory came exactly 2 weeks after her due date) where my brain turned to mush, but I have over 170 pages written, not including tables and charts.

As for poor Billy Wilder? Maybe this year ... but probably not.

Working from home with an Infant, Take 2

Here I am, again. A 3 month old (is that still a newborn?), a dissertation to write, and no childcare help. Is it 2009 all over again? Pretty much. (See this post for a little background on what life was like when Q was a baby.) I will say that this time is easier as I am at the end of my project, not the beginning. I had a massive burst of writing energy after returning from a research trip/conference last Spring and managed to put finger to keyboard before Z's birth and can now say I am the proud owner of 170+ pages of dissertation (not counting tables/charts/appendices/what have you).

Also, Z is a little easier to handle than Q (but that's a post for another time).

Z helps me edit a chapter

I continue, however, to bite off more than I can chew.  Like many other families, it is difficult to live off of one income, especially when you add in costs for Q's preschool and the fact that I have used up all my graduate funding, so now we need to pay a one credit fee per semester.  Neither of these costs are excessive, but I definitely feel like a drain. I was extremely fortunate to land an online teaching gig, but this means that my limited time (besides caring for Z full time and Q when she isn't in school - which thanks to viruses going around is most of the time) is now further taken up with teaching and grading, not dissertating.  My dad is going to come to help for a few weeks and I dream of getting a baby-sitter  starting in the Spring for 1-2 days a week, but then I'm sad that at least 1 day would be devoted to grading. I tell myself that I'll wake up at 6am every morning and get in an hour of work, but can't seem to get it together.  I spend a good deal of time dreaming about childcare.  By the way, Z is refusing the bottle, like Q did, so I can't go far even when I get help.

To be constructive for a moment (and see if anyone has suggestions), this is how I have scheduled my week.  It mostly revolves around the schedule for the university at which I teach because each week is a unit and students have weekly assignments which must be submitted by Sunday nights and, as per my job requirements, graded by each Wednesday - so within 72 hours - as well as give a one hour lecture each week for the two classes I teach. (I also respond daily to posts on the discussion board and try to ask each student a question or offer a comment. That rarely takes more than 30 minutes a day, however. I am required to also hold two office hours during class, but I try to be available to students at all times, so this doesn't usually take up too much time, though I am always logged in just in case. I check email daily and always respond in under 24 hrs.)


Monday - grade students' discussion board posts during nap times and give a one hour lecture via the internet during the evening.
Tuesday - grade students' personal essays during nap times and give a one hour lecture via the internet during the evening. (I have been known to finish grading at 4am after Rory wakes up for an early morning meal.)
Wednesday - dissertation work during nap time (in an ideal world)
Thursday - dissertation work during nap time (in an ideal world)
Friday - dissertation work during nap time (in an ideal world)
Saturday - hit the library for 1-2 hrs (no more, because, as mentioned, Z refuses the bottle) to get some books/check some references (in an ideal world)
Sunday - start grading discussion board posts in the late afternoon to get a jumpstart on the marathon grading for the next two days

In this way, I manage to limit my teaching to 2 or so days a week for the most part. Now I just need to motivate myself to accomplish my goals for the dissertation.