Below Zero

This morning as I listened to the radio, the weather report stated, "It's about 19 degrees out, but it's gonna feel like it's below zero." I concur. When I step out of the car this morning as Kevin dropped me off on campus, a big gust of wind swooped into my lungs and for a split second I couldn't breathe. It definitely felt below zero. The winter weather has arrived earlier this year than usual. The first year we were here it didn't snow once until January. Then it didn't stop snowing. The second year we were here it snowed just a little at the beginning of December, and went away in a few days. Of course, once the new year began, it snowed steadily. This year, it started with a little snow fall about a week and a half ago. Then about 8 inches arrived on Sunday and another inch Monday, and well, it's currently 19 degrees out, so it's gonna be around for a while. I don't hate the snow, I just hate how it disrupts my life. And I commented this morning, "the snow can be around, just as long as the roads are clear." Thankfully, the roads are clear. At least until it snows again.

!$@#& is Getting Real

I found this image when I looked up "dissertation proposal"
and I think it's pretty funny that it comes from a wikihow
about how to write a dissertation proposal.

My fall semester is almost over. Next week I have my last class, kind of my last class ever for normal course loads. What this means is that after this semester, I have officially finished all but one of my required courses. I decided not to be an over-achiever and take more courses than I needed to (admittedly there are some that I'd love to take, but I'm using some self-restraint). The only course I have left to take is one titled Research Practicum. We all refer to this course as 995, because that is the course number - for some reason we refer to courses as numbers here, so I would say, "Have you taken 955B yet?" and what I'm asking is "did you take the qualitative methods class with Dr. Gonzales?". So 995 is up next. And this course is where I will write my dissertation proposal, and then hopefully soon after completing this course I will defend my dissertation proposal, and by defending my proposal I can then begin collecting data for my dissertation. Oh yes, this PhD !$@#& is getting REAL.

Just registering for 995, however, is not allowed. First I had to provide some outline for what my dissertation would be. And by outline I mean about 1,500 words. And then of course me being me, I wrote a lot more. My first draft I sent to my advisor, who holds the strings on whether I get approved for 995. I admit, my first draft was a bunch of random thoughts. Unfortunately, I assumed that he would understand. That would be a resounding NO. So, note to self, don't give garble-gook to my advisor, even if it all sounds like a great idea. Working through ideas on paper just isn't really the best way for someone to read my mind. While he provided some feedback, what he really should have said was, "What the *%$#! is this?"

I regrouped and sent him 3,000 words, much tidier. He responded again, and said I needed to push myself a little more. So I regrouped again and gave him 4,000 words. Have I mentioned that writing is a way that I learn? I always over-write. One of the last papers I turned in during last year, my initial draft was 10,000 words. I had to cut it down because I could only turn in 6,000. But I sure learned a lot. So anyway, I'm in. After the third draft, I nailed something down and was able to describe it well enough. However, I am modifying my dissertation a little because I decided I needed to pursue something I was more interested in, and I just wasn't completely sold on my initial idea. (Of course, once I really get that nailed down, I'll write about it more here, but it's still in the somewhat garble-gook stage). Fear not, however, I know what I'll be doing, and I just need to clarify, and it's not drastically different from what I was focused on before. Now I just have to write a little more so my advisor knows of these changes more concretely.

Not a Mommy Blog

I haven't quite figured out a way to write this in a blog, so I've been putting it off for the last week. Well, here goes. I'm pregnant. Yes, it was planned :) I think a lot of folks didn't know that Kevin and I had this planned for a while, we tend to like to keep things rather close. But this conversation started about two and a half years ago, when we decided that yes we would eventually try to have children. Then after that conversation we decided when. And well, the summer of 2016 came around and well... So all of this to say that our lives will change in a very wonderful, drastic, amazing, frightening, beautiful, and OMG way around the end of next May when we can welcome our little one into the world. We refer to her as Baby B (and yes, her because according to the bloodtest results, we're having a girl. Eeeeeeeee!!!)

Shelly Tambo: Sassy 90s style and singing mom

And I'm just going to say this now: this will not become a mommy blog. This will be just one part of my blog because I'm still a PhD student, I'm still renovating my house, I'm still a runner, I'm still a whole host of other things. Plus, I feel like I'd have to know a lot more to write about pregnancy. I haven't visited any mommy blogs since I got pregnant, nor have I read any books about being pregnant. I have a little app on my phone where I can keep track of things like my sleep, my exercise, taking vitamins, etc. and it gives me little updates, little snippets every day that I can look at. My favorite part about this app is that at the start of each week it tells me how big Baby B is. Right now she's the size of a beet. And that is about the right amount of information, because when I read too much I tend to get anxious, which I'm sure is opposite from most people. Although, there is never reading too much for school, I admit, and not reading in that part of my life does make me anxious. I prefer to just take it day by day on things like this, and it's doing me just fine. Best of all, I'm still running, and on Thanksgiving ran a pretty steady 5K, averaging about 9:30 a mile, which is way faster than I usually run. It must have been the crowds on the Turkey Trot that kept me moving so fast. Anyway, I'm feeling good!

So yes, I never thought I'd move to Michigan, and now, never thought I'd have a child born in Michigan. And that is indeed what is happening and it's quite exciting to say the least. The funny thing is, when I found out, all I could think of was Shelly Tambo from Northern Exposure, a show I used to love to watch, and the episode where she got "preggers" and is compelled to only sing rather than speak. I'll try not to break out in song when I'm trying to say something, but I can't make any promises.

Another Three Weeks Goes By... and Kitchen

It has been a long three weeks. I have been traveling a lot, I'm behind on my emails, I have papers and other things to submit, I am shifting some research because of the election, and I haven't written a blog post. (I am finally up to speed on the latest season of Project Runway, however, because priorities). So to get back into the swing of blogging, I'll write about what I love to write about, home improvement, and save some of my more thoughtful posts for next time.

We decided to go for it and redo the kitchen. This was on our hit list since we purchased the house, but kind of hummed and hawed over when exactly to do it. Well, we just decided, now or never. So we spent one weekend about a month ago tearing down the partition wall. Taking that down was like a breath of fresh air, and suddenly we could see from one end of the house to another, and light poured in from the kitchen side all the way through to the backyard. It was glorious. Next, we tackled the floor, and removed all the gross tile that had been laid in the kitchen, and also along the entry-way. A while back I chipped out some of the tile in the entry-way closet, thinking that there was probably hardwood floors under there. Sure enough, as we went through and removed it. there be hardwood floors. Why anyone would cover up hardwoods is beyond me. And not just cover them up, but completely hide them with the cheapest, most hideous tile around. Well, that cheap hideous tile is gone! This past weekend, between writing a paper and finding some down time, we finished sanding the thin-set off the hardwoods, and Kevin started blocking in where the new kitchen peninsula will go. It's all very exciting! Here are some pics.

We found some pretty cool 1956 wallpaper under the beadboard of the partition wall. And yes, we still
have not replaced the gross 1980s chandelier. Soon.

Pretty much the way we live now. One set of cabinets is still in place to hold the sink.

Last Post About the Bathroom

This will likely be the last post about the bathroom remodel. It is a happy occasion, because it means, at least, all of the things we had planned for that room are finished. I can remember way back, when we first started the journey of remodeling the bathroom. How we thought it might be pretty easy. Then we had to tear out all the tile and discovered concrete and wire behind there. Then mold. Then a rotten subfloor. And we gutted the whole room and bathed behind sheets of plastic for 5 months. Sigh. But today folks, I can say our bathroom is FINISHED. The last thing to do in there was put in a vent fan. It has been installed. Now we take showers with added light, and less condensation. It's amazing. Up next: Kitchen. Yes, it's happening. In fact, the kitchen remodel has already started. But before I post about the kitchen, I wanted to pay my last respects to a final blog post about the bathroom remodel.

Accepted, Accepted with Revisions, Revise and Resubmit, Reject, Desk Reject

Since starting my doctoral work, I've learned a few short-hand phrases about publishing in the academy. Most notable of these is "R&R" or "revise and resubmit." Basically what happens when one submits a manuscript for publication is one of several things:

Accepted: this rarely happens. I don't even know why this is a category, because I don't know anyone who has ever gotten a manuscript accepted with hardly any necessary revisions. And while I don't know everyone in academia, those I do know also say this rarely happens.

Accepted with Revisions: This is like the editor of a journal saying "We have reviewed your work, we like it, just make these changes and we'll publish" this is very good!

Revise and Resubmit: This is the most likely of all outcomes. This is when the email from the editor says "There is some good work here, but also some concerns from the reviewers. How about you take another shot, and if you can make the changes, we will likely publish."

Reject: The worst of all. Getting a reject is the worst because it usually takes 3-4 months for a journal to respond with a decision, and during that time you can't shop your manuscript around to anyone. Then when the reject comes, it's terrible because you think, "there went 4 months of possible revisions for a journal that would consider this."

Desk Reject: My advisor says this is one of the best things that can happen because within 2 weeks you know if the journal wants it or not. I'm glad he said that because I got a desk reject a couple of months ago and thought, "Oh well, I can shop this around somewhere else now." No hurt feelings.

The reason I go into all of this is because I recently heard back from a journal and got an "accepted with revisions" !! This is great news of course! The revisions are minor. (and I have to admit, they should be because I spent HOURS on this manuscript). I rewrote large chunks from an original paper my friend Meg and I wrote, submitted it with her blessing, and ta-da! Accepted with revisions. She and I are now working furiously to make changes and get it sent back. Needless to say, I'm very excited! And when I get this one turned back in, then I can focus on the other "revise and resubmit" manuscript I co-wrote. There were, er, a lot of things we needed to address. But those revisions will happen, I am sure.

Sleepy Hollow

After we came back from our backpacking trip in August, Kevin and I decided we wanted to try to do some "quick overnighters" if we could closer to Lansing. He learned about a state park called Sleepy Hollow, and it is literally a 25 minute drive from our house. Given the beautiful fall weather we are having here in Michigan, we picked a weekend to do one of these quick overnighters. I planned ahead and tried to get all of my school work done-ish for the week so I could enjoy the weekend. We also had to plan a weekend that didn't interfere with the state park's annual Halloween trick-or-treat camping, because how awful would it be to have to spend the evening at our campsite passing out candy. I reserve passing out candy only on Halloween night. We went this past weekend, and it's a good thing because it was the last last weekend before the park closed its campground. It was great to get outside, do some birding (Redhead, GBH, Downy, etc.), and hiking around in the crunchy autumn leaves. One thing, however I will never really understand, is why people bring TVs with them on camping trips. In the evening I was walking to the restroom, and the campers in the area had TVs outside, with people sitting around talking, Christmas lights on, music on, whatever. It baffles me. Most campers were pretty quiet, but I think next time we do a quick overnighter we might try to find a campground that has walk-in sites. These are guaranteed to keep TVs and stereos at bay from our tiny tent and also give us a little privacy.