Crazy Week

Hey-o!

You probably noticed the lack of update this week. Yeah, sorry about that. We've been busy...and sick...and busy.

I've been doing a bunch of stuff for the department, including putting together a seminar presentation for this Thursday evening. Yeah, that's right. I'll be speaking before the people. Let's watch me make a fool of myself and then point and laugh over drinks. Looking forward to that! Seriously, though, I think it'll go pretty well. I've been working on this for quite a while and I'm in the dress rehearsal phase at this point. As long as my colleagues don't try to shoot me to pieces over my (probably unpopular) ideas, it'll be a good conversation.

I've also been revising my thesis so I can have a full draft together by the end of the month. I tacked on an introduction and conclusion, made some significant changes, and I now have a product that's roughly one hundred pages in length. This is officially the largest academic project I've ever done, and I don't mind telling you all that it feels awesome. I just hope it gets accepted so I can defend it and come home to relax a bit before my next endeavor.

Speaking of next endeavors, we submitted my application for Duke's PhD program last night (fees paid and everything). Now we just have to sit, wait, and hope for the best. If any of you believe in a higher power, now's the time to pray to it for me. I might even pray to a few myself, despite my agnosticism. I really need this position to carry on with my research effectively.

Finally, I've spent the past few days organizing and going through some..."official" stuff to help out a friend of mine in the department. Apparently it's stuff that guidelines are a bit fuzzy about, so I can't disclose the information here. I will say, however, that it has been both a rewarding and exhausting project, and I'm learning quite a bit for my potential future as a professor. I'm really just glad I can help someone out, though.

Carina has actually been even worse off than I am, though. Friday morning she woke up with what seems to be food poisoning and has been coping with it since. I also seem to have ingested something not so good for my gut, but my pain doesn't seem to be nearly on the same level that her's has reached. Fortunately, it's starting to get better. Unfortunately, it puts a damper on what kinds of food we can eat. With any luck this will be cleared up for both of us before Thursday. I have a lecture to give and the next night we have Thanksgiving plans. Come back next week to learn how that goes!

All right, proctoring duties call.

Colin-Man, away!