OK...OK...OK... Two of my friends "yelled" at me this weekend for the lost weeks of updates. Jennifer and Christa - It was awesome seeing the two of you this weekend. I really enjoyed our talks and watching Jennifer open up baby presents - I am pretty excited that I am going to be an aunt again. Unfortunately, I will be many miles away from him. Once this journey is over next May, I will be visiting Texas more often.

Quick and dirty update on the love of my life - Sydney. I just found out two hours ago that she is no longer diabetic. Her glucose level was normal, and she no longer needs insulin shots twice a day. These last few months have been absolutely hell trying to find enough skin on her little body to give her a shot - FINALLY - it is all over.

I completed my IRB form last week, but waiting for approval from the legal department in my company to allow me to conduct the study with the international employees employed at GSK. An IRB (Internal Review Board) must review all studies involving human subjects conducted through the university. Being that I am going to be conducting interviews and focus groups with international students and faculty at RMU, along with international employees at GSK, I must supply the IRB with a 100-page paper on the scope of my study and if there will be any potential harm to the participants (OK - I was exaggerating about the 100 pages - more like 10).

I have been trying to complete the first three chapters of my dissertation - just about there. I think I am just being neurotic about the "small stuff". No joke - sometimes it takes me two hours to write one stinking paragraph - ONE!!! I spent a few hours tonight writing, and you can see where it led me - straight to this blog because I am getting ready to throw my computer out on the street. The cool thing is that when I get frustrated, I no longer F-bomb...I go for a nice long walk in the neighborhood. Although these two boxers across the street scare the $hit out of me when they jump out from behind the trees, I don't let them get in the way of my "F this dissertation" attitude. I ran into a neighbor who shares my pain with the boxers. I am not the only idiot that walks on the other side of the road avoiding them.

OK - speaking of walking, I just went out a few hours ago for 2 miles, but now I am heading out again before I eat everything in the house :)

Until next time!

Got my grades today - two As and one Pass - Yeah. Although grades do not matter at all in a doctoral program, I am sort of bummed that I have all A's and one B+ - carrying a 3.96 GPA. I got the B+ in curriculum at the beginning of the program. I won't go into any more detail about that class...brings back many bad memories , not to mention I gained a ton of weight from the stress. Crazy thing - I got A's in Statistics I and II, Quantitative Research, and Qualitative Research - the four hardest courses.
Now all I have left are two classes in the fall - a financial class and Writing for Publication. I have to get my butt moving on my dissertation. I am going to try to work on it every day from here on out. At least 1/2 hour each day. I am not trying to make excuses to not work on my dissertaiton, but I am just so exhausted. I seriously need to move away for two months and do nothing but work on it. I would love to be able to spend more time on research. I actually enjoy reading and writing now. Not that I did not like reading before, but I dreaded writing. Over the last few years, I probably wrote over 100 papers. The more I read, the better I write. The more I write, the more confident I am in my writing.

If you are planning on enrolling in a doctoral program, be prepared to write and write and write and write. If you feel that you are not a good writer...don't worry - you will eventually become a great writer. I actually thought about spending one year on my writing prior to enrolling into the program, but Dr. Semich talked me out of it. Thank goodness! I would have 2 years left instead of 2 classes.

Although this journey has been wonderful and painful at the same time, I learned a great deal about myself. I don't think that I would be the person I am today if I did not enroll into this program. I feel that I have become much stronger as a person, more confident in who I am, and gained a strong will to never give up no matter what is thrown at me. I have always strived to learn as much as I can, but going through this program has opened many doors for me. Doors that will lead me down so many paths. I have so many opportunities with this degree. I just can't wait until I can really start my journey after I graduate.

Update on Sydney - Took her to the vet today - glucose level down to 190 - she is doing great on the double dose of insulin. I have had her for five years now and she has been so wonderful. I always felt that she was abused by her prior owner, and now I know she was. They found a gun pellet in her right shoulder today. She is going under the knife on Thursday for the vet to remove the pellet. Hopefully she won't be in any more pain.

Until next time!