bachelorette fun

This weekend I am headed to Denver to party with my sister and her friends for her bachelorette party (one of her bachelorette parties).  I am so excited for Jodi and Matt -- They are a fabulous couple and will be getting married in about six weeks.  It has been fun working on planning fun bachelorette things.  We are planning to go up to Vail, do some hiking, eating, drinking, hanging out, etc.  Should be a great weekend.  I'm trying to figure out how to pack all the different shoes and outfits I am going to need for all the different activities!  A difficult problem to have ;)

It really has been great helping Jodi with wedding stuff.  I want to help however I can, even if it is just putting together a text file with comma delimited email addresses.  Bring it on!   I also picked up my bridesmaid dress on which I had some alterations--it looks great.  I've still got to try it on with the shoes I picked out and see if they go together.  Will post more after the fun and frivolity!

quiet fridays

I love fridays at work.  They are so quiet and I can get so much work done without interruption!  Sometimes I end up putting off a work project, but then friday comes and it seems like the perfect opportunity to work on one whole project for a day.

Of course, once you start the project you wonder why it took you so long to buckle down and do it.  Alas, hindsight....

I have a hypothetical question for you all. I'm not in this situation, but I had a recent conversation that has me thinking a lot about this idea.

Say you are working on a research project and you write a paper on a particular topic.  Before you submit it to a journal you get some colleagues to review it for you.  Everyone agrees that the research is of quality, and well-done. However, some people might not be comfortable with your findings. Maybe they show something that someone doesn't want to believe, or report on things that could cause some social/political issues in certain circles.

Is it more ethical (and I use that word on purpose) to not publish the paper, and thereby not cause political problems or to publish the paper and share the research but deal with whatever politics might come up?

Do you think a more experienced researcher would have a different opinion on this than a newbie?

swim, swim like a fish

Today I got my second day of swimming in for the whole summer. It was good to be in the water, and my arms didn't hurt as much this time as they did the first time.  I only swam 1/4 mile, but I also spent some time in the deep end treading and doing some other exercises.  It felt good.  Nice fluid movements, easy on the joints, etc.  Also, it should make my arms/shoulders look better for Jodi's wedding!

I may have to get into the swimming a bit more since I realized last weekend that I still seem to have a bit of a muscle tear in my calf.  Right after (at the end of) the half-marathon, this sharp pain in my right calf started, and it only seems to come back when I'm running.  I've gone on 2 hour walks without it bothering me, but if I start running (especially uphill or flat), it starts hurting.  So I figure I need to lay off that for awhile. I guess I'll focus on walking and swimming.

warning: prepare for negativity

 If you ever want to talk to me about something you are worried I might have a bad reaction to, please, please, just talk to me about it.  Don't warn me that we have to talk about X and then say let's do it tomorrow.   I'm just going to be frustrated.  I could also be slightly angry if the topic is one that could be cleared up in like 3 minutes.

I was sent an email today saying that we really need to talk about X tomorrow.  This is obviously part of the continual power struggle that has become even more pronounced since I got my degree. I just hate that I got an email and  both of us could have just taken a few minutes to talk about it since neither of us had any meetings, but instead I get an email of warning about tomorrow's conversation. 

I need to stop myself now. Okay- next post will be more positive, I promise.

It is bound!

Wow! I just got the bound copies of my dissertation. What a beautiful thing!

beware-blog design is changing

It has been so long since I've been on Blogger that they now have all these cool new templates that you can use to customize the design of your blog. Don't be surprised if you come to my page and it doesn't look like it used to--I am probably just trying on new templates to see how they feel. Let me know if you see one you especially like!

I know it is hard when you are surprised by changes- but change teaches us flexibility :)

moving to the next stage

Holey Moley! It has been such a long time since I've written here on the blog. I finished my dissertation and graduated with my PhD--after 10 long years in and out of school. Everyone keeps asking me if my life has become simpler, or less stressful or less full. For better or for worse, the answer is no. I think what has happened is that while I was working on my dissertation, certain stressors and tasks took top priority. And the other stressors and tasks, like yearly investment portfolio reviews, went by the way-side. So now that the "Book" is out of the way, I've got all these things on my mental list that are now cluttering my brain space. I used to be able to lock them away pretty easily because they didn't seem as important, but alas, I can no longer ignore the financial reviews, insurance details, car repairs, etc.

I am excited and proud to report that I finally booked my graduation vacation trip to Hawaii. I was able to use a frequent flyer for one flight and got a pretty good deal from Costco on the hotel. I am so excited and I can't wait to do all the fun things on Maui with David. The trip will also double as our anniversary trip--6 nights in paradise!

I hope I'll be able to write more now on the blog and update everyone on the goings-on. Stay posted- I'll try to write twice a week, if I can.

progress!!

I know I am not following my own rules, but I've got to share.

I have to turn in 4 chapters to my advisor tomorrow and I wanted to share my progress.

Check it out! I am at 133 pages! You can see the periods of productivity on the charts-how funny.

an official break

After 611 posts since May of 2005, I've decided to officially take a break from my blog. I plan to come back to it, but right now I just can't find the energy or things to write about when my life is engulfed with the dissertation. I hope you all will understand. I know how annoying it is to keep checking on a blog, hoping for new posts, so I wanted to let you know you can stop checking for the time being.

Keep the address in your favorites, though, because I promise to start up again once I start to have a life outside the ivory tower.

damn outlook

Sometimes I love outlook, which I have at work. It helps me organize and sort things, and keeps a to-do list, and I can color code things, etc. But today, after I've received a dozen email, and 5 of those email still have that checkmark by them that I use to indicate that I still have to do something about the email, I'm feeling defeated. I mean, really? Five checkmarks that I couldn't plow through? Some days I leave one checkmark to take care of the next day or later that week, but I just can't deal with all five checkmarks/emails. Maybe my "outlook" will look brighter after I've had a rest.

6 wonderful years

Today marks six wonderful years being married to david. We have had such fun and exciting adventures and have plans for many more.

Happy anniversary sweetie!
I love you!

family, family

Will and Sandy Litzler were visiting recently and just left yesterday. We had a good time and I got to see some WA state places I had never seen before, like Gig Harbor, Silverdale, Poulsbo. It sure is pretty in western washington!

And today my sister arrives for a work trip. I will get to see her because she was able to add on a day to her trip so we will see each other friday night and saturday until her plane leaves. Enough time for a group workout and some H&M shopping ;-)

I'm planning to do another dissertation day tomorrow because I've got to get some time in for writing. Unfortunately, I've also got an NSF proposal revision that is due in less than 2 weeks now, so that has been taking up quite a bit of my time. Hoping to get some help from others on the revision.

feedback

I'm waiting on feedback from my advisor on Chapter's 3 and 4. I feel a bit like I can't get started with chapter 5 until I get some feedback on 3 and 4. but maybe part of that feeling is that I feel a little lost in what should be in chapter 5, and what the actual analysis should encompass. I have a couple different ideas, but never really got an "okay" on one of them in particular.

It looks like this week will have to be a 2 day dissertation week instead of a 3 day dissertation week. I've got to try to carve out some time.

Unfortunately, I have a proposal revision to NSF that is due in mid September that will be taking up my time. That combined with trying to write a journal article for the PACE study, and preparing for the PACE conference in DC in September, I'm going to be pretty busy at work (and home).

Danskin

Danskin is over and I did better than last year..only looking at unofficial times but I'll know for sure how much better in a day or so.

I had been worried about the cold water in lake washington but it was not too bad. I made sure that I got wet before the race started--took my breath away. Better to have it happen then instead of the race start.

progress!

I sent my advisor drafts of Chapters 3 and 4. Chapter 3 is my methodology and data chapter and Chapter 4 is my exploratory analysis chapter. Those are the easiest ones. Now I've got to dig into Chapter 5 which is another analysis chapter, but more complex.

So, making progress. Headed to Lake Chelan, WA for a bachelorette party and wine tastings. I have a feeling I may come back with some wine for David and me. I am hoping to get in a run and a swim this weekend but we'll see. I'm bringing my stuff!

support

I am thankful to have such good friends and family who write such wonderful things on my blog in support of my dissertation quest. Thank you!

I spent a good eight hours working on it yesterday and plan to do more dissertation work on friday, if a work deadline doesn't eclipse it.

We are having record temperatures here in Seattle this week. Last night David and I blew up our air mattress and we slept in the basement where it felt a good 15 -20 degrees cooler than upstairs. thank goodness for basements. I think we will sleep down there for the next few nights!

not working

okay- the few sentences everyday is not working. I just don't feel like I have the time for it. I just drew up my calendar and I have about 50 weeks until I would need to defend the dissertation. When you look at it all on one page it is kind of scary!

I think right now I've got to figure out the timeline for getting chapters out and work backward from there.

It is not that I'm not working on the chapters, but that I just can't seem to do a little bit everyday. Maybe that advice is for people who don't have full time jobs?

a little bit every day

I've heard lots of different writing advice. I've been thinking a lot about this lately as I try to make progress on my dissertation. I haven't spent a good chunk of time on it in more than a week. This past weekend I was just too busy having fun with David and Matt here in Seattle to work on data analysis or writing.

So, one school of thought is that you need chunks of time--like 2-3 hours at least in order to make good progress. This I can see would be important for times when I am in the middle of data analysis and leaving something off in the middle will make it difficult to come back to it without spending a bunch of time orienting.

The other school of thought is that you should try to write a little bit each day. Now, this I can see as possible, given that writing does seem to be something you can leave off in mid-sentence and come back to fairly easily. Of course, I don't know if this advice is meant for someone like me who works full-time and has to find time every evening or morning to do a little writing. But I am thinking about trying it. Last night I worked for maybe 30 minutes on revising and writing, and I'd like to do the same tonight.

I'm leaving for a work trip tomorrow, so I don't know how much I can do while I'm traveling, but I am going to try to get at least a few sentences every day.

a few tri photos

A few pictures from the super sprint tri I did on saturday.

testing out the cold water.

where's lizzy? find the #76 on the arm.

last few strokes.

heading into T1.

heading out of T1

First bike lap finished.

first one back (on my rack) to rack my bike after the bike ride.

heading out on the run. getting a little hydrated.

finished!

gmaps pedometer

David and I have been taking long walks a couple of evenings a week with Sam. We usually head into one neighborhood where there are beautiful houses and yards. The past two times we went for a walk I sat down at the computer when we got back and mapped out where we had gone on gmap-pedometer. Last night after I did this I was shocked to see that it said we had walked almost 5.5 miles. I didn't think we were gone that long--but- wow! that's a long walk!