Birthday Week!

I survived birthday week. Yes, with three kids (granted one is a set of twins) we ended up with everyone's birthdays within a single week...and that week is at the end of the school year here so there are often end of the school year activities going on too.

With graduation and getting ready for selling the house (and moving!) we forced the kids into doing low-key stuff. Each got to pick a place to eat. They had a small stack of family gifts to open. They each had a cake.

Andy's pokemon cake

Doug's Lego clone trooper

 Josie's Strawberry Shortcake

Josie also took watermelon in to her class for a special birthday snack, and Doug and Andy had popsicles with their classes.

Shifting focus

Now that the semester is done and I know where I am headed (I have a job!) I have to shift my focus. All of those little house things need to get to a finalized stage so that we can sell the house. I need to paint baseboard and trim, I need to paint the walls in the kids' rooms so that they look fresh, and I need clean/pack so that the house looks nice for showing. The after-graduate party got us started on being cleaned up, my mom worked on painting some trim, and my in-laws came and got my bathrooms wallpapered (yes...after two years I finally have a mirror back up and Jim hung towel racks and the toilet paper holder).

Oh, and I have to clear out my desk area on campus. And yes, the children will be out of school soon. 

God only gives us what we can handle...right?

Almost there....almost there....

Graduation--- check!
Diploma in hand and on transcript--- check!
Grading done--- check!

Well, I still have a few lingering GA responsibilities. I cannot complain because I mostly did what I needed to do to finish my dissertation this semester.
I have also enjoyed having relatives here around graduation. We had a party the day after graduation. I am fortunate because both my mother and my mother-in-law helped me clean house for the party.

Counting the days

Just a few days until graduation when I am "officially" done...

However, the stack of grading for the class I was teaching says otherwise.
Then it is on to figuring out moving. I have accepted a job at another university. It will be different teaching more classes. I will have to keep everything under control with teaching and family and trying to research/publish and just plain settle in. However, I will be gainfully employed and not just employed.

I might be a little paranoid

So I have learned that completing a degree that you have been working on and poured your heart and soul into and spent literally years of your life creating a project for might make you a little paranoid.
I have already emailed and stopped by and checked to make sure that everything is in place for me to actually graduate.
Everything is turned in. All surveys and paperwork is done. The dissertation has been completely accepted with no further edits necessary. I have my robe, tassel, tam, and hood (though they say not to bring your own hood to the ceremony) for the ceremony. I think I am ready....I just need to make sure to show up on time, have everything with me, bring ID (I have to have it to get the degree paper since doctorates are the only ones who can pick it up at the ceremony instead of having it mailed), and it says not to bring a purse or bag.

I have had a couple of interviews. I am just trying to figure out what the next step is and where God wants us to go.

I didn't bribe them...

Last night we had a Cub scout pack meeting. This is where the boys receive anything they have earned since the last pack meeting.
Due to Christmas activities, pine car derby, and various other events we were long overdue for my boys to receive what they have been working on.
There is a tradition in the pack we are in that when a badge is earned that represents a promotion in rank, the boys get to "paint" (read...color with water soluble markers) on someone's face. Each boy may choose who he wants to paint. Most paint one of their parents.
I have twins of course, and when they earned their bobcat badges Andy did my face and Doug chose someone out of the audience.

Last night one boy in my den got his bobcat badge, and the other four received their tiger cub badges. Of course, two of those boys were my Andy and Doug...and without me even encouraging it they found other people to paint. Andy was bound and determined to paint the den leader who likes to kid, joke, and pretend to do devious things. Doug found a boy scout who is the son of one of the other den leaders that he decided to paint. I am not quite sure how I managed to escape, but my face remained clear.

It's been awhile...I've been busy

Well, I got everything turned in so I think I should be on track to graduate. Now there's just the

1. Applying for jobs
2. Catching up on the grading for the course I am teaching
3. Catching up on my other GA responsibilities
4. Getting the house ready to sell (painting, finishing projects, packing and arranging for show, etc.)

I am hoping that all children are again well and healthy for awhile since we had some viruses run through the family. 

Oh, and Jim has a senior homeroom class so he has to chaperon Prom. I've never been to Prom (he was out to sea with the Navy when I was a senior). So we have a date.

My mother-in-law said it just felt wrong to write on her calendar "Baby-sit for Prom." 

Addicted to staying up?

I had an intense week or two of working on edits and getting it all "just so."
I got everything submitted on time (I'm sooooo thankful for electronic submissions) so now I am just waiting to see if the grad school found anything that needed to be addressed.

Oh yeah, and I am working on finding a job. A real job. A job where I get paid in money that covers bills. Knowledge is a good thing. But now it is time to move on.

Oh, and I need to get my body adjusted back. I got way too used to staying up late to work.

I passed!

I have some edits and a bit more writing to do on Chapter 5, but they were pleased enough to say that I passed!

Crazy two weeks!

It's been a crazy two weeks.  So here's an update...
1. The usual thing at my university is that faculty get two weeks to deal with things...so that means that my committee got my dissertation two weeks ago and this coming Thursday I defend it. I feel like I am in a holding pattern because they already have my document. I created my presentation but am waiting to hear from my committee chair about whether I need to make any changes (she was out of town until Sunday). I figure if it had totally stunk then they would not bother with holding the defense so it comes down to a matter of how much editing and such needs to happen before it is done. I'm a little nervous but since they have the big document already it is not like I can do anything to change it at this point.

2. I have had sick children. Doug was sick right after I had to turn in my dissertation (in fact he came with me to get it copied for my committee member who wanted a hard copy instead of electronic). Then the next week Josie was sick. I am just hoping we are all well for a little bit. I have to admit that I was not a candidate for mother of the year after a few weeks of late nights due to dissertation and then some interrupted nights due to sick children. However, I think the kids seem to understand.

3. I feel like I am in a transition stage. I usually do well with a school schedule and I can do fine with a really open schedule like during the summer. However, there is usually a short period of adjustment between those two types of schedules where I really flounder. The Monday after turning in my dissertation I really struggled to stay focused on anything and it really felt like a period of adjustment. Now I keep feeling like I have so much to get caught up on since I was so focused for awhile, and I just keep swapping from one important thing to the next and not necessarily knowing what my highest priority is.

4. I also felt like I had the kids a bit extra this last week. With the severe weather that swept across the mid-west and south the kids got out early one day. We were not hit (although I did find out that a tornado passed near the school where I used to work and was not that far from our old house). Jim also had a math competition on the weekend so I ended up dragging Doug and Andy to two birthday parties for Josie's friends. Fortunately, the parents at the two parties were of the "more the merrier" attitude so it worked out.

So Thursday is the big day when I get to find out what my committee has to say. Prayers are welcome!