Kitchen Progress

We are making progress on our kitchen remodel! Slowly but surely, Kevin is doing all the work while I toil away on my dissertation proposal and try to keep the house in order. It seems like only yesterday we knocked down the wall and opened up the kitchen side of the house to the living room side of the house. One could say our house is stronger together now. It's amazing when things come together, so much more cohesion. The half partition where the stove will sit is still studs, and the fridge isn't quite in place yet. We (Kevin) has to figure out a tricky puzzle of how to build in a cabinet for our Rev-a-shelf pantry. I'm very excited about this rev-a-shelf pantry. It will add a lot of storage to our kitchen. Even though we knocked out a wall that had several upper cabinets on it, we are actually adding more storage to the kitchen with some fancy layout solutions, while still remaining open concept. This weekend I think we will try to re-do the plumbing so we can prepare to put the new sink and cabinets in on the window side of the kitchen. This is very exciting because, as you can see from the pictures below, we don't really have any cabinets right now. But are making good use of folding tables. And our coffee table in the living room is now our food pantry. And the microwave is in the living room too. And we have a dresser by the front door that has the silverware in it. And the pots and pans are in the red cabinet by the sliding glass door, uh, in the living room. So it takes about 30 extra steps to really do anything in the kitchen because it's a lot of walking back and forth. I don't mind too much though. I do wish I had a step counter, however, because then I could do a comparison for how many extra steps I actually take when a kitchen is spread out over three areas of my house.

Chapter One

I rewrote my outline for chapter one to help
guide the rest of my progress and keep
me on track. Don't mind the belly bump view.

Last week I met with my advisor to make a plan to defend my dissertation proposal. It was a very good meeting. One reason it was so good was because he really helped me see the bigger issue of what I was trying to get at with my dissertation topic. One would think that choosing a topic and saying why it's a problem would be kind of simple. It's not. I have been struggling to really clarify why my topic has a problem, and why this problem is justified. "Because no one is doing this research" is definitely not a good justification for a problem. (Although if I said "because we shouldn't build a wall" I think my advisor would get on board).

So I am typing away, typing away, and making some progress. Next week my advisor and I meet to go line by line over what I have finished. And just yesterday I realized that I am actually writing a dissertation right now. Sure, technically speaking, it is a dissertation proposal, but for all intents and purposes, a dissertation proposal is really chapters one, two, and three of an actual dissertation. And I am closing in on finishing chapter one. CHAPTER ONE FOLKS. It is apparently one of the hardest chapters to write because it must clearly express everything that will be in my dissertation. Indeed, I am finding it rather difficult. But I'm getting there.

Prego Wear

I waited a while to buy maternity pants, and I once I put them on I thought, "Why did I wait so long?!?!?" They are the most comfortable things ever. And I never want to go back to normal pants. While searching for maternity jeans and pants, however, a lot of awful clothing options came up. Why any woman would wear some of the things I've seen in my online shopping I just don't know. So I was curious about what else is available for pregnant women's wear, and OMG there is some awful stuff. Take a look at the little collage I put together.

On a related note, I think the maternity clothing racket might be just second to wedding planning (or as I learn more, child care). Sure, as my body changes I'd love to make sure I don't look like I'm wearing a tent all the time. But the market for maternity clothes and what kind of person buys it doesn't make sense to me. When I see something I think, "I'll look so cute and pregnant in that top!" Then I reconsider because I remember I'll probably only wear it for two months. And the justification for buying a new wardrobe vanishes. Except for maternity pants. I have invested in two pairs and will probably buy another, and that is well worth it. I am currently waiting for my bestie to have her daughter because as she said, "I was given a whole bunch of cute prego wear and I'll ship it to you soon!" And just like that, new wardrobe for free. Thanks to all the pregnant ladies who initially purchased maternity clothes so I could have a free temporary wardrobe starting in about March.

Back To It

It never ceases to amaze me how the breaks between semesters really mess me up. The first week after a semester is over, I'm still in work mode, and trying to do things. I usually have goals for each break, which sometimes I accomplish. This time around I hoped to get a good start on a literature review for my dissertation proposal, and I did (although because I have unrealistically high standards, I still don't feel like I have enough done). Then over the last week or so, I haven't done much of any work for school, and true rest has finally set in. I want to house project, I want to sew clothes, I want to craft things, and I can't because school starts next week. This week I've already started back to work with my assistantship and that has gotten me already into a work mode, albeit grudgingly.

The back and forth of being in work mode and then finally having enough days away from it that I can figure out how to rest, only to realize I have to find a way to get back into work mode is discombobulating to say the least. And this experience happens almost every time I am on break from school. It's rather annoying! I'm not ungrateful for my vacation break at all, it's just hard for me to move back and forth between the two with only three weeks between. It's like interval training. When I catch my breath I have to go hard again for another round. Moreover, I feel a little more pressure to get back to it more quickly than usual.

What makes this semester different than others is the urgency I feel to try to complete my dissertation proposal, and defend it. Basically what this means is, I'll write the first three chapters of my dissertation, considered the proposal portion, (anywhere between 75-100 pages) and then get my dissertation committee together where they can hammer me with questions so I can prove I'm worthy of continuing on as a PhD student. Obviously, I want to do this all before, oh, let's say May 20th because you know, Baby B is scheduled to make her arrival on the 29th. So the sooner, the better. I have to keep in mind as well, that all of my best plans may come crashing down because, oh you know, Baby B could decide that she wants to come early. So, I'll do my best. And for now, I'll savor the closing days of the winter break and practice writing on a more regular basis so I won't be in too much shock when the semester really begins next week.