>Last night I was feeling cranky (translation, started crying when Ryan suggested I go lie down and relax) and overwhelmed by a number of things, for example the house looks and smells like a Superfund site because Ryan and I have been working like crazy trying to get things buttoned up at school before November 2 when Charlie will probably arrive. So after dinner (waffles with powdered sugar) when I was paralyzed by hella-seasonal allergies and a Benedryl hangover and general intimidation by all things baby and school Ryan talked me into going for a nice relaxing swim before ER came on at 9. Never mind that it was about 60 degrees outside and they haven’t put the roof on the pool for the winter yet and did I mention it was almost dark? “Go change, I’ll drive” he said as he handed me my swimsuit. Anyway, despite all the whining and extra dramatic fake shivering, I’m really glad I went. It felt good to be in the water and doing something useful and I swam extra fast to keep warm, so it was a really good workout and I know it helped me sleep better last night. I included some pictures Ryan took of me swimming the other day (last week sometime).
Speaking of ER… I am SO GLAD they finally gave us some closure on the baby-Joe story. I almost lost it when they showed the empty crib at the end of the episode but when they showed Abby holding the baby in the rocking chair nearby I almost leapt off the couch with joy (haha like I could leap).After yesterday morning, I decided to stop using my alarm clock for the rest of the pregnancy because really, my body knows how much sleep it needs and there is no changing its mind. It’s pointless to get up before I’m ready because it only results in zero concentration ability and an urgent need to get back in bed as soon as possible that makes it impossible to get anything done (not to mention making me incredibly cranky and no fun to be around). This morning I got up around 8 and am feeling great. J, my advisor, asked me to do some things for him and that made me feel really good too (like the old days when I still had an ounce of self confidence and knew J didn’t think I was a total poser, i.e. before WEMITE and dissertation topic trainwrecks). So now off to make some small changes in my proposal and then to tackle the house.
Archive for September, 2006
Last night I was feeling cranky (translation, started crying when Ryan suggested I go lie down and relax) and overwhelmed by a number of things, for example the house looks and smells like a Superfund site because Ryan and I have been working like crazy trying to get things buttoned up at school before November 2 when Charlie will probably arrive. So after dinner (waffles with powdered sugar) when I was paralyzed by hella-seasonal allergies and a Benedryl hangover and general intimidation by all things baby and school Ryan talked me into going for a nice relaxing swim before ER came on at 9. Never mind that it was about 60 degrees outside and they haven’t put the roof on the pool for the winter yet and did I mention it was almost dark? “Go change, I’ll drive” he said as he handed me my swimsuit. Anyway, despite all the whining and extra dramatic fake shivering, I’m really glad I went. It felt good to be in the water and doing something useful and I swam extra fast to keep warm, so it was a really good workout and I know it helped me sleep better last night. I included some pictures Ryan took of me swimming the other day (last week sometime).
Speaking of ER… I am SO GLAD they finally gave us some closure on the baby-Joe story. I almost lost it when they showed the empty crib at the end of the episode but when they showed Abby holding the baby in the rocking chair nearby I almost leapt off the couch with joy (haha like I could leap).After yesterday morning, I decided to stop using my alarm clock for the rest of the pregnancy because really, my body knows how much sleep it needs and there is no changing its mind. It’s pointless to get up before I’m ready because it only results in zero concentration ability and an urgent need to get back in bed as soon as possible that makes it impossible to get anything done (not to mention making me incredibly cranky and no fun to be around). This morning I got up around 8 and am feeling great. J, my advisor, asked me to do some things for him and that made me feel really good too (like the old days when I still had an ounce of self confidence and knew J didn’t think I was a total poser, i.e. before WEMITE and dissertation topic trainwrecks). So now off to make some small changes in my proposal and then to tackle the house.
>Had a doctor’s appointment this morning and the baby is still huge and breech. Dr. O asked Ryan and me what our birthweights were. I told her I was 7 lb 11 oz and Ryan said he was 9 lb 10 oz. Ha! For once I’M not the freak! Seems Charlie is already taking after his papa. Dr. O seemed alarmed by Ryan’s birthweight. I have to say I’m getting a little tired of being made to feel like the Jerry Springer guests of obstetrics. I read something last night about how calcium is important to the baby’s growth during pregnancy. So now I’m wondering if I caused this with my 3 gallon a week milk habit during the first half of the pregnancy. Certainly doesn’t seem like a bad thing to have a craving for milk (apparently, that is, unless you want to skip right over baby clothes and start off your newborn in 2T). Other than his size and position everything is going well.I had to wake up early this morning for the appointment after having a lot of trouble sleeping from about 4:00 am on. This meant that I was extremely confused and frustrated by almost everything I encountered this morning. My hair wouldn’t stay out of my face (much better to get mad than to pull it back), my nose wouldn’t stop running, milk was hard to reach in the back of the fridge, school bus in front of me was too slow, and my personal favorite: the change in my cupholder was “making an annoying noise every time I stop the car, FIX IT FOR ME RYAN PLEEEEEAAAAAAASEEEEEE!!!!!!!!” Ryan finds me hilarious in the morning. I find nothing hilarious. I find things infuriating.Thank goodness for early lunch plans today. Only 13 mins to go!!
Had a doctor’s appointment this morning and the baby is still huge and breech. Dr. O asked Ryan and me what our birthweights were. I told her I was 7 lb 11 oz and Ryan said he was 9 lb 10 oz. Ha! For once I’M not the freak! Seems Charlie is already taking after his papa. Dr. O seemed alarmed by Ryan’s birthweight. I have to say I’m getting a little tired of being made to feel like the Jerry Springer guests of obstetrics. I read something last night about how calcium is important to the baby’s growth during pregnancy. So now I’m wondering if I caused this with my 3 gallon a week milk habit during the first half of the pregnancy. Certainly doesn’t seem like a bad thing to have a craving for milk (apparently, that is, unless you want to skip right over baby clothes and start off your newborn in 2T). Other than his size and position everything is going well.I had to wake up early this morning for the appointment after having a lot of trouble sleeping from about 4:00 am on. This meant that I was extremely confused and frustrated by almost everything I encountered this morning. My hair wouldn’t stay out of my face (much better to get mad than to pull it back), my nose wouldn’t stop running, milk was hard to reach in the back of the fridge, school bus in front of me was too slow, and my personal favorite: the change in my cupholder was “making an annoying noise every time I stop the car, FIX IT FOR ME RYAN PLEEEEEAAAAAAASEEEEEE!!!!!!!!” Ryan finds me hilarious in the morning. I find nothing hilarious. I find things infuriating.Thank goodness for early lunch plans today. Only 13 mins to go!!
>Well it WAS as bad as I thought it would be. Many of my answers were along the lines of “Yes, I AM a total shit-for-brains, thank you for pointing that out. What else can I do for you?” But it’s O-V-E-R and that’s what matters. And I PASSED and that’s what matters even more.Here’s how it all went down (I may have exaggerated a teense for literary reasons).
ACT II gave my talk and then the committee members were invited to ask questions.
Question #1: “It seems to me that you’re practically retarded, how exactly did you graduate high school?”
Me: “Thank you sir may I have another?”
Question #2: “I don’t understand your second hypothesis”
Me: “What specifically would you like me to explain in more detail?”
Committee Member: “Just start at the beginning.”
Me: [explitive deleted]
Next Committee Member: “I am truly amazed by your below average intelligence”
Me: “That’s an interesting perspective, I’ll consider adding that to my dissertation”
Same Committee Member: “I mean really, you are really really dumb. It’s shocking”
Me: “Thank you for your thoughts. Who else has a question?”
Next Committee Member: “Could you derive all of Newton’s Laws in vector form on the board for me, right now, without any references?”
Me: [explitive deleted]
Advisor: “Let’s take a 10 minute break before we get into the exam questions.”
Me: Try to kiss advisor for suggesting break then retreat to ladies’ room to wipe the sweat off my face and palms of my hands
ACT II
Advisor: “Who would like to start?”
Committee Member: “I was really disappointed by your answers to my questions.”
Me: “I’m sorry, is there anything I can try to explain better?”
Committee Member: “Have you always been so dumb?”
Advisor: “I’m very dissapointed you didn’t go into more detail in your answers. I’d like a new answer for #1 please. Right now. And no, you can’t look at the question”
Me: [explitive deleted]
Next Committee Member: “Your answers were well thought out and correct.”
Me: “Thank you”
Same Committee Member: “Why was your answer to #2 such complete shit?”
Me: “Because I am clearly of below average intelligence, sir.”
Advisor: “Well that’s enough, please go down the hall, Becca, while we talk about this”
ACT III (10-minutes later)
Advisor: “Congratulations, you pass, great job on your presentation by the way!” [hearty handshake and warm smile]
Me: “Wha?”
Advisor: “You’re done, go home and relax.”
Me: “Wha?”
Advisor: “OK, let me know when you’re ready to have our next meeting! Have a good week!”
Me: “Wha?”
I mean seriously, how is this any different than making me get drunk and leaving me in the middle of town blindfolded and wearing only my underwear? Shouldn’t the department be put on probation for hazing? How could it have seemed to go so terribly and then I STILL PASS? It’s like they had their minds made up before I even got there. I don’t care. It’s over and I never have to do it again. Ugh I need a nap.Thank you S and C for bringing me an Apple Slush from Sonic. It really hit the spot and was SO thoughtful!!
Well it WAS as bad as I thought it would be. Many of my answers were along the lines of “Yes, I AM a total shit-for-brains, thank you for pointing that out. What else can I do for you?” But it’s O-V-E-R and that’s what matters. And I PASSED and that’s what matters even more.Here’s how it all went down (I may have exaggerated a teense for literary reasons).
ACT II gave my talk and then the committee members were invited to ask questions.
Question #1: “It seems to me that you’re practically retarded, how exactly did you graduate high school?”
Me: “Thank you sir may I have another?”
Question #2: “I don’t understand your second hypothesis”
Me: “What specifically would you like me to explain in more detail?”
Committee Member: “Just start at the beginning.”
Me: [explitive deleted]
Next Committee Member: “I am truly amazed by your below average intelligence”
Me: “That’s an interesting perspective, I’ll consider adding that to my dissertation”
Same Committee Member: “I mean really, you are really really dumb. It’s shocking”
Me: “Thank you for your thoughts. Who else has a question?”
Next Committee Member: “Could you derive all of Newton’s Laws in vector form on the board for me, right now, without any references?”
Me: [explitive deleted]
Advisor: “Let’s take a 10 minute break before we get into the exam questions.”
Me: Try to kiss advisor for suggesting break then retreat to ladies’ room to wipe the sweat off my face and palms of my hands
ACT II
Advisor: “Who would like to start?”
Committee Member: “I was really disappointed by your answers to my questions.”
Me: “I’m sorry, is there anything I can try to explain better?”
Committee Member: “Have you always been so dumb?”
Advisor: “I’m very dissapointed you didn’t go into more detail in your answers. I’d like a new answer for #1 please. Right now. And no, you can’t look at the question”
Me: [explitive deleted]
Next Committee Member: “Your answers were well thought out and correct.”
Me: “Thank you”
Same Committee Member: “Why was your answer to #2 such complete shit?”
Me: “Because I am clearly of below average intelligence, sir.”
Advisor: “Well that’s enough, please go down the hall, Becca, while we talk about this”
ACT III (10-minutes later)
Advisor: “Congratulations, you pass, great job on your presentation by the way!” [hearty handshake and warm smile]
Me: “Wha?”Advisor: “You’re done, go home and relax.”
Me: “Wha?”
Advisor: “OK, let me know when you’re ready to have our next meeting! Have a good week!”
Me: “Wha?”I mean seriously, how is this any different than making me get drunk and leaving me in the middle of town blindfolded and wearing only my underwear? Shouldn’t the department be put on probation for hazing? How could it have seemed to go so terribly and then I STILL PASS? It’s like they had their minds made up before I even got there. I don’t care. It’s over and I never have to do it again. Ugh I need a nap.Thank you S and C for bringing me an Apple Slush from Sonic. It really hit the spot and was SO thoughtful!!
>Today I have my oral qualifying exam. You saw what I looked like yesterday (see last post). Well this is what this test is doing to me (except I have on pearls). Well the test is and the fact that I haven’t had any caffeine yet today (my precious). I’m wondering how many times I can clutch my stomach and yell “SON OF A BITCH!” when they ask me hard questions before they figure out I’m faking. Wish me luck.If I pass and you live in my town I might be calling you to come out tonight so I can watch you drink MY celebratory beer (creepy). And if you’re married to me I might make you kiss me every time you have a sip of said celebratory beer (creepier). If I don’t pass you will be able to find me at Starbucks filling out an application. Bring ice cream.
Today I have my oral qualifying exam. You saw what I looked like yesterday (see last post). Well this is what this test is doing to me (except I have on pearls). Well the test is and the fact that I haven’t had any caffeine yet today (my precious). I’m wondering how many times I can clutch my stomach and yell “SON OF A BITCH!” when they ask me hard questions before they figure out I’m faking. Wish me luck.If I pass and you live in my town I might be calling you to come out tonight so I can watch you drink MY celebratory beer (creepy). And if you’re married to me I might make you kiss me every time you have a sip of said celebratory beer (creepier). If I don’t pass you will be able to find me at Starbucks filling out an application. Bring ice cream.
>Look, my old jeans fit! Originally uploaded by ryanandbecca. In a moment of frustration with the several pairs of maternity jeans one of my friends loaned me I put on a pair of my old jeans to see if my butt really looked as terrible as it did in the maternity jeans. I’m happy to report that they still go on and still look, well, not great but about the same from the back. Of course they don’t button, but I’ll take what I can get right now. I was worried they wouldn’t go past my knees so you can imagine my excitement when I was able to pull them past my “good birthing hips”. I was home alone at the time, so I had to do it again when Ryan came home because it was just that cool and he insisted on taking a picture.The other cool thing that happened this weekend is that I got to go to a Tech football game. Thanks go to my friend S who gave me one of her extra tickets that she got from a professor in our department so I could sit on the reserved seat side in a nice seat with a back instead of sitting in the student section where you have to stand up all the time and rowdy fans rip the benches up and pass them around. Some of you may have seen last week’s disaster of a game against TCU (12-3, TCU). Coach Leach has been publicly ridiculing his team all week calling them a bunch of “posers” and “primadonnas”. He even said he had just watched “The worst offensive performance in the nation” which, he said, made him “the worst offensive coach in the nation.” I knew it would be a good game because I’m sure the team doesn’t like having the crap kicked out of them in practice all week (and on local media)and the team we played, Southeast Louisiana, was not supposed to be very good. Still, I got so excited by the first touchdown (which was within five minutes of the opening kickoff) that I had a Braxton Hicks contraction (don’t worry, that is a perfectly normal fake contraction). Poor SLU was caught up in something they didn’t start and had nothing to do with. Coach Leach had a point to make and boy did he make it. Tech was up 42 to 0 by the end of the first half. Two other friends we were with, A and S, were calling for one more touchdown with a two-point conversion to send them into the locker room with an even 50. Even with the second string QB in for the second half the score was 62-0 Tech when it was all over. It’s funny how fast I can jump to my feet when Tech scores a touchdown considering it takes me five minutes to stand up out of one of the couches in the waiting room at my OB’s office. Also funny how I can sit in one place in the football stadium for three hours but not in my office chair for nearly that long. By the time I got home I was completely exhausted and barely able to keep my eyes open.Second part of qualifying exam is on Tuesday and then hopefully I can put this whole mess behind me and focus on the baby and on getting some good writing done for my dissertation before he is born.
Look, my old jeans fit! Originally uploaded by ryanandbecca. In a moment of frustration with the several pairs of maternity jeans one of my friends loaned me I put on a pair of my old jeans to see if my butt really looked as terrible as it did in the maternity jeans. I’m happy to report that they still go on and still look, well, not great but about the same from the back. Of course they don’t button, but I’ll take what I can get right now. I was worried they wouldn’t go past my knees so you can imagine my excitement when I was able to pull them past my “good birthing hips”. I was home alone at the time, so I had to do it again when Ryan came home because it was just that cool and he insisted on taking a picture.The other cool thing that happened this weekend is that I got to go to a Tech football game. Thanks go to my friend S who gave me one of her extra tickets that she got from a professor in our department so I could sit on the reserved seat side in a nice seat with a back instead of sitting in the student section where you have to stand up all the time and rowdy fans rip the benches up and pass them around. Some of you may have seen last week’s disaster of a game against TCU (12-3, TCU). Coach Leach has been publicly ridiculing his team all week calling them a bunch of “posers” and “primadonnas”. He even said he had just watched “The worst offensive performance in the nation” which, he said, made him “the worst offensive coach in the nation.” I knew it would be a good game because I’m sure the team doesn’t like having the crap kicked out of them in practice all week (and on local media)and the team we played, Southeast Louisiana, was not supposed to be very good. Still, I got so excited by the first touchdown (which was within five minutes of the opening kickoff) that I had a Braxton Hicks contraction (don’t worry, that is a perfectly normal fake contraction). Poor SLU was caught up in something they didn’t start and had nothing to do with. Coach Leach had a point to make and boy did he make it. Tech was up 42 to 0 by the end of the first half. Two other friends we were with, A and S, were calling for one more touchdown with a two-point conversion to send them into the locker room with an even 50. Even with the second string QB in for the second half the score was 62-0 Tech when it was all over. It’s funny how fast I can jump to my feet when Tech scores a touchdown considering it takes me five minutes to stand up out of one of the couches in the waiting room at my OB’s office. Also funny how I can sit in one place in the football stadium for three hours but not in my office chair for nearly that long. By the time I got home I was completely exhausted and barely able to keep my eyes open.Second part of qualifying exam is on Tuesday and then hopefully I can put this whole mess behind me and focus on the baby and on getting some good writing done for my dissertation before he is born.
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