Today I have:
Emailed out a second batch of receipts
Booked my thesis in for hardbinding (ooer) and delivery

Today I need to:
Spend most of the afternoon reading the library book I've been blathering about all week Done depending on your definition of 'most of the afternoon'. I'm a bit further along anyway.

Today it would be useful to:
Try to order my gown Not done it but worked out how to
Create batch three of receipts
Wash my hair (which has been left for a week and a day and isn't insufferably skanky, but I don't fancy leaving it an extra day when I have to spend tomorrow morning in a room full of students)

Today it would be brilliant if I could:
Go for a walk Sadly the weather was a bit too shite
Write some fiction Nothing brilliant, but it's a start. I was stuck for inspiration so I did a random draw - literally, pulling two character names out of a hat and writing a scene about them. It works surprisingly well.

Before lunch today I need to:
Email off the first batch of receipts Before breakfast!
Make a second batch (Only qualifies as 'before lunch' because lunch is late...)

After lunch I need to:
Go into work, photocopy batch three of forms, deposit them at the finance office

It would be good if I could:
Create the third batch of receipts
Have an idea of what I need from the library
Read some of my existing library book
Organise some pre-graduation stuff Well, I made a start!

It would be amazing if I could:
Fit in a decent amount of extra walking time

Inspired by Clouds, who seems to be the list maven out of my friends at the moment.

Today I need to:
Make receipts for the first wave of conference delegates Woohoo, learning curve central - but so are most things in this job, that's what makes the experience useful.
Establish what the conference work score is for this week so I can plan other things around it A big chunk of it got sent home with Ducki so I made a start.

Today I really should:
Finish the job app I started before my marking came in (no)
Read at least a few pages of the library book I have renewed ten times already (failed miserably, but I'm invigilating later in the week so should be able to get through some then)
Make receipts for the second wave of conference delegates, even if I can't send them yet for whatever reason (no - the first lot took longer than expected)
Organise at least one of the things I need to do before graduation (no)

Today it would be great if I could:
Make a list of books I want from the library so I can pick them up when I next go to campus (no)
Organise several of the things I need to do before graduation (thesis to library, gown hire, hotel room) (no)

Today it would be absolutely amazing if I could:
Fit in a walk, even if it is a 'useful' one to buy vitamin tablets or something YES! :)

Also handwashed a load of clothing, since it was the last day of our heatwave</strike>

Currently on what will be the last of the first batch of job apps - i.e. the last until I hear about any more openings. Almost. You want to know what I'm stuck on? You're reading my blog, so I'm guessing you might not object to finding out.

I thought I was doing really well with the self-promotional stuff. It is, after all, accurate - yes, it has a positive spin on but nothing that isn't backed up by the facts. I was actually starting to convince myself, which is after all a necessary step to convincing anyone else. I was a bit out of practice with the standard stuff (cover letters and so on) and the material I had needed revamping majorly, but that's done.

Then, an application form with a difference - it asks for OTHER INTERESTS. That, I find difficult. Because my other interests are what might just mark me out as a total weirdo. Seriously, am I meant to put 'I am a vegan and take every available opportunity to promote the speshul sekrit agenda with tasty cupcakes. When I get a minute I like to write dystopian fiction involving St George bunting and train toilets. I am addicted to coffee and Bejewelled.'? Guess that might need a bit more polishing...

Today's dominant words are OW and YUCK, it might be guessable why. But the invigilation went well, so I don't have to worry about that. Just about job apps and pain.

Some places seem to want a disproportionate amount from candidates for a very short term contract. I guess it's to weed out the ones who aren't really bothered about the job. It is the most I have been asked to produce when applying for a temporary teaching job though - a research plan for the next year, a cover letter detailing my interests, competences and why I want to work there, a writing sample, detailed application form plus all references in by the closing date. I suspect as the market gets busier more places will want this. I keep expecting to be asked for a blood sample.

On a good day writing about why places should hire me makes me feel all optimistic, because I am after all writing the truth in these letters. On a bad day it seems like everything positive goes on the page and doesn't leave me much for the rest of the day.

So I'm actually looking for jobs in earnest again, and a few have come up over the past week that I might be a contender for. So I have to get back into writing cover letters and the like. I would love to think that merely having (as opposed to not having) a PhD will make all the difference between this round and previous ones, but sadly I suspect my self-promotional material might need redoing. That's where I struggle.

It's stupid. I know I kick arse. You know I kick arse, unless you're one of those people who reads blogs for the exquisite pleasure of bristling at the author's stupidity and wrongness. My students know I kick their arses in a constructive way. I have a huge range of relevant experience and a lot of potential to fill in any gaps now I have more time and headspace to do that. But written as a dry list, that won't cut any ice. Seriously, I used to write campaign material, press releases and the like pretty much as my reason for living. I don't know why I find it hard to do that for my own life!

Today, Duckula NOTICED I HAD CUT MY HAIR. While football was on. I'm amazed. Although not as amazed as I would have been had I not been standing behind him for the few minutes immediately prior to our little landmark moment asking whether or not he would be grossed out by human hair in the compost.*

I completed our day of miracles by cooking a Sunday roast in the evening without the panic this sometimes induces** and sweeping the kitchen floor. Now finishing my wine. ;)

*Well, he's vetoed menstrual blood and pee as potential sources of nutrients, so I wouldn't be completely surprised.
**The dishwasher goes a long way towards preventing panic, so does not having a looming deadline

I have a weekend 'off', that doesn't happen very often but since I have a quiet week-and-a-bit between compiling the Document of Doom (ok, abstracts) and exam marking (and hence an unprecedented swathe of time to focus on writing articles and applying for jobs) I thought a bit of battery-recharging time would be constructive. I explicitly planned not to spend the whole of yesterday welded to the computer. Well, I didn't spend the whole day welded to the computer... *grins and blushes* I did spend more time online than I wanted. I had chest pains during brunch (pathetic when for once I didn't have anything immediate to stress over) which nixed my plan for a trip to the shops/walk around the castle. On the other hand, we finally got around to planting the basil seeds that have been around for ages. That's the last of the bought seeds. I'm hoping all the wee seedlings (we filled three 24-space propagators, six seeds in each 'pot') survive so we can give some away and avoid a bit of Christmas shopping! ;) I also forced myself off the computer for long enough to tackle the massive clothes mountain on our bedroom floor. (mostly mine with a few of Ducki's small things mixed in, apparently my clothes EAT PANTS* for breakfast) I hadn't been enjoying sifting through it every time I wanted something to wear, let alone not being able to open the wardrobe door. Also it was nearly all black so all my work appropriate pants, socks and tights were cleverly hidden. Clearing it feels like a massive acheivement even though a) it actually took not much longer than drinking two cups of tea, which I knew because of course I had to fortify myself for the task and b) there are still at least two little enclaves of unsorted clothes around the place. Still, they aren't on full view or in the way, which is what matters.

My plans for the day are not that ambitious. Fiddle with my CV a bit to make me seem like an appealing candidate for the jobs that are coming up in my area. (Luckily the economic climate doesn't seem to stop people going on study leave and needing to be replaced for a year) Put the mushrooms in an alternative container so I can plant garlic in the plastic tray they came in. Get myself in the mood for writing self-promotional stuff and reading things that weren't written by students. All the sort of thing it feels like ages since I last had a chance to do!

*yes, I find PANTS funny. EAT PANTS is even better. Consider yourselves lucky I didn't use exclamation points too**.
**EAT PANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)