This is a very rare picture of Sydney and Monet because the two of them are not necessarily fond of one another. Sydney on the left is very jealous of Monet on the right. If Monet is within a few feet from me, Sydney is attacking her - it is hilarious.

Well - the last Friday before Christmas, and I have an hour left of work before I go home and celebrate that I don't have to walk into work until Wednesday.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Grades are officially in!

Just received my final grades for the semester and basically for the program. I have Dissertation Seminar V in the spring, but this is Pass or Fail...If I pass, I graduate, if I fail, I do not. My final GPA is 3.96. Although grades do not matter, and I am very happy with my GPA, it just sucks that I have all As and 1 B+. I would have rather had at least 2 Bs...to miss a 4.0 by a teeny tiny amount is a little disappointing. Well, I need to be proud that I earned As in Statistics I and II....the most difficult and the most feared courses. In some sick way, I really enjoyed Statistics. Not because I got As, but I really love equations.

Although I will be graduating in May, I will continue to write in this blog for those of you who want to keep up with the craziness in my life. Especially my friends who live in other states and countries, which is most of you. I have been blessed with great friends through this whole thing. I received so much support from friends, and I feel that I could not have made it through this program sane. I am not saying I am 100% sane, but would probably be insane if it weren't for my friends. Thanks to all of you for the many kinds words and support. Danielle - thank you for your love and support - your phone mail messages got me through some tough times...I am lucky to have a best friend like you. Holli, Jennifer, and Dave (my other three best friends) - thanks for all of your patience. Holli and Jennifer - I will be heading to Dallas and Erie more often next year. Last but not least - thank you to Dr. Paul and my cohort - I have learned a great deal from all of you.

Until next time!

ABD

This is my cat MONET!

ABD - ALL BUT THE DISSERTATION! This is where I am at right now. In other words, I am finished with classes (ALL), BUT I need to finish my DISSERTATION. What a great feeling...I don't know what I will do with myself on Thursday evenings. For the past 2.5 years, I have had class on Thursday evenings...actually, I had many of my classes on Thursday evenings when I was working on my masters. Bad night - Grey's Anatomy night - what the hell were they thinking? :)

What I have left to do....

I turned in Chapter 4 (Results) yesterday to Dr. Paul (rough draft). I had a little meltdown yesterday...I could not remove these "lines" on my paper. I tried everything. Jim tried everything. I got so pissed, that I hit my computer and the letter "P" flew off - nice. I think the "P" stood for "pissed". I laughed at myself thinking that I am going insane because of a few lines on my paper. I shot my paper over to Dr. Paul asking him to ignore the lines, but with a little help, he gave me some direction on how to remove them.

I have to start writing Chapter 5 - "Discussion" I think this will be the most fun to write because I get to write about my interpretation of the data (of course without being bias). Dr. Paul believes this will take a weekend, but for me, it will take three weekends. I am also adding a "booklet" to the appendixes. I told Dr. Paul that I will be completely finished with my dissertation by the end of February. I am hoping to defend at the end of March - get myself prepared for the "worst" part! I just hope that they don't hurt me too bad. My mind is fragile right now :)

Patrizia and Lucio - Ciao Bella! Come stai. Io sto bene! Grazie for the comment! Patrizia is my cousin's girlfriend - they live in Torino, Italy. A picture is posted near the bottom of this blog. I really wish they lived here in America.

Until next time!

I AM FINISHED....with classes!

CLASSES ARE OFFICIALLY COMPLETE!

I should start a countdown...

Thank goodness the weather sucks right now because sitting in my cube at work on Sunday afternoon is not exciting. At least I get to leave in a half hour to watch the Stiller game at my best friends house. I put in six hours yesterday and six hours today - coding my data and writing my results section. Holy $hit - every time I feel that I made progress, I realize I have so much more to write and analyze. BTW - I JUST FINISHED MY LAST HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT! I just wrote my last paper (an RFP) that is due this Thursday, December 13. Oh, and yes, this Thursday is my last class. I think these past eight weeks went by so quickly. Two and one half years of writing papers, taking exams, presentations, homework, writing a practicum, the first three chapters of my dissertation, and going through my meltdown over the summer with my cat is now behind me. I have been waiting for this moment forever, and now I get to concentrate on my dissertation, and only my dissertation. Unless you are a Ph.D. student, nobody can truly understand the trials and tribulations of a Ph.D. program. I take that back....unless you already have your Ph.D., and the past haunts you from your days as a student. I am sure every time Dr. Paul spends time with me on my dissertation, the painful memories surface. Unfortunately, he does not have the pleasure of just ending his dissertation advisory role when I graduate...he has more students from the next cohort. Ouch!

Well, just wanted to give an update on my Chapter 4 (Results). My coding is complete and now the fun part of analyzing. I look forward to working in this area (mentoring international students in higher education) in the future.

Until next time!

GO STILLERS!