Hopefully a productive week

Hopefully, this week will be a fairly productive one. It's Family Day here in Ontario (Feb. 19, 2024), so the office is closed today, and this week is Reading Week at MDC, so students are away doing their best to get caught up (or, to be fair, ahead) on reading and writing. I have a lot of work to do this week, so I'm hoping that the less hectic and stressful week at work (yeah, right) will allow me to get some of it done. A few things I need to get done or get well into this week include the following list (in no particular order):
  • write paper for plenary address I'm giving at a conference in early April (my topic is "Gossip," and what I have to say about it might surprise you in some ways, but you will have to wait for the publication🙂)
  • grade assignments and give feedback for my Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning class
  • write a chapel sermon for Feb 27 chapel
  • write report and prep docs for March meeting of the MDC Senate and Board (there is a lot to get passed through this particular meeting)
  • trudge through a profusion of work email (ugh)
  • finalize the course schedule for next academic year (this is 99.9% done already; I just have a few changes to make)
  • final edits to a paper that I co-authored and co-presented at MDC's "Secularism and the Pursuit of Transcendence" conference last April conference with Dr. Jonathan Watt from Geneva College
  • finish editing a book project (edited volume from the Bingham colloquium back in 2018) that I inherited (this is moving along fairly quickly and I hope will be in press soon)
  • work on the final chapter of my book and prep to submit to publisher
  • work on chapter on Rom 3:21-4:25 that will go into an edited volume in a series on Linguistic Exegesis of the New Testament
  • work on book chapter for an edited volume on modern interpreters of Paul (like the one I did on Dibelius in book on modern interpreters of Luke and Acts) (I've also agreed to write on on John H. Elliott for a book on Petrine Epistles in the same series)
  • gather information for the immigration lawyer (for permanent residence)
  • study French (needed for permanent residence [don't get me started])
  • install new sway bar links on my Astra (assuming we get at least a half day of decent weather this week, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday)
  • work on and hopefully finish a gift that I am making
  • a lot of other stuff
  • drink coffee (yes, a lot)
Of course I can't get all of this done, but I need to complete the high priority items and do at least a little on the others. I'll get there. The good news (from a productivity standpoint), I will probably only go into the office one day this week.
I should have an article on the importance of context (context of culture and context of situation) published soon in MDC's Biblical and Ancient Greek Linguistics (BAGL) journal soon. The copyeditor has had it for a while now. I'll keep you posted.
Happy Family Day and Happy President's Day to our friends and family in the States.