Is there a Doctor in the house?
1:13 PM Edit This 3 Comments »
Not quite. But close. J successfully defended his dissertation on Tuesday. So, after some edits and turning in a final draft, all of his committee members have agreed to sign off on it and he will officially graduate in May. I did my best to make a weirdly anti-climactic day seem climactic by hosting a small dinner at our favorite Greek restaurant, but J was mostly just tired and worn out from everything. I didn't even take any pictures... well, maybe one, but I don't have it here with me!
On the same day that J defended, Em's Aunt Jenn (J's sister) had her second surgery to finish removing a pesky thyroid. She has had a tough few months after finding a lump in her neck, having half of her thyroid removed, learning there were some cancerous cells there, and going in for round two. She has now begun a low iodine diet so that she can have IRT to find and destroy any remaining thyroid cells in her body. She really deserves a medal of honor as she has handled all of this stress with poise and grace. She has remained her thoughtful self--remembering and participating in all of our big events. She has continued to go to work at her cool job preparing Boston-area teachers to teach important multi-cultural ed. topics to children in their area. I am truly proud to have her as a sister-in-law and look forward to hanging out with her this weekend while she recovers. 
What's going on with me, you ask? Well not much but I have still felt totally overwhelmed lately. I am ready for J's paper to be completely done and off his plate. I am ready to know what next year holds for us. I am completely ready for Em to sleep through the night. I have been researching and refusing to pull the trigger on planning a real vacation (that doesn't include visiting any family members-- what?? those exist??) to a warm place where I can sit in a lounge chair, drink in my hand, snack on a little plate beside me, and read a book while getting burnt to a crisp. Aaahhhh... back to work.