i wrote a thesis and all i got was this lousy t-shirt

Actually, it's a FABULOUS t-shirt, brought to you by the fabulous Katy. I'd give you the link to her blog but she's all private about that.

Incidentally: Garcia is our thesis advisor.



(If your eyesight is as terrible as mine, it reads: When Garcia says jump we ask in how many pages?)

onomatopoeia (and other favorite words from the English language)

Thanks Liz for the inspiration.

onomatopoeia
monosyllabic
mist
dusk
flabbergasted
insufferable
autumnal
egalitarian
intelligentsia
muffin
pumpkin
gurgle
bubble

Let's make this a work in progress...Your favorites?

according to Yahoo! weather it feels like 10 degrees outside

That would explain why I can't feel my fingers and nose and am still wearing Uggs as I type at my desk.

Also: Calling your professors on the phone is weird. Very weird. That said, however, it was also very helpful. I'm three paragraphs away from an honest-to-goodness abstract! Yippee!

Finally: How had I forgotten the amazingness of dim sum? We went this morning in Rosslyn with a group of 10 mostly Georgetown pals. Total bill (split 10 ways, remember): $106. I love the Chinese.

muuuuuuuuuuuuch better

All it took was one meeting to realize, "Hey! I'm not doing so bad!"

I have my thesis schedule in hand: A chapter every two weeks with revisions in between and since I have a solid draft of my second chapter, I'm already ahead of the curve! This is not to say I'm on cruise control, but I did need some mental massaging. The anticipation was killing me.

As for the job, well, I guess I'm less worried there, too. I'm doing good at the new place and have gotten praise from the New Boss. I wouldn't mind sticking around there for a little while after May 16 (aka D-Day, aka Graduation!), at least until I figure out what's next. I've always managed to land on my feet and I see no reason why that won't happen again.

In other words, I've gotten a much-needed attitude tune-up.

This is all my way of saying: "Don't worry, I'm fine. Still have my head above water."

denial

I started my last semester of graduate school yesterday, but I feel like it's never going to end.

I attended the first class of the last graduate course I'll ever take. But it doesn't feel like I'm leaving the classroom for good.

Tomorrow morning I attend my first-ever thesis colloquium for what will probably be the biggest academic endeavor I ever take on. And yet every time I open thesis.doc, I scan a few pages, freeze up, and close it.

Am I afraid to start because I don't know what's going to happen when I finish? Where will I get a job? What happens after 2:30 p.m. May 16?

eleeza is back home...in the District

My how time flies. A little more than two weeks ago I was giddily hopping my flight to LAX. A week later, Vahan showed up, we spent four whirlwind days seeing family (mine and his), had our first Christmas together, enjoy each other's families, then hopped another plane (a plane delayed by 5 hours -- grrrrrr Northwest) to Michigan, to see his family and attend two weddings, back-to-back, one of which he was in as a groomsman. (Though it would be funny to see Vahan as a ringbearer. All 6 feet 2 inches, and many many pounds of him.)

I wish I could say it was relaxing -- parts of it were -- but mostly it was a lot of fun and fulfilling to see so much family and not nearly enough friends. I did a rather poor job this time around of getting together with Orange County friends, but time was crunched the first week by a pesky final I had to get done.

Now I'm back and started my new job today. I think it's going to be a challenge and a good step forward in what I hope is becoming a very interesting niche in international development. And starting next week: it's back to All Thesis All the Time.

In the meantime, enjoy these silly little elves: