ticker time

Hello my darling readers. Thank you for the encouraging comments about my letter to the Washington newspaper copied in my last post. I'm proud to report that they actually emailed me back to get more info (confirm my identity, etc.) and even sent a slightly edited version of the letter that was considered for publication. But, alas they didn't end up printing it. I officially gave up hope a few days ago. The points that I made needed to be said and echoed the thoughts of my many online IF friends. So, note to self: I should be quicker to respond the next time such an opportunity comes up.

Did you notice my new tickers? Yes, I've made a lot of progress on my dissertation and am tentatively scheduled to defend it on August 25th. So far I've written about 92 pages, including nearly 50 charts, tables and figures. Having recently finished the Methods and Results chapters, I still have to write Discussion and Conclusions. This is where the real magic (a.k.a. bullshit) comes in. Hee hee.

The second ticker is counting down to my baby girl's scheduled c-section on Oct. 6th. This week I saw Dr. Single-Thin-and-Neat and we went ahead and put it on the hospital calendar. Not that I'm such a crazy control freak lady, but my in-laws will be driving up from Texas so things must be planned. Now I'm living in fear of premature labor and the possibility that a derailed baby ticker will screw up my PhD ticker. Not that I have any risk factors or symptoms of early labor, but a gal's gotta be paranoid about something, right?

At 28 weeks PG, I'm still feeling okay, but starting to slow down and get more tired. I'm definitely more of an old pregnant lady than I was just 3 years ago with Waffle Girl. My upper abs feel sore in the latter part of the day and hurt like heck when I sneeze. My heels are suffering from the extra weight - I'm actually wearing my athletic sandals around the house 'cause I need the cushioning. The weather has been rough. Today was the first day in July that wasn't anywhere near 90 degrees. Here's hoping that August will be more tolerable. I'd hate to be an A/C-addicted couch potato all summer. What's the point of that if I can't swig a brew while I'm at it?!