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Friday, July 18th, 2008
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10:07 am - If you have a puppy . . .
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Give him or her a hug for me today, 'K?
I no longer have one.
Missy, I hope you know how much you were (and still are) loved.
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| Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
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10:09 pm - Reporting In . . .
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Oh, all right. I supposed I should let friends know what is going on (most of the family already knows).
I accepted a postdoctoral position at Tulane University in New Orleans in April. Had more interviews and campus visits in May and June. Decided that Texas was completely uninhabitable for ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) the_overqual and me, and that Puerto Rico would not work for the_overqual's career prospects (he was whining something about not being able to speak the language ;) ). Decided that parts of PA -- alas, not the notable city parts (would love Philly) -- weren't quite worth follow-up interviews. Regretted having to say "no" to a beach in Florida, but Tulane is a good school and it is early in my academic career.
So, we decided that Tulane would definitely be It, at least for a year or two, and I told my current employer in June. I have been busily working and starting the whole moving process ever since. the_overqual and I just got back from a frantic trip to New Orleans to secure housing (success! success!). We will have a travertine shower, a claw-footed bath, a countertop stove separate from the oven, and an oncologist, her husband, and their 2 small children living above us, the only other tenants in a very large house.
We're getting excited. :)
And -- despite the scariness of Bourbon Street -- we are growing more fond of New Orleans. It will be very difficult to leave DC as we love it here and have come to think of it as home, but we were both feeling much more this time that New Orleans will be "do-able." When we first visited, back in April, we saw much of the desolation along with much of what seems to be typical Southern appreciation for decay. This trip we could comprehend better some of the beauty of the decay, and noted a lot of the construction that was taking place, and that a lot had taken place since we'd visited three months previously. It was clear to us (well, to me at least, but I think to the_overqual, too) that the city is re-building. Slowly, and it still has a long way to go, but it is re-building and it does have much beauty to it, especially in the Uptown, University, and Garden District areas in which we will spend the vast majority of our time (I know, I know, those are the affluent areas that really didn't flood . . .).
---
On another note, I just spoke with my mother and discovered that a tornado and straight-line winds struck my small hometown area (New Trier/Hampton) in Minnesota this past Thursday. All of my relatives escaped unscathed, outside of lots of tree damage, crop damage, some damage to structures (significantly damaged sheds, and one aunt and uncle with a tree that fell on the house but didn't -- thankfully -- cause much damage to the house), and the inconvenience of a lack of electricity. I'm glad everyone is okay. It sounds like my grandparents were a bit shaken, but that is understandable -- I'm a bit shaken, and it is days afterward! A tornado hit my college my junior year, and even before then I was terrified of them (so much so that, both before and after, tornadoes feature[d] commonly in my nightmares). One of my first questions in New Orleans in April was "how common are tornadoes here?". Hurricanes at least you can predict and evacuate for. One of my strongest irritations out here is that tornadoes are getting more common, and the region really doesn't have a good warning system in place (i.e., no sirens). But, thankfully, MN does have a good siren system.
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| Monday, May 26th, 2008
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8:01 pm - Last weekend . . .
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We had much in the way of family in town, all of them here to support me as I attended my hooding ceremony and commencement, and then actually picked up my degree!
My dad was beaming much of the time, my mom cried through all the ceremonies, and my grandma boasted to everyone she met. My brother and his lovely wife flew out for the hooding to wish me well (which thrilled me -- it was the first time my brother has visited me in DC), and my uncle made the trek and put up with us all to wish me well, too. Hee . . . it was wonderful. I think the_overqual's parents and brother were pretty happy for me, too. Having my family here made the weekend for me: I think the only thing that could have made it more complete would have been if my sister, my niece, and my other grandparents could have made it . . . but y'know, we must be happy with what we have, and I have a very loving family.
It all even started to sink in a little bit at the commencement. I was too nervous at the hooding (what with the having to walk across the stage and all), but getting to sit at the front of the crowd at commencement gave me much time to reflect . . .
Hope this memorial day is proving tranquilly reflective for you.
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| Sunday, May 25th, 2008
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8:16 pm - Today
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Happy 30th Birthday, Brad!
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| Saturday, May 3rd, 2008
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1:48 pm - Nummy . . .
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Ginger scones make me very happy.
Spending significant weekend time doing work for my day job does not, however, make me very happy.
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| Sunday, April 13th, 2008
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8:05 pm - Mission Accomplished? No.
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Today I was supposed to put together the paper I am presenting at a conference in Chicago next weekend, but I can't find one of the articles I need (I was sure I had it somewhere around here!), and Georgetown suddenly has all of its copies of the Children's Literature Association Quarterly suddenly unavailable, so my only options are a trip to the University of Maryland or interlibrary loan. Since I can't guarantee that ILL will send me the article fast enough, I get to trek to UMD tomorrow night. Ah, well. It just means putting together the paper over the next few weeknights. Much of it is based on my dissertation's final chapter, and it should only be about 5 single-spaced pages long, so it shouldn't be too daunting. I hope. The challenge usually is keeping it short enough.
I did do a few search-related things and updated my contributor's note for the Edwardian childhood book collection. That's something, right?
My hairstylist also redeemed herself yesterday, which was a relief.
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| Monday, March 31st, 2008
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8:56 pm - Quick Notes . . .
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Horton Hears a Who is decent, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is wonderful, and "Coupling" (the original British version) is hilarious and exactly what the_overqual and I needed these days. Hope you are finding ways to enjoy yourselves, too.
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| Sunday, March 23rd, 2008
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9:52 pm - My grandparents have more of a life than I do . . . and a happy birthday
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So, tonight I called my grandparents and my parents to wish them a happy holiday. None of them were at home when I called. None.
Apparently I am the only one who doesn't get out of the house on weekends these days. Hee.
I spent much of this weekend in frustration: I uploaded my diss, only to have to fight with the quirks of the system (it is the first semester that all dissertations are required to be submitted electronically). Among other things, it wouldn't recognize the basic html tags that it said it would, and it sent me conflicting payment information. I checked on my 401(k) only to find that it was set up with no beneficiaries designated and with all of my allocations going into an account I did not designate. I managed to fix it all online, but it made me even more irritated with my company's seriously incompetent accountant . . . it might be the 401(k) provider, but experience suggests the accountant as the more likely source of the screw-up.
I also did some more search stuff, and finished making arrangements for my trip to Chicago (I am presenting a paper at a conference), and did various bits of online shopping -- which reminds me, Happy Birthday, Jackie, otherwise known as the_overqual's mom! :)
I also managed to finish the latest "Bewitched" disc that I had from Netflix, and to take a nice walk with the_overqual.
On the book front, I finished Circle of Sisters, and it made me think more about families and growing into adulthood, although Flanders' tone throughout was more pessimistic than I expected (and generally appreciated). It is also very easy to get a sense of which historical figures she likes and which she doesn't.
Now I am reading Elizabeth Thiel's The Fantasy of Family: Nineteenth-Century Children's Literature and the Myth of the Domestic Ideal. So far it is right up my alley, and given me a good idea for a publisher to which to submit a book proposal . . .speaking of which, the book collection I have an essay in should be out in March or April 2009. And my dad will be amused to know that if anyone buys my diss from Proquest/UMI, I will get a royalty. This entertained me immensely when I purchased several bound copies for peoples: a note came up in bold red letters to tell me that any copies I buy won't generate a royalty -- presumably I should make interested family members buy their own copies so that I can collect the royalties.
So far I am not doing that . . . I never was a good businessperson.
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| Sunday, March 16th, 2008
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8:53 pm - Things accomplished this week (some even just for fun!)
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-- Taxes filed. Because my department at my day job was spun out into an entire new company last year, pension chaos ensued, so the_overqual and I ended up owing $295 in federal taxes (some IRA donations helped offset what it might otherwise have been). However, Virginia proved itself to be a truly Republican state: every year I've/we've lived in this state -- including the first year, when I made so little as a grad student that I actually looked up its ridiculous poverty line figure -- I've/we've had to pay the state. This year, when the_overqual and I both made "real" salaries, Virginia is going to pay us. So, we only ended up owing $150 in taxes, which is significantly better than the $1000+ of the last two years.
--continued on with search stuff.
--watched nearly all of the first disc of season 3 of "Bewitched." I finished season 2 earlier.
--requested 5 more books from the library to read for fun; am about halfway through Judith Flanders' Circle of Sisters, which I am enjoying both for the history and for its being her first book. I can see where her second book came from the first, and I can see the "mistakes" (a lot of digressions into other interests, for example) of its being a first book (this gives me much hope as I revise my diss and aim to turn it into my first book).
--"went" shopping online: bought shoes from Aldo and Boden, and a dress hopefully for commencement and a sweater and blouse also from Boden. Hee! Used a gift card to get John Ruskin's Sesame and Lilies and Dickens' Little Dorrit. Still have a J.Crew gift card to use.
--Made progress on arrangements for commencement: requested extra tickets for various ceremonies, figured out possible hotels in the area for various relatives to stay at, looked at how much it will cost to rent a SUV or minivan for the crowd.
All in all, I think I am doing quite well mixing "pleasure" and "work" these days. Still more to do with respect to making sure all the appropriate graduation forms and diss copies get where they need to go, and I've got to arrange for tickets to Chicago for an upcoming conference (not to mention write that conference paper), but I'm managing to enjoy myself. Post-diss, all these "work" things are fun . . . Now for some more "Bewitched."
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| Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
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9:14 pm - What I Did Today
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successfully defended my dissertation.
*whew*
Hee!
Hee!
:)
[hee!]
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| Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
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9:02 pm - Weekend notes
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I did a few of the search-related things that I wanted to this weekend, cleaned up around the house a bit, did some reading for fun, and best of all, spent some time with the_overqual and went to the spa to force myself to relax. It is the first time I've ever been told by a masseuse to come back, that there simply wasn't enough time to accomplish all that needed to be done (and the first time a masseuse has ever concentrated on just one place). Silly stress. Ah, well. I also got a manicure and a facial. Typically I prefer facials to massages, but I must admit this massage was ver' nice.
I tried to make hotel arrangements for the conference I'm presenting at in April, but no luck. Apparently I can only call to book a room in the reserved bloc o' rooms from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. M-F. This seems like a bad business model to me, but I'm not in the hospitality industry.
Hope you've had a lovely weekend -- I'm going to go read for *gasp* fun!
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| Saturday, March 1st, 2008
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12:21 pm - Husband gloating
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So, after a severe bout of coughing Tuesday night (severe enough that I burst some small capillaries in my sinus area, making me look like I had a rash or blood blisters for a day or so), I broke down and went to the doctor yesterday.
Prognosis?: Secondary sinus infection from ze flu.
*sigh* So, amoxicillin three times a day for the next ten days for me. the_overqual is further laughing at what he calls my doctor's "nuclear option": the pill are 500 mg, look almost the size of horse pills, and are quite numerous. She is going to get rid of whatever it is, apparently.
I suspect it is just her normal dosage, and that he lucked out the last time he was put on antibiotics (less of a dosage, only had to take them twice a day).
But he is still gloating that he was right, and that I should have gone in.
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| Sunday, February 24th, 2008
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10:42 pm - What we currently have . . .
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--A very nice husband who spent much of his weekend formatting and dealing with bibliographic stuff.
--A complete, formatted, revised dissertation that will be turned in to defense committee members bright and early tomorrow morning.
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| Sunday, February 17th, 2008
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12:12 am - Preface
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Well, my goal today was to revise my first chapter. What I discovered (and knew and had conveniently rather forgotten) was that the first chapter needed to be at least two chapters. So, I spent ALL DAY making the first little part of what was the introduction be what I am now calling the preface. Total page count?: 12 pages. All day. For 12 pages.
*sigh* It did require substantial re-writing, but still. I have the 3/4 of the rest of the chapter still to revise, and several chapters beyond that. Thankfully, none of them will require quite this extent of revision, but still . . . more revisions. Little time.
I really do hope tomorrow goes better.
G'night.
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| Friday, February 15th, 2008
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5:26 pm - Weights off Shoulders . . . Slowly.
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I just finished--and sent off--the conclusion to my dissertation.
In other words, I have an entire draft of the manuscript finished.
*whew* Now it is "just" revisions . . .
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| Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
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12:49 pm - Shhhh . . .
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I think I might have *gasp* a defense date . . .
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| Sunday, February 10th, 2008
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8:47 pm - Weekend
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I wouldn't call it an unproductive weekend -- I finished re-reading Kipling's Kim, read a half dozen to a dozen excerpts from Boy Scout guides, and about the same number of articles or chapters of criticism on Kim -- but I didn't get nearly as much writing done as I would have liked. I wanted this epilogue or conclusion or whatever it will be done by Tuesday . . . Now that is going to be close, and perhaps more likely for later in the week . . .
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| Sunday, February 3rd, 2008
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10:38 pm - What I Did Tonight
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Finished my last full dissertation chapter!
Hee!
This almost makes up for the fact that I didn't get the professorial position from my NC campus visit last weekend.
At any rate, all I have to do now is write a short epilogue and finish up revisions (well, and substantially re-work the first chapter as part of those revisions).
But it is looking very promising that I will defend in March, and graduate in May.
Hee!
Whew!
I wrote about 30 pages this weekend.
Hope you had a productive weekend as well.
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| Thursday, January 31st, 2008
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9:46 am - Update -- day 5.
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You guessed it. Still sick.
The cough seems to be improving, though, which is good. I went into work yesterday, which was probably a mistake, so I'm working from home again today.
the_overqual has been equally sick, just able to cope a little better. He has had a few slightly different symptoms, but now seems to have started to develop my nasty cough.
I am very lucky he loves me, 'cause this is just a nasty thing to give someone . . .
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| Tuesday, January 29th, 2008
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5:10 pm - Status report
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Still sick. Almost back to Sunday's level of sick.
Worked from home today.
the_overqual is now sick. too. He also ended up working from home today.
Hope you are healthy and well.
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