Confirmation of Candidature-COMPLETE

Ah, thank GOD that is complete! My first year of work, condensed into 6 months. I had my doubts but somehow I pulled it off. It was the 4 months of writing condensed into 4 weeks that scared the shit out of me. So anyway, I am no longer a provisional student but a PhD candidate. Yeah!

The presentation went really well and I got a lot of good questions and criticism. I welcome it ALL! In the end it will only make my dissertation better. To celebrate, I took off Tuesday and played with the pups all day long and had a nap. However, now it is back to the grind. My project coordinator position ends in 2 months and I have a lot of stuff to finish before that time. Plus, I will be in the US for 2 weeks in October so that does not leave me a lot of wiggle room to wrap up a project that has been going on for 2 years.

In the mean time I will bask in my accomplishment as a form of earned procrastination:)

IT IS ABOUT TIME!

Thank FUCKING GOD Plan B was finally approved. The rest of the world, including developing nations, have offered Plan B over the counter for years. Even Thailand is 10 years ahead of us. God we are pathetic...but perhaps we are making strides. Well maybe not a stride but a shuffle. Check out the article at CNN

Remembering N'Awlins

It is really hard to believe that Katrina struck nearly a year ago. About this time last year me, Greta and Lori were having a great time in N'Awlins. I found this pic of me and Greta clowning around in the French Quarter. As you can see we were up to no good. We spent the day walking around the Quarter, attending various Happy Hours (we love the 3 drinks for the price of 1 special that abounded), meeting a Voodoo priestess, etc. I think back to the guy who took our picture and I wonder what happened to his studio. Is he there? Did he bail? The soul of NO is the people. The buildings are nice and all, but could NO ever be the same without its soul? Part of me wants to go back but part of me does not want to ruin the memory I have on NO.

I was reading in the Post the other day about where we are 1 year later when it comes to disaster preparation. Nearly 50% of those polled thought we were prepared for this years hurricane season. Uh hellooooo out there. NOTHING, Nada, Zip, has been done to the NO levies. They merely patched up the holes and most experts agree that a category 2 could easily destroy the levies. Great...such a stupid false sense of optimism my country has. Ick, makes me sick.

Weekend, wonderful weekend!

It is a SUPER DUPER Saturday morning here in Bris-Vegas! Just spectacular. It is 9am and about 80 with sun outside. For the first time in months, I don't have to put my sweater on in the morning. Spring is on its way!

Casey is looking up from between my legs under the desk begging. "Where is my piece of kiwi fruit". He loves fruit, actually he loves anything for that matter. Cappy is asleep at the door keeping an eye out for dad to wake up. Ahhh, such a classic tv show morning. To top off that morning, I am going to write all day. Ick...not so nice. I am working on some revisions for next Mondays confirmation and I dread what Peter will give me next week.

To punish myself further I have given up bread for the next month. I am such a carb-o-holic that I can easily attribute the 5lbs (and tightness in the jeans) I have gained to bread. When I lost those 40lbs in 1999, I gave up bread and it just dropped off. My body is fucking addicted to that stuff. It sticks to my thighs. Not fair. It actually gets easier everyday, so I just have to stick with it.

Ekka day!

Wed is a public holiday for Ekka (short for exhibition). Usually I am not into that kind of thing as I have a great fear of carnies, small children with ice cream, and ferris wheels. However, the thing is literally being held across the street from my work and it seems alright. Everyone goes and everyone really seems to like it. So I thought I would succumb to peer pressure and give it a try. It runs for 10 days with Aug 15th being the official day off. We are going to go to the dog show (I missed the golden showing last tues) which will be an "open" session of all dogs and pups. I am super excited about that. We are going with Phil and Glen who are Ekka experts. So this will be my first taste of the "REAL" Brisbane. Hey why not? Anything to get me away from this lit review!


Ah speaking of that. It is coming along. I am in super writing mode which is a god send. Sometimes it is sooooo hard to get started. The GIS component of my research is also coming along, thanks to UNESCO Bangkok for the map and Greta for her GIS expertise. At least that is one less thing I have to worry about.

We did go camping this past weekend up to Inskip Point on the Sunshine coast. We camped on the beach and played in the surf all day long, I even got a tan. It was beautiful and Todd's first taste of "tropical Queensland". I am trying to convince him that the rest of Australia is not like Brisbane. While the city is nice, it is not as tropical and restful as up north. The dogs had a blast playing in the water and Cappy was in it NON-STOP. We literally had to drag her out by her collar when it was getting dark. I swear she was taking a nap while she was floating. Strange dog.

Confirmation coming!

Oh god, I am overwhelmed! My inital date for my candidature confirmation was supposed to be middle of November. However, due to a scholarship requirement for next year I have to be confirmed by August 31. So long story short, I am condensing 4 months of writing down to 4 weeks. Plus work a part time job, spend quality time with my husband and dogs, and find some time to sleep. This is turning out to be very difficult and tiring.

My office is filled with diagrams, flow charts, and literally a 2 meter stack of papers in one corner. If it fell over on a child, it would kill him. NO joke. Let's see what else...1 week of styrofoam coffee cups, an Everest size pile of water bottles, napkins, and coke cans. Lovely...it smells good in here too. Oh yeah, that must be the 1 week stack of gym clothes that I keep forgetting to bring home.

On that note, I am going to bed. I am whipped!