HOORAY! I passed my oral comprehensive exams this afternoon! Thank you, everybody, for your prayers and good thoughts!
I’m still awaiting word on the thesis, but my advisor said this afternoon that she didn’t anticipate any problems. More later…
Brilliantly creative? Gigantic idiot? You decide.
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Tagged: thesis
December 5th, 2007
Oral Comps—Passed. Thesis—Pending
November 26th, 2007
Thesis Free!
I did it. I turned in my thesis to the Graduate College today at 3:04 PM. Now I’m just praying that the wolves who tear it apart are merciful.
And now I’m frantically putting together a portfolio of all my graduate work for oral comps that must be finished before next Thursday. And I’m frantically e-mailing former professors asking them to be reviewers.
That’s right. To get this silly degree for a piece of paper that (according to my dad) says I’m smarter than everyone else, I have to write a thesis, take written comps, and take oral comps all while jumping on one leg, holding my breath, and playing with fire.
November 3rd, 2007
Thesis—Check. Half-Marathon—Pending.
Friday. T minus 31 hours to start (yes, I realize I should be in bed). I turned in the final draft of my thesis to my readers, had the oil changed in my car, went to the grocery store, and spent some time snuggling on the couch while watching Oprah. Believe it or not, the turning in of my thesis caused some freaking outage, and I needed some time to veg.
I picked up my race packet at the fitness fair after I re-registered (it was misplaced, apparently). My number is 669. Went to dinner with friends at the Brew Co. and checked out a few galleries in the First Friday Art Walk. Stopped by Starbucks for a non-fat chai latte and headed home.
I know I’m supposed to relax and do nothing tomorrow, but I actually have quite a bit to do:
- Sleep in
- Vacuum living room, dining room, and kitchen (10 minutes of work—max)
- Find the cat’s mice (at his request). I’ll probably find them when I move the couch to vacuum under it.
- Clean up the kitchen
- Launder Sunday’s race clothes—blue shorts, blue shirt, white fleece, socks, sports bra
- Pin race number to my shorts and fill out race number emergency info
- Pack Sunday’s gym bag—gels, Sports Beans, and Snicker’s Marathon Bar; Sport Shield; visor; sunglasses; headband/ear muffy thing; gloves; iPod
- Visit Chris’s family for a few hours and get in a few games of canasta
- Attend pasta dinner where Chris will finally meet the local news anchor in my training group
- Veg
I know that’s a ton of tasks, but I’m pretty sure that getting my mind off Sunday’s task and not watching CSI reruns is best.
And here’s the picture of the OMRR training group from our meeting Monday night. I’m the girl near the second row with the black-and-white top. I’ll have full Saturday and Sunday reports eventually. Yikes! I can’t believe I’m about to do this. Runner’s really are a tad bit crazy.
October 31st, 2007
I’m Ready Already! Five More Days?
I have so many things to talk about, I’m not sure anyone will actually get to the end of this post. In no particular order, I will get to the Nova Marathon Challenge, my hip, the new Sarah, my half-marathon clothing, and the art of visualization.
#1 Nova Marathon Challenge. I just finished it on PBS, and I am so pumped up for Sunday. Watching these new marathoners just got me excited about my first half. And of course, just like I do when I watch triathlons on Sunday afternoons, I bawled my eyes out as runner after runner came across the finish line. One gal’s finish was exactly how I want to finish on Sunday; she wasn’t out of steam at the end—she saw the finish line and she started hoofing it, passing runners left and right. In nearly all of my runs, I’ve been determined to finish with a kick, and I’m ready to kick some on Sunday.
#2 My hip. I talked to my pal Dallas, who is a PA for an orthopedic surgeon, about my hip, and based on my symptoms, he says it sounds like tendinitis. I’m taking it easy this week along with ice and Aleve. I should be fine for Sunday, but I’ll need to really recoup for a few weeks. That said, I think I’ll have to postpone my plans for the Little Rock Marathon and find one for later in March or in April.
#3 The new Sarah. All right, this one is a doozie and might be confusing. I’ll try to keep this simple. Ever since I started running, my gal pal Ashlynne has told me about her friend Sarah, who also runs in Springfield. She’s also told Sarah about me. Sarah and I have been too lazy to get in touch with one another until now. Last Friday, Linden sent an e-mail to our training group, encouraging us on our upcoming race and sharing her recent half marathon in Germany; she included a link to her blog in the e-mail. Sarah’s running buddy Lex went to Linden’s blog, found my blog, and started reading up on me, thinking that she and Sarah and I might all get along well. Lex tells Sarah about me, and Sarah started thinking that I sounded familiar and finally puts the whole puzzle together. And after all of this, we’ve been training with OMRR all summer—she and Lex on Saturdays and me on Sundays! We finally met at our training meeting last night. I’m frickin’ excited to have some new running buddies.
#4 My half-marathon wardrobe. In my last few runs this week, I’m testing my clothing for Sunday. So far, according to the forecast, mornings this week will be similar to race day, daylight savings time notwithstanding. Yesterday, I ran in tights, long-sleeved T, and heavy fleece with a headband and gloves. The fleece was way to much. Today, I ran in thinner yoga pants, a sleeveless top, and a light fleece. Better and a possibility. I think I know what I’ll wear on top, but I’m having problems with the bottoms. The last two mornings, even with tights or yoga pants, my bum and thighs are freezing! Other runners with more experience are telling me to wear shorts, but I don’t want to be miserably cold and layering on the bottom is so much more complicated than on type.
#5 The art of visualization. I’ve been using this week’s runs to visualize part of my race. While I don’t exactly have a favorite section of the course, I want to be strong the last 5K. Today, especially, I used the last half mile to imagine the final stretch, even the last ten yards up the Bass Pro ramp.
And I finished the second draft of my thesis. Just an edit, the abstract, and my acknowledgments, and I turn in the *FINAL DRAFT* to my readers. Yikes! Graduation is just weeks away!
OK, I think that’s all. Wow, good to get all that off my chest.
September 20th, 2007
Thesis Writing Is Hard Work!
I apologize for my absence this week, but I’ve been actually working on my thesis. Yes, I came in to work on Monday morning, looked at the calendar, and realized that I had 12 days to finish my working first draft and get it to my readers. That is, I promised them the draft by the end of September, and if I intend to graduate this semester, I pretty much have to have the working first draft finished by then.
And I’m getting mighty close! This week, with my husband in tow, I have worked night after night. Monday, we went to Churchill’s for coffee and free WiFi; I finished my literature review. Tuesday, we went to San Francisco Oven for pizza and free WiFi; I wrote the research/methods chapter for the first of three mini studies. Last night, Wednesday, we went to Churchill’s again for coffee; I wrote the research/methods chapter for the second of the three mini studies. Tonight, we’re going to Panera for dinner; I plan to write the research/methods chapter for the third of the three mini studies.
Then, we’re going to see Helvetica at the Moxie with the Thursday Movie Fun Club. Tomorrow, I leave for the Gathering of Girlfriends and a much-needed weekend of relaxation and Jesus. I’ll have all next week to write the discussion/conclusions section and the introduction. I so have this baby in the bag!
September 1st, 2007
San Francisco Oven’s California Aloha Pizza
As much as I like pizza, I generally don’t eat it more than once a week, but San Francisco Oven released their new California Aloha pizza on Tuesday. I could hardly wait the four days to try it. First, I love SFO and have loved all their other pizzas (you’ll get those reviews later, I’m sure); second, Hawaiian pizza is my favorite, and I’ll try any variation.
The California Aloha is topped with spicy ham, fresh pineapple, cilantro, and sweet smoked BBQ sauce. All together, they’re a great combination, but I would’ve liked more ham and pineapple on my pizza.
The spicy ham had good flavor (and I’m not generally a ham person) but it was a little tough. I’m not sure if the toughness was due to the brick oven baking or if it was just the nature of the ham. The ham pieces were a little large and were hard to bite through, so when I tried to just bite off a bit of the ham, I took the rest with me. If they’d been smaller, SFO could’ve added more and they’d have been easier to eat.
The pineapple was fresh and tasty; most Hawaiian pizzas I try have canned pineapple. Again I would’ve liked to have more on the pizza.
This was the first pizza I’ve tried with cilantro, and I liked the kick it added. Usually, I associate cilantro with Mexican food and homemade salsa, and I forgot about the great flavor it can add to a dish.
The BBQ sauce was tasty, too, though I had to explain to Linden, who was eating with me, why BBQ sauce is good with pineapple. It’s a lot like math: If a=b, and b=c, then a=c.
If pineapple + ham = tasty, and ham + BBQ sauce = tasty, then pineapple + BBQ sauce = tasty.
As I said above, all the toppings in combination were excellent. The cilantro and ham gave the pizza a spicy kick (this probably isn’t a pizza my husband wouldn’t like), while the pineapple and BBQ sauce countered the spiciness with a bit of sweet.
Perhaps it was the lack of Internet (my computer is a crap top) while I worked this afternoon, but I’d like to attribute at least part of my productivity to the California Aloha, which helped me complete the background chapter of my thesis and crank out two-and-a-half (single-spaced) pages of my lit review.
August 24th, 2007
Call Your Grandmother
My birthday was Monday, and I received a small stack of birthday cards from friends and family. As always, I received thoughtful and loving notes from my grandmothers (along with some money). Now, I’m not super great at writing thank you notes (I think I’m still burned out from all those thank yous after my wedding), but I do at least acknowledge gifts and such with a phone call to the respective giver. I waited until today to call my grandmothers, mostly because I don’t work on Fridays and I never know how long our conversations may last.
I called Grandma Irene first and got a complete account of how my brother and mom helped take out the pear tree last weekend. Now Grandma can see Grandpa Norman’s shop and what an eyesore it is. I also heard how Aunt Donna is missing her phone and how Grandma and Grandpa are going to cancel Grandpa’s cell phone this weekend.
I called Grandma Helen next and received an account of Aunt Christina and Grandpa’s garden this summer (they have enough watermelon to have a church-wide watermelon party). Grandma also told me about her church’s new pastor and the trouble they’ve had keeping pastors at their small country church. Grandma also told me a great story of how the most she ever ran was one mile one summer when she was late to get home. She was twelve and had to run home from her friend’s house: up one small hill, down one big hill, up one big hill, and then flat all the way home.
Really, it doesn’t matter what we talked about today. What matters was that I picked up the phone and called them. I’m an adult, I’m married, and I’ve moved away from my hometown, so I rarely get to see my grandparents, but that’s no excuse for not calling. The least I can do is call them myself and not rely on my mother to relay what’s happening in our lives to one another. I should be thankful that at 25, all four of my grandparents are still alive and kicking. I am happy to pick up the phone and call my grandmothers.
August 22nd, 2007
Do I Dare?
After over a year of all but abandoning this blog, I revisited it today and am contemplating a revival. I’ve had a hankering to write over the last month, what with working with the What Is the Point? and LifePoint Journal blogs and while subscribing to who-knows-how-many RSS feeds.
I’m just afraid that this will become one more distraction that I’ve allowed myself this summer…that I will spend more time working on this site rather than working on my thesis. If I’m to graduate in December, I must get a polished first draft finished and to my readers by the end of September—a daunting task considering that in the last three months I’ve only written one-and-a-half pages.
Please be patient with me as I write, add features, and redesign. My XHTML and CSS skills have come a long way in the last year, so I have grandeur plans for this site, but again, I mustn’t allow myself to be distracted from my primary task—the thesis.
