Hooding in Mississippi

I'm headed to Ole Miss to be hooded tonight. It's kind of anticlimactic, since I defended my dissertation on July 15, 2009 and was considered an August '09 graduate, but they only have one ceremony a year, and I didn't want to miss it. I also can't wait to see some friends I haven't seen in nearly a year. My husband and I have decided to make a weekend out of it. I love Oxford, and any excuse to spend a little time there works for me.

Bottom of the Ninth . . .

No rest for the weary.

I will be spending the weekend preparing for my dissertation defense. (Four days and counting . . .) I'll be teaching most of the day Monday, so I can't do it then. I teach again Tuesday morning, so that's out. It's now or never. I'm not really worried, but I want to be prepared. It's important to me to do a good job.

I've decided to go down to Oxford on Tuesday afternoon. My defense is scheduled for Wednesday at 1:30, and I really did not want to have the added stress of worrying about getting caught up in traffic or having a flat tire and ending up late. And I thought a nice calm morning to relax (and pray, and pray, and pray . . .) would be better preparation than a three-and-a-half-hour drive.

A funny thing happened yesterday. I had not even looked at my dissertation in probably at least three weeks, so I sat down to read it through. This is the longest time I've had away from it since I began writing the dissertation, and I had the strangest reaction. It was almost as if I were reading it for the first time. It was something strangely distinct and separate from myself. It was hard to believe that I actually wrote it, that those were my ideas and my thought processes, my arguments.

I hope that muse comes back for a visit on Wednesday.

Just Compensation

Today, after I do Good Morning Honors Symposium with Dr. Garner, I'm headed to Ole Miss. I've got paperwork to turn in and fees to pay at various offices around campus. Then, I'll turn right around and drive back to get ready to go to Nashville on Wednesday.

But, surprising at it may seem, I'm looking forward to the trip for two reasons. One is that I'll get to have one of my favorite Mediterranean Pizzas from Newk's for a late lunch. I can't tell you how much I've missed those. I'm seriously thinking of taking a cooler, buying several to bring home, and freezing them for future consumption.

And the other reason is that I'll get to listen to a book on tape during the trip. A totally escapist crime fiction novel with no redeeming literary value at all. One of the best things about the two years of driving back and forth from Searcy to Oxford was all the books on tape I enjoyed while driving.

It doesn't take much to make me happy.

Life, Interrupted

Friday, I finished revising my dissertation and hit the magic "Send" button. I knew I needed to start on my paper for the CSC, but I figured I'd wait 'til Monday and give myself the weekend off. Perfect time to head to Oxford for the weekend!! See some friends, hang out on the Square, eat a pizza from Newk's, go to a concert in the Grove.

No such luck. Friday afternoon about four o'clock the storm hit and our electricity went out. "It'll come back on soon," I thought. Wrong. Saturday morning, I called the electric company and they had no idea when they'd get to us. So, instead of heading to Mississippi, we hooked up the generator to our freezer and suffered through the heat and the dark. The power finally came on Sunday morning about 9:30, but of course we'd headed to church and left the windows wide open. So, when we got home the air conditioner was running full blast, trying to cool the whole world.

Alas, no trip to Oxford anytime soon. I've got a paper to write.