Hrm
So, been a while since I've posted... I was having trouble with Blogger and got frustrated and gave up for a while. But now I'm back, bay-bee! Yeah!!

Not that I have anything to say. Next week I turn in my first paper and have my first presentation of my PhD career and am unaccountably nervous about both. I'm so used to whatever I manage to throw together still being stellar work and I'm positive that eventually someone's going to notice that my usual isn't in fact good enough and I could do much better if I just worked a little harder. Maybe now is that time. Or maybe that time will never come. I know for a fact I'd never let this paper go for publication without completely re-researching and re-writing it, because my standards for schoolwork are more shoddy than those for work or publication. It's just school, after all. I'll have to be confident that when it matters, when it's publication or dissertation time, my output will be as good as I know I can do.

I'm rambling. Enough!

We're going on a 4-day cruise for our anniversary this year. I had idle thoughts of losing some weight before then, but, you know, holidays and such. I did stop eating so much crap, though, and I feel better about myself for that alone, so I suppose I've done some good. Only lost about 3 pounds. Am starting to recall fondly the days when women wore loose-fitting swimsuits to their knees.

The drive to Michigan for Thanksgiving was *dreadful*, even more dreadful than I can really get across in words. It took us 9 1/2 hours to get there. It started snowing in Hyde Park and snowed the whole way, sometimes in near-white-out conditions. Cars were in the ditches all over. Mark was tense and careful, I was concentrating on not climbing the walls with claustrophobia because I couldn't see out the front window very well. It rained the whole way home, sometimes heavily, and it was a blessing and relief and we didn't mind a bit.

Bought ingredients for making Christmas cookies. (What was that about a diet?) I. from school is not familiar with the American tradition of Christmas cookies (Christmas is in the summer where she comes from, and baked goods are not so appealing in summertime) so I want to take some to our final presentation at Joel's on Tuesday.


- posted by Diane @ 1:26 PM