Reflecting on Spring 2022

My goals for Spring 2022 were modest. I knew I had to focus on just getting through the semester and making sure to meet deliverable deadlines, and put everything else a bit on the backburner, as I am processing the death of my mom and also dealing with all the administration that comes with this.

Here’s how my Spring 2022 goals went:

• Submit 4 papers: 2 are almost ready to go out, I submitted an R1 version of 2 papers and submitted 4 new papers, 1 of which already got published. Mission accomplished!
• Work on the analysis of experiments. Yes, although the report is not approved and finalized yet.
• Help my new PhD candidate getting started, and my other PhD candidate to finish his thesis. The first one yes (I think), the second one is a work in process.
• Get more sleep. According to my Fitbit, I average 7h35 minutes of sleep per night in 2022, which is marginally better than the 7h32 minutes in 2021. Getting to 8h30 minutes is certainly a work in progress for me.
• Meditate. I’ve been able to meditate most mornings for 10 minutes.
• Write for fun. I’ve been writing a few poems and started a new writing project for myself.
• Restart exercise after too many injuries. I’m finally running again! I’m still taking it very slowly and carefully, but I’m getting more exercise. I need to increase the time exercising, to get to my oncologist’s prescription of 30-60 minutes per day.
• Move to our new house. It’s not ready at all yet. It was supposed to be ready by March…
• Spend a date day or weekend with my husband. We went on a date for Mother’s day. We had scheduled a weekend away, but had to cancel it due to other activities.
• Schedule lunch dates. My schedule has been extremely busy with meetings and the lunches have fallen to the side.
• Have 4 trips outside of the city. We actually got busier on the weekends with kid activities, and did only two day trips outside of the city.

I also managed to move my piano from Belgium to Ecuador, and donated my long locks (proof in the picture) for Dibuja una Sonrisa, an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients in Quito.