MASTER!

Yesterday I successfully defended my Masters Thesis. I am a Master (or Mistress) of Science!!! YAY!!!

Technically I still need to complete thesis revisions and turn in all the necessary paperwork to the Grad School, but the big stuff is done!

HUGE HUGE thanks to J for supporting me and encouraging me through this process.

Quiet

The house is quiet. J and Doodle have taken of to east-central UT for a couple days of camping, playing on boulders, and papa-daughter bonding time. I'm home, working on my thesis. I know they'll be fine, but at the same time I'm really anxious being stuck here, unable to do anything if they need me. *deep breath* It will be fine. I know it will. They will have a blast.

So I sit and write. The only non-thesis things I will allow myself to work on while they are gone are: making food, doing dishes, and getting the mower working if I can. Everything else - the cleaning, laundry, sewing, gardening, puttering - all that will have to wait. I must use my time efficiently and get a lot done.

If you see me on Facebook or Twitter or posting another blog entry here, please gently remind me to get back to work. Thanks.

Bigwigs

In preparing a chapter of my thesis for publication, The Advisor and I got to wondering if Astragalus, the genus of my study plant, is the largest genus of flowering plant. It has 2000+ species in it, sometimes as high as 2500 species depending on who you ask. So he emailed a colleague who emailed some colleagues... you get the idea. Yesterday The Advisor received an email from PETER RAVEN saying that he's not sure if Astragalus is The Biggest Genus, but that it's certainly in the top five largest genera, and that he'd consult with some colleagues and get back to us.

Peter Raven, for those who don't know, is a Botanical Bigwig. He wrote the General Botany book that I learned botany from. He has an award named after him. He's a big deal. And he's talking with colleagues about a question that directly applies to my thesis?! ACK!

This is both really cool and overwhelming... I feel out of my league. Peter Raven is thinking about my thesis! (kind of)

Reso-what?

Yeah, yeah. New Year, time for resolutions. Blah blah blah. I've never really been one for resolutions - I'm much more likely to stick to an unofficial resolution than an official "woohoo it's a new calendar year and everyone else is making resolutions" type of resolution.

But this year I have something I need to get done. So I guess it can be a resolution. Sure. We'll call it that.

My resolution: to finish this blasted thesis.

That's it. That's my main goal for 2009. Go me.

Twelve days of Christmas

As I sit holed up at J's advisor's house working on my thesis, I realize I'm not in a very Christmas-y mood. I've been thinking nonstop about flowers, bees and pollination, all of which are great but not really wintery, Yule-type subjects. We're past Doodle's birthday, and in the homestretch to Christmas. I need to get in the mood!

John Denver and the Muppets to the rescue!



Ever since I can remember, John Denver and the Muppets has been a Christmas staple. My mom plays the record every year (I have it on cd, but she sticks with the vintage crackles of vinyl) before Christmas. Nothing gets me more in the holiday spirit than this album. (I should add that I'd never seen video of John Denver and the Muppets singing Christmas songs until now - YouTube is awesome.)

Hope you enjoy this little slice of Christmas-y fun. If you need me, I'll be humming the JD&Muppets version of Jingle Bell Rock while writing about bees and flowers and such.

One down!

I just emailed a good, solid draft of a major thesis chapter to my advisor. I feel good about it. One more data chapter to go, plus intro and summary chapters.

I'll wait until I hear back from The Advisor before declaring victory, but I'm on my way and much closer than I was.

(In other news, J and Doodle are having their first night without me since Doodle's birth. Hopefully they can get some sleep tonight.)

perfectionisting

It is important to remember: You must have something to start with before you can improve on it.

This is a reminder to myself as I continue choreographing my first all-by-myself choreographed duet, and as I start the Great Thesis-Writing Spree of '08.