Done and Done

I was checking my gmail today, and in the process must have accidentally hit the "tasks" button.

I don't normally use this feature, but apparently I must have once, because a few minutes later, I noticed the task list that had shown up. Looking at it, I have an extremely vague recollection of creating it. I think it was in one of my more humor-at-my-self-inflicted-pain moments during the last few months of grad school.

But still....check and check. I happily crossed them off the list as done.

One year ago...

Today is the one year anniversary of the day I defended my PhD dissertation. Time flies, that's for sure. I spent a little bit of time reflecting today about what a crazy time it was leading up to the defense, but the actual day of the defense wasn't so bad. It was actually a little bit fun (sounds weird, I know), and SUCH a relief to have finished!

That night, after a successful defense, my faculty adviser (Don) threw me a party (as is the department tradition). His son took a lot of pictures at it, and I never had a chance to post them, so I'll post some now. It's fun to relive it!

First off, Don's other son made all the food. It was an amazing spread!

Another department tradition is the Tshirt. Steven made my Tshirt and did the presentation.

Clearly, I thoroughly enjoyed his presentation and explanation. He's funny, there's no denying it.

They also put the Tshirt content in frames so you can put them in your future office. (And they are, don't worry.) This was the front...

And this was the back....

And of course, they make put it right on and wear it for the rest of the party.

People made speeches...my adviser (Ted), my faculty adviser (Don), even Steven wanted to say more. I was really touched by all the nice things people had to say. (This is me listening to all the speeches.)

During Steven's speech, I remember him saying he'd miss me because no one laughed at his jokes as much as I did. (Which is true, by the way.) (But he's so dang funny, I can't help it.)

Not the best of me, but fun to remember who was there!

My parents came out for the occasion! I was glad they were there.

Me with Don (left) and Ted (right).

Me with Mukremin (my academic older brother who graduated a few years before me -- he just happened to be in town for it) and Steven.

White dwarf groupies.

Yep, I was one happy graduate!


Thanks again to everyone who supported me during that time, as well as during the time since then! I'm happy that I can look back on it with such good feelings. :)


(Also...is it weird that one of the things I think about when I look at these pictures is, "Man, I miss those earrings." They were one of my favorite pairs, and I lost them about 10 months ago. Sigh!)

The Chapter Treats

At the beginning of the year, I was set to move to Albany and begin the big, final push to finishing my dissertation. In what was perhaps one of the craziest decisions I've ever made, I decided that starting January 1, I would no longer be eating sweets*, until my thesis was finished**. (If you know me, you know I have an insatiable sweet tooth. I mean, really.) My thought process was that it would "motivate" me to hurry up and finish. Sort of like, "You know, I could really go for some ice cream. Well, I guess I better go write so I can be closer to getting that." Believe it or not, it was motivating like that at times. (But not all the time. But I still stuck with it anyway.)

But I decided to give myself a bit of a break. Rather than swearing off all sweets for eight months, I would allow myself a "treat" at the completion of every chapter. By this, I meant that it was one treat (for example, one bowl of ice cream, one piece of cake, etc.); and the chapter had to be in a form that was complete enough to send it to my adviser for comments. I also decided that the rules did not include drinking hot chocolate, since I was moving to Albany in January and it would probably be cold all the time. (I was right.)

Here is a collection of the treats I ate. And the chapter they represented. (The fact that I ended up throwing out the original Chapter 4 and adding a new Chapter 2 sort of messed things up a bit.)

Chapter 1

An amazing chocolate cake with pink frosting that Sarah made on our visit to Syracuse, NY. (I'd only been off sweets for like 3 weeks at this point, but was apparently so excited to eat it, that I couldn't even put my fork down for the picture.)

Chapter 2

Admittedly, I saved this one up for awhile. (About six weeks or something.) But I really wanted to take Nathan to Amy's Ice Creams after driving back to Austin with me. So I saved my treat and indulged there. Mexican vanilla with nutter butters. YUM!

Chapter 3 (old Chapter 2)

This was on my visit to Austin over Siena's winter break in February. Shared a fried ice cream from the Hula Hutt with Joseph.

Chapter 4

Probably the most exciting chapter to finish, as the data it required was the hardest to get through. It was a long time between finishing this chapter and finishing the previous chapter. I had saved those mint oreos from department cookie time for about a week, then bought a pint of Blue Bell cookies and cream ice cream. (And it HAD to be that flavor....I went to two drugstores near campus to ensure I found the right kind.)

Chapter 5

I finished Chapters 4, 5, and 7 all happened within like a week of each other, so I celebrated this one by just eating a bunch of cookies from department cookie time.

Chapter 6 (old Chapter 7)

I also finished this chapter during that February visit to Austin. Michelle and I had just finished biking around Town Lake. I got Amy's Ice Creams, Mexican vanilla with oreos.

Chapter 7

For the last chapter treat, I went to Swirll (frozen yogurt bar on Guadalupe) with my fellow finishing grad, Amy. We walked there and back, and I ate my whole thing (cookies and cream frozen yogurt with crushed oreos on top...and a few other things on top) before I got back to take the picture. Hence, the empty container.



Through this process, I learned that the sweet thing I always wanted most was ice cream. (As you can tell, it was often my treat of choice.) This really did surprise me, I thought for sure cookies were my biggest weakness.

Am I glad that I decided to give up sweets during this process? Eh, the jury is still out, but leaning towards a "not really" vote. Though it probably did save me from a lot of calories from stress-induced emotional eating. Which is probably a good thing.


* Sweets were defined as dessert-y foods and other sugary treats, including all forms of cake, ice cream, candy, brownies, cheesecake, cookies, pies, chocolate, etc. This did not include natural sugars (i.e., fruit). It also did not include cool whip nor sugary cereals. The rules I set up were pretty vague in the beginning and continued to be vague when people asked about this or that food. So sometimes people didn't like my rules, and I often couldn't justify them either. But it doesn't really matter in the end.

** In the end, I defined "finishing my thesis" as the moment when I actually turned every single completed form and the revised dissertation in to the graduate school. But I did indulge in treats at my party after my defense.

I'm finished....for real.

Today I submitted my thesis.*

After submitting the document online, I walked over to the office of Graduate Studies to turn in the necessary paperwork. (The office is in the Tower.) (I am feeling as happy as I look.)

That's me with my bundle of forms, with the signature page right on top. With all six original signatures!

I felt so happy afterwards! I decided to celebrate with frozen yogurt.**

I celebrated more by going out for Thai food with my friend Bridgid. (Sorry, no picture.) I then celebrated even more with blizzards at Dairy Queen with Becca and Wayne, who were in town! Yay! (Again, sorry, no picture.)

And that's it. I am officially no longer a student...for the first time since kindergarten. I am so happy tonight!



* So originally I planned to video the entire submission process, but my camera batteries died one minute in and I didn't have any back up. (Too bad too, it would have been awesome.) But I had enough juice to get the end of the process. But turns out, it's okay, because I uploaded it to the wrong place anyway and had to redo it when I got over to the Graduate Studies Office. Ha! It's a long story as to why, and it would involve explaining things I don't understand about the inner workings of the University's system. But the process looked the same, so I'll keep the video. The only difference was that the place I was SUPPOSED to upload it to charged me $65 to do so. Getting a PhD is expensive.

** If you live in or near Austin and haven't been to Swirll, the frozen yogurt bar on Guadalupe St, you absolutely MUST. It is amazing. They have like 15 flavors of soft serve and only like half of the toppings are in this picture. A-MAZING! And you get to serve it all up yourself, and pay for it by the ounce.

The Big Day

This is a picture of me on the day of my defense. I bought that shirt new Saturday night (it was a miracle purchase, another story for another time). And I loved the combo of the pretty blue with red shoes and red jewelry.

Okay, here's the play-by-play of the day.

Monday night I was still trying to finish my talk, and practicing it, so I didn't get to sleep particularly early. My nerves had been steadily mounting the entire week, but as I practiced my talk, I felt a bit more relaxed.

The next morning I had scheduled to meet with Ted (my adviser). He had flown in the night before for my defense. (And was scheduled to fly out the next morning, so it was a quick trip!) We met to go over any last minute questions I had, which was helpful. Part way through our meeting, Don (my co-adviser) came in, also to go over a few last minute things. He prepped me by asking me some questions that might come up in the closed door session. I started feeling really nervous again when he asked me a bunch of theory questions I didn't know the answers to. Ack! But he kept assuring me that I was ready, and that they wouldn't let me defend if I wasn't. I must have looked unconvinced because Ted said, "When Don says, 'You're ready,' he's telling you, he's not asking you." So eventually they went off and I was left to prep a few last minute things (read over some more of my notes to be ready for the closed door, that's for sure!).

One of my committee members is at the University of Florida, so he was video conferencing in. I went down about 20 minutes before my talk to get set up, and to test the connection with him. While it seemed to work on his end, I didn't have video of him, so I called the computer guy in to fix it. He couldn't, but as long as he could see me, that was what mattered.

There was a good turn out for my talk. I was so happy to have the support of so many great people! My parents were there, as well as several of my friends from church. They are great! I felt a little nervous as the talk started, especially when I lost video connection with the outside member and I tried to fix it, but then just had to let Ted and the computer guy deal with it while I continued my talk. Anyway, I managed to find my groove and I feel pretty good about how the talk went.

The timing of talks is always kind of funny. I needed to make it about 50 minutes. When I practiced it straight through the night before, it was around 70. Ack! So I chopped a few things out. As I was actually giving it, I thought for a little while that I'd go way UNDER time. But I ended up going just right. Whew!

They gave me and the committee a short, 10 minute break between the talk and the closed door. I ran up to my office to drop some things off, then headed back down. There was lots of video equipment set up in the lounge (where my closed door was), and it wasn't working, so they had set up a Mac and we just used iChat. (Good thing we have all that expensive equipment!)

The closed door session wasn't so bad. The first question I got was about the operation of the CTIO 1m telescope (and asked purely out of curiosity), so I felt confident right off the bat. Anyway, it actually felt more like a discussion than a grilling, which was great. It helped me feel more at ease. I couldn't answer every question they had, but that's normal. (They'll keep asking until they stump you.) Overall, I felt pretty good about how it went. (And Fergal would be proud....I didn't leave my chair ONCE!)

After about an hour and twenty minutes, they asked me to leave and deliberated for a few minutes. Ted then called me back in by saying, "Doctor Jeffery, would you please come back in?" Then everyone shook my hand, said, "Congratulations Doctor!" and signed all the necessary paperwork.

Hurrah!! I passed!!

All I have to do know to graduate is make the revisions they want (mostly typos and a few other things, all very minor), and then proceed to the mountains of paperwork required by the University. (Including a copyright test; I have no idea what that entails.) The deadline is next Friday, so I'm doing fine, time wise.

That night there was a party in my honor at Don's house (a department tradition), including the presentation of my T-shirt (another tradition) by Steven. Don took a lot of pictures that night, so I'll post them once I get them.

I'm almost overwhelmed by everyone's support and congratulations. Thank you all so much!!! It really does mean so much to me. All your nice comments on my blog, as well as on Facebook, and in person, mean so much to me! I really do have the best friends, and such a great family. Thanks to all of you for everything!!

The Defense

So, you may have heard that I'm finishing my PhD. This entails doing a huge research project (taking somewhere upwards of 4 or 5 years), then writing it up as a dissertation and defending it. The last big hurdle for me is coming up on Tuesday: The Defense.

Some of you might not know exactly what a PhD defense consists of, so I figure I'll give you a brief explanation. The actual process may vary in different departments/fields, but this is how it is in mine. This may be particularly helpful to those of you that are planning to show up at mine. :)

First off, the defense is in two parts: (1) the public talk; and (2) the closed door.

(1) The Public Talk. This is the first part. I give a talk (using power point) about the research that went into my thesis, explaining to everyone what I did, why it's important, and what the major results were. This tends to last about an hour: 50 minutes of me talking and 10 minutes at the end for questions from the audience. Although in my department, the environment for giving talks is somewhat casual, and questions can be asked at any point by someone in the audience. Many people from the department tend to show up to listen to these things, as everyone is always interested in seeing your last, big talk. (A person's defense is a pretty big deal.) Attending is also a way to show support of the upcoming graduate. Everyone listens to you until you're done and then they clap for you at the end. Then they leave to go about their own business.

(2) The Closed Door. (This is the part that is really scary.) This usually happens right after the public talk. In order for me to pass and graduate, my dissertation has to get the approval of the six people on my committee. These include my adviser, co-adviser, and four other people I chose sometime after my second year of graduate school. (One of them is a professor at the University of Florida, and he'll be joining the defense via video conferencing.) The Closed Door session is private and is just me and my committee. They will (hypothetically) have read my thesis prior to the defense, and come prepared to (basically) grill me about it. They can ask me anything they want. (From my thesis or about anything in astronomy in general, though I hear they generally stick to your research.) This part typically lasts 1-2 hours. Once the grilling is over, I will be asked to leave the room while they talk amongst themselves and decide if the dissertation and my performance at the defense (i.e., my talk and my ability to answer their questions) were sufficient for the bestowal of a PhD. (i.e., if I pass or fail, if I graduate or not.) Once they've reached their decision, they call me back in and tell me what they've decided.*

Once the defense is over, they each give me a list of revisions for my thesis. This can be anything ranging from typos to things of more substance (like "explain this point better" or something). If there are no substantial revisions required, I take their suggestions, incorporate them, then turn my completed dissertation into the University, and they let me graduate. (But not without mountains of paperwork first, of course.) The deadline for all of this to be finished is August 14. I hope to be done well before that.

I think that's all. Anyway, thanks again to everyone for your support and prayers. I've really been feeling them buoy me up in the last six weeks. It's been a story for the ages, that's for sure. I can't wait for it to be over.




* The good news is, I've never heard of anyone failing their defense. People say things like, "Your adviser won't let you defend unless he thinks you'll pass." This is sort of comforting, but this doesn't take all of the pressure off, because you still must perform well.

Endure to the End

My dad (who has a PhD in physics) has told me several times over the last few years that graduate school is not an intelligence test, but rather an endurance test.

He was right. Oh man, was he right.

The last six weeks (six months really, but the last six weeks in particular) have had zero to do with how smart I am. Rather it's had everything to do with how well I can function on very little to no sleep; how well I can keep my sanity without having face-to-face human interactions for days at a time; how well I can keep pushing and keep going, even though all I want to do is sleep; how well I can keep focus and not spend too much time on Facebook or Gtalk or reading blogs, which is way more fun than writing a dissertation; how hard I can pray; how long I can stand being in my office before wanting to scream*.

I couldn't have done it alone. There is absolutely no way I could have done it alone. I've had some amazing friends step up to help me out in the process. Michelle and Tamara took me to lunch one day, and surprised me with a bag of food to keep me going. (Between the pita chips, the Sweet and Salty peanut granola bars, and box of Cinnamon Life cereal, I didn't know which thing inside was my favorite.) The next week Michelle and Desiree came to my office to bring me dinner. The next night Ed and Whitney brought me dinner. All the way from D.C., Sarah had a bag of fresh produce and flower delivered to my office. (So timely, since I eat fruit like its my job and I hadn't had time to go to the store for like a week.) Even my friend Nathan called me from London a few times to make sure I was still keeping my sanity. I have the most amazing friends ever. EVER.

Sometime Sunday morning/afternoon (which was still technically Saturday night....) I finished, by making my final plot. This is the reduction of the last six years of my life into one graph. I was slightly disconcerted at this though, but more happy to have it finished. (I was as tired as I look in that picture.)

Monday I decided I should proofread my entire thesis before sending it to my committee. That took a lot longer than I expected (turns out proofing the 238 pages of the most important document I've written to date is not a quick process). But time flew by, like I was in this strange time warp. I'd think things like, "Why is my stomach growling? Oh...I haven't eaten in 8 hours." Or "Why am I so tired? Oh...it's 3:00am. When did THAT happen?!"

But I FINISHED it. I sent my thesis to my committee Tuesday afternoon. That moment was actually harder than I expected. I felt like I was sending my child off to school when I knew the mean kids were going to steal his lunch money at recess. We will meet again next Tuesday.

But I celebrated by eating Blue Bell cookies and cream ice cream with a few mint oreos that I saved from department cookie time earlier that week. (Don't I look HAPPY?!)

Yesterday I finished up the bibliography. In the end, it was 11 pages. This brings my entire dissertation (including Table of Contents, etc.) to an even 265 pages. Woot woot!

My office is a disaster. Here's what the desk of a finishing PhD candidate looks like. And the same picture labeled** for your convenience. (Though I couldn't label everything, else you'd be not likely to be able to read anything.) It's kind of like a social experiment.




The dissertation process isn't over yet. I still have a few more days until I defend, and then I have to make revisions. (Which I hope will mostly be minor and take no more than a week to get incorporate.)

I see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm pretty sure it's not a train. I guess we'll find out next week for sure.



* I learned it was 38 hours; and all it took was a 2 hour break with a good friend to Kerby Lane for me to push it to 45 hours.
** Don't worry, I did this when I was taking a much needed break, and wasn't just wasting time. :) No....not at all....

I have a date*

This is me on the way to the Graduate Studies office (which is in the tower you see behind me) to turn in my official "Request for Final Examination" form (which is in that folder, along with all the other needed materials). So....um, yeah. I have a date.

August 4. 1:00pm.

Be there, or be square.

(Is it just me or do I look really tired in that picture? Well, the glasses are a sure sign -- my eyes don't like my contacts right now -- but it was also really bright and like 100 degrees outside.)

In addition to the form signed by my entire committee (no small feat since 5/7 of them were out of town...), I had to turn in my abstract page, title page, signature page, and vita. In the process of printing out my abstract page, I accidentally did "print entire document" instead of "print marked pages." I didn't realize this until I went out to pick it up and saw that it had printed out all 204 pages** I have written so far, single sided. Uh....whoops. Anyone need any scratch paper?

Since I'm not finished, I better get back to work. Ack!!


* This is not a wedding announcement.
** Okay, seriously, how can I NOT be finished writing yet...sigh....I'm not. Probably another 20-30 pages of stuff to put in. Plus like 5-10 pages of bibliography.

Newest Addition

Two posts ago I mentioned that I now have my own office. A big, empty space that is all mine! (They also cleaned the floors. Compare that picture to the previous ones. Seriously. The floor looks brand new. It was nasty before.) Well, something has been added:

That's right! I now have a futon in here. It's not mine, but rather belongs to Gordon, the admin who moved all my officemates out. It came about from a conversation that roughly went like this:

G: "You sure have a lot of space in here now."
E!: "Yeah, it's great! What I really need is a couch. [half jokingly:] There aren't any spare couches lying around anywhere are there?"
G: "Actually I'm pretty sure I have a spare futon at home. I can bring it up if you want."
E!: "Really? That would be amazing!"
G: "Sure, I'll bring it up tomorrow."

And he did. And then he even put it together for me. Gordon is my hero!

Quite literally, if I wanted to never to leave my office/campus, I wouldn't have to. However, the house sitting gig comes with a cat, so I have to feed it. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't ever leave. I am in no way exaggerating.

The futon has been up for 24 hours, and I've already taken 2 naps on it. One during my all nighter last night (when I got my 20 minutes of sleep for the night between 4:00 and 4:20am), and the second was after I returned from feeding the cat and showering at home (between 7:00 and 8:00am), and around 9:30am I realized that I couldn't function on 20 minutes of sleep. So I slept for an hour.

Also, I'll throw this random picture I took of myself and a sign I have hanging above my computer. It was late, and I thought it was funny. (Ten points if you know the reference.)

Angels ... obviously

(Okay, that's not my house, but I wanted a picture to help you visualize as you read this post...)

I've gotten very little sleep this week. I've gone to bed no earlier than 3 am most nights, and have pulled 2 full on all-nighters. (And wondering if I'll be going for a third tonight!) I worked the entire 4th of July holiday. In fact, it's after midnight on July 4 (5th now) and I just sent my adviser an email that is so long it'll probably take him his whole flight from Alaska to Albany this weekend to read it.

My days are running together, but I think it was Thursday morning that I woke up following 3 hours of sleep after my first all nighter of the week to find a treat (not really) in my front yard. Someone had toilet papered my yard!!

I obviously couldn't be the target, seeing as the only person that knows where I live is Michelle. Is the professor I'm house sitting the target? Maybe, but I also doubt that. The house next door was toilet papered about 2 weeks ago. I'm more inclined to believe someone with too much time on their summer vacation is systematically going through the neighborhood.

Despite the fact that this was a discouraging sight (like I have time to clean it up right now!), I did laugh to myself. The part I found most amusing was that they left TWELVE nearly full rolls of TP around the yard. Clearly these people are amateurs. And clearly, it could have been a lot worse.

I went to school that day without even cleaning it up. Though I did pick up all those rolls (except one that was too high in one of the trees), just in case they returned to finish the job.....in broad daylight.

Friday night (morning) I went to bed at 7:30am, the TP still not cleaned up. I planned to do it the next day after I woke up from my 4 or so hour "nap." But when I woke up, it was like a miracle....

Someone had cleaned the mess up FOR me!!

Yes, between about 7:30am and 11:30am, someone cleaned the TP out of the trees and grass. I have no idea who it was. Maybe one of the neighbors who thought it was so tacky that I hadn't cleaned it up already. But I like to think it was a neighbor who did it out of the goodness of their heart, probably not even knowing how much they were helping me out or how much it was appreciated. (Can I post a sign on my lawn that says, "Whoever you are ... THANK YOU!!")

Or maybe it was angels. I like that option. Even if those angels are disguised as the neighbors I don't even know.

Golden Birthday

Your "Golden Birthday" is when you turn the age of the day of your birthday. For example, today I turned 29 on June 29th. Considering they say that women just keep turning 29, this means it will be my Golden Birthday every year from now on! :)

So how does one celebrate an extra special birthday like their Golden Birthday? Well, if you are in the middle of writing a dissertation that needs to be done in about 3 weeks*, it's not so much a fun event than it is something you'll turn into one of your life's "war stories" that will become more dramatic with each retelling.

Question: "So what did you do on your Golden Birthday?"

My answer as a function of time:


Today: "I got to my office at 9:00 and worked on my thesis all day. I went to a cycling class at the gym, and had planned to stay and do another, but I felt so stressed about my thesis that I left early and went back to my office to work for another hour. The night before, Michelle suggested dinner so we went to the Cheesecake Factory with some friends. We had a nice dinner, and I even splurged on a piece of cheesecake. After dinner I went home and worked a bit more. I was feeling stressed all day though, I won't lie."

A year from now: "I worked on my thesis ALL DAY. Ug, it was terrible. I was feeling so stressed out. I barely even had time to make it to the gym, I felt so stressed and guilty about spending time away from my thesis. Michelle insisted I at least go to dinner, which is good because I probably wouldn't have done anything otherwise. So we went out, and fortunately, I had fun at dinner. But I had to get back to work after I left dinner which was not fun."

Five years from now: "I was in the middle of writing a dissertation! What do you think I did? I worked. All. Day. Long. I hadn't slept in like 3 days, and could barely see straight by the end of the day. I went out to dinner, but I was so stressed out I couldn't think about anything else. I was not fun to be around. I went home and stayed up all night working, until I fell asleep at my laptop. By the time I woke up, I had 7 pages of the letter H in my thesis."

Ten years from now: "I don't want to talk about it."

Twenty years from now: "Oh, I was in the middle of writing my thesis and was pretty stressed. As I recall, I hadn't planned anything but work, which I did all day. I hadn't left my office in like a week. My office mates were starting to think I was one of the fixtures, and would accidentally turn the light off and shut the door when they left, even though I was still sitting there. My good friend Michelle had to practically use a crowbar pry me away from my desk to go to dinner with her and some friends. But then I had to go back and work, which I did into the wee hours of the morning, and I just felt like I wasn't making progress at a quick enough pace! I was totally panicking because my defense was like 3 weeks away and I still had soooo much to do. And don't even get me started about how hot it was in Austin that week..."

Fifty years from now: "I don't really remember, but I'm pretty sure there was snow uphill both ways involved.... "


Well, let's hope I don't make such exaggerations and have such failure of my memory. I'm very glad Michelle arranged dinner so that I DIDN'T sit in my office all day! (Because I would have...) She's the best!! Though I was feeling stressed out most of the time today. I'd like to say the stress is subsiding, but if anything it's mounting. Anyway, that's a different story. In the meantime, here's to many more 29th birthdays!** Does that mean I'll just keep getting more golden with time?



* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Stressed? Who me?)
** Just a disclaimer, I'm really not THAT distressed about getting older. I just think it's funny.

My week in Austin

Last week was winter break at Siena College. So I took the opportunity to escape snowy Albany and return to sunny Austin. Ahhh.....

It was a great week, though busy. I flew in Thursday late. In fact because of delays, my originally scheduled flight on Continental via Newark became a flight on United via Chicago. I arrived after midnight, so had to pick my rental car up the next day. But it's red, so it's okay. :)

I spent Friday catching up with people and got a tiny bit of work done. Friday night I went to the Pink Dance (an annual February tradition with my church group) with my friend Austin. We had a blast. Beforehand, we went to dinner with some other friends, also heading to the dance. Michelle invited Cameron, and I was able to steal him for a couple great Lindy hop dances. :) Here we all are. (Sorry this picture is a little blurry...)

Oh, and I should mention that Austin and I became an award winning couple that night. Um, we're not really sure for what, since we weren't really paying attention when they were giving out awards. Something about the shades of pink we were wearing.

Saturday I returned to my beloved Gregory Gym. Oh, how I've missed it. I wanted to go to cycling classes, so I had to buy a pass...and I wanted to make sure I got my money's worth, so I went every day! (I'm not exaggerating. Sometimes I went TWICE in one day.) But it was awesome.

I saw lots of people I love, and had so much fun catching up. I've missed everyone. Tuesday I was out late, and because I finished a chapter of my thesis, I treated myself to some fried ice cream at the Hulu Hut.

I buckled down and got work done too, lest you think this was a vacation. (It actually wasn't.) I got to work... Wednesday and Thursday nights I was in my office working late, into the wee hours of the morning. By Friday night I was so exhausted I could barely see straight.

Saturday Michelle and I went BIKING around Town Lake, which totally, totally rocked my socks. We had so much fun. It was pretty windy that day, but it was so great. It was SUCH a beautiful day.

We tried taking pictures while we were riding. It worked pretty well, actually.


Except when we accidentally started recording, instead of taking a picture. But hey, it was funny!

I finished another chapter that week and got Amy's ice cream to celebrate that one. (Mexican vanilla with oreos...mmmm!) I had no shame and licked the bowl clean. (Hey, it may be another month before I get something sweet.)

I'm supposed to fly back to Albany tomorrow (Monday). But I got a message from the airline tonight and learned that my flight to Newark was canceled! (Due to the forecasted 12-inches of snow there.) I called them and after about 40 minutes total of trying and being on hold, talked to a real person. They couldn't do anything for me and other flights on other airlines were sold out or canceled. So I'm not going to make it back to teach my class tomorrow, and will be here until Tuesday afternoon. Well...what can you do? I guess I'll just have to soak up some more Austin sun before returning to the snowy northeast.

Ode to my Valentine

We've been together awhile, you and I.
When was it...four or five years past?
Since then, we've been through a lot, you and I.
Fruition is coming, coming at last. (I hope.)

We've stuck together, you and I.
The final hurdle towards the PhD.
At times we've been negligent, you and I.
Though I guess that was mostly me. (Actually, all me.)

We've been around the world, you and I.
To an Observatory, or a conference.
Seen interesting things, you and I.
Luckily it was all at my adviser's expense. (Thanks Ted!)

We've pulled all nighters, you and I.
Sometimes it was just part of the grind.
Written proposals and papers, you and I.
Sometimes nearly losing my mind. (Seriously.)

We've been inseparable, you and I.
You're omnipresent, never-yielding, aggressive.
The task master, the servant, you and I.
Though I wouldn't say you're...oppressive. (Yet.)

We've now gone into hiding, you and I.
In a place that's so very, very cold.
No more excuses exist for you and I.
Your full beauty we'll all soon behold. (Hopefully with six signatures.)

We've got to focus, can't delay, you and I.
Time, time, I just need more time!
But we've got a deadline, you and I.
So will you be my Valentine? (Sans chocolate.*)





* At least until the completion of Chapter 2.