End of an era

At TRB, I received a presentation for ending my chairmanship of the AHD15 committee and also ended my time on the technology transfer committee. This is Bill giving my a certificate. He also gave me a very nice silver cup with my initials on it.
I began working on the knowledge management committee. It promises to be a good fit for me. I keep thinking of writing a paper for submission this summer for the ahd15 committee. I think I could do something on mentoring. I sent an email to Kathleen to speak to her about it but she didn't get back. I'm going to have to be tenacious and email again.
We had class last weekend and went over our interviews for class. I had chosen Lois Zachary for my interview and had emailed her. The great thing was that she and I spoke so after crafting questions, we were able to chat on the phone. Ginger Hobbs-Lever spoke to our class about her dissertation process. It was very interesting and enlightening. What a relief! I think we all left feeling a little peace of mind.

Preview of things to come

I attended our cohort's holiday party a few weeks ago. Kathy had samples of the robes. Here I am in one of the robes but probably not the one we will end up with (as this one has gold piping and the one will have will most likely have white). I'm hoping no one from the first cohort sees this picture as we are supposed to keep it on the qt. Anyway, I like having this image as a goal for the future.
I took this week off of work. It's the week between the holidays and I thought I'd catch up on my reading. I had promised to read 15 journal articles. I read one because I have four books from inner library loan came in and they are all due this week. So, does reading one journal article and four books equal reading 15 journal articles? I think so, I hope so. I'm feeling a little discouraged as the book I'm reading right now has a lot of practical advice for my area of study but it's downright boring. This author has written a lot on the topic so he appears to be somewhat of an expert. So, is it just his style? Or is it the topic? I'm hoping it's the writing style. It's not the first time I've researched this topic and I've never found it boring but whoooaaa. I guess I have to expect this from time to time.
I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with the data, research. What I mean is that I read something, take notes then go back and annotate the works used for that writing and then plan to go back and look at those works. So, how do I keep all of that straight? Lots of notes, I suppose but its mind boggling.
We are meeting a week from today. Eric is giving a presentation of zotero. He mentioned that we should bring a journal article so perhaps he has picked up a few more tips, ones that I don't know. I'm hopeful that this is true. I could use all the organizational help that I can get.
In yoga class, we were supposed to think of what went well in 2011. I thought of school. Sure, I got two a minus (which I'm not thrilled with) but as crazy as it sounds, completing school is giving me a goal that I really need. It's ironic that getting a doctorate feels crazy but it keeps me sane!

Lorie Buffum

My ex-mother-in-law passed away this week. Its been more than a decade since I last saw her, maybe two, but she made a lasting and powerful impression on me and shaped the woman that I have become. It's sad that when you divorce, you are separated from the family too. It's only natural but it's part of the loss.
Our class met this past weekend and the concept of exhaustive literature review is overwhelming. The concept of doing the research and then tracking all of the data. I received a suggestion about software to track data and when I researched it I learned it is 1,800. That's a lot of money. I started reading one of the articles, there is a lot of background reading that I need to do just to fully complete this article. I am starting to feel paralyzed by the whole process, luckily it's early and I have time to figure this out (and I'm not alone).
We had a Christmas party for the cohort this week. We tried on the robes for graduation. It was so fun. I'm still waiting to see the picture, I love the idea of having it because it will help me to picture what I will look like when I graduate. Once I receive it, I'll post.

New semester

Yesterday I started a new class with a number of people from my cohort. We're starting our work on the lit review of the dissertation. It sounds daunting but do able at the same time. Kathleen is our instructor and she's having us work on a contractual basis which makes a lot of sense. We have to say what we are going to do before the next class meets. Our next meeting is Saturday so I gave myself a fair amount of work but not a crazy amount of work. I may have to take work to work with me and work at the library during my lunch. Otherwise, I'm not sure that I'll get through everything. I should have made cleaning my desk part of my work. It's a little crazy.
I received my work back from my last class. I'm very pleased with my grade and the input that she gave me. I'm looking forward to working with Pam again.
New twist on my diet. I'm going without gluten for a month to see if it makes a difference in my migraines. So far, it's been 8 days and I haven't noticed any change. The hardest part is eating with groups of people. I have a class dinner next Sunday and I don't know what I'll do. I suspect I'll bring something. I could bring potato leek chowder. It's easy to make and everyone loves it.

Collaborative Leadership, the end

I turned in my final paper for Collaborative Leadership today. I had to write a plan for a change and a reflection paper. I was editing it right up to the last minute. I hope it turns out well. I'm a little nervous. I think I hit all of the high points.
I have about two weeks off before starting my next class. I have to get my sister's Christmas present done and read 3 nchrp proposals. I also have to look at the book Karyn sent to me. We may work on this book together which is pretty exciting. It's my dream to publish a book. I've always had this thought way back in of my head.
Today we went to Kathy's house to help her with hay. There were a lot of other people and the work went pretty fast. We had a good time.

Collaborative Leadership, part 4

Just turned in my second reflection paper. My final paper is due in a few short days and I have thought about it, I even have an outline but I'm starting to doubt my ability to get it done in time. Why? Because I take forever to write anything, I labor over every word. This is an issue for me. And, in the end I make stupid grammatical mistakes--which is very annoying.
Our last class is this week. I'm actually enjoying this class and wish it weren't the last class. I don't think that I have EVER said this. It's sort of fun and I like the lunches that I have with Kathy and Addy. The food is always good and we have wonderful conversations. I enjoy their company very much.
I plan to write my final paper about creating a strategic plan for the center. I think this will be a good thing to have. I would also like to include an advisory board. I think the work ready center would also benefit from this. So, I'll start to plug away at the writing (maybe) tomorrow. I have some written notes, already.
The conference in St. Louis was very good. I came away with some strong ideas. We had a new england higher education conference which helped to formulate my ideas for the future of the center even further. Both very good events.

Collaborative leadership, part 3

Class today had its high and low points, we had to do a collaborative project that dragged on much longer than any of us wanted it to go. But, we did a project with muscle testing that was quite cool. It was the first time that I have ever muscle tested anyone. Very cool. The reading for the class has been pretty good. I was cursing one book but by the time I got half way through it, I realized it was pretty good--worth reading. I started thinking pretty strongly about goal for my current job and my life. I even wrote them down. Pam (professor) also brought up the study of water by Emoto and I read one last week--very good read.

We had a lovely lunch at the loaf and ladle. Exeter has wonderful places to eat. We have so many choices and such little time--only 4 classes.

I'm on my way to the NCWE conference in St. Louis. I'll miss the world series as they are in texas the days I'm in MO. I wouldn't have had anyone to go with anyway, so I'm glad that I'll miss it.

My flight is boarding.