Light

Scenes from the Social:

David carved the watermelon. I did the strawberry bunt ice. Everything else courtesy of Emily and her crew.

The Bushes in their matching uniforms.

Mindi and Caroline in their show-stopping number.

A few weeks ago, as the LDSSA Opening Social had finally run its course (thanks so much to everyone who helped out!), Dad asked me if I saw light at the end of the tunnel. I was way too stressed at the end of August/beginning of September to think straight, in good part from this strange new calling I was given... as well as the five OTHER callings I'm officially and otherwise holding down right now, not to mention I'd like to graduate someday and hadn't had time to work on the book for my adviser in a month. I responded yes, but there's another tunnel at the end of the light.

Well, the next week saw a major breakthrough. The tunnel collapsed before I got to it! In speaking with my dissertation committee members, they each had one medium-small recommendation for my third paper but otherwise called it good. A few days later I had a date set for my dissertation defense! I've already made the changes for two of the profs and the third will be done as I review the papers one last time before turning them in in two weeks.

I will be a doctor Nov 3.

If I were in a "normal" field of study, I probably could have graduated a few months earlier, but given that the entire committee was off this continent the entire summer and that Nov 3 is the first day since May that all three will be in Ithaca at the same time, I'm doing quite well. Since they have all seen each of my papers several times, there should be no big surprises, though some improvements and corrections are inevitable.

I'm going to graduate! I'm going to graduate! By golly, I really am going to graduate!

This is soooo coooool!

So for the last couple weeks, though I'm still buried up to my ears, there is significant light. Just a little bit further.... Why has it taken me so long to blog it? I guess one advantage of being sick is time to blog a bit.

Most of these pictures were taken when I was single. I've come a long way!


Rejoice! (No, that isn't David's watermelon. But it fit the theme nicely.)