Here's how it went down. It's basically a two-hour process. First I had to give a presentation to my 5-professor dissertation committee and interested parties - other students, faculty, coworkers and friends are invited. After helping me set up, Mr. Foxy sat in front and managed to stay awake and appeared to be interested, bless his heart. Then during the 2nd hour, everyone else was kicked out and my committee asked me questions, made suggestions, and offered their critique. Then they kick me out to confer and decide whether I've passed or failed the examination. This only took a couple of minutes before they called me back in to shake my hand, call me "Dr." and put their signatures on the official paperwork. I had little doubt that I would pass, but it was still stressful.
Afterward, Mr. Foxy took me out to lunch at our go-to celebratory Thai restaurant. I thought we might be able to catch a movie and goof off in the afternoon, but the hubby had to leave for work. Waffle Girl was home with a sitter, so I opted to play hooky alone. I got myself an ice cream sundae and then went to a matinee of the movie "The Kids are All Right". It's a really well written and acted story about a lesbian couple whose two teenage kids track down their sperm-donor bio-dad.. drama and complications ensue. Unlike recent romantic comedies that treat DS-IUIs like a hilarious romp, this movie approached the subject with some maturity. Go out and see it if you get the chance.So what has Waffle Girl accomplished lately? Not to be outdone by the rest of us, she got on board with potty training in a big way. I figured out that those diaper-like pull-ups don't give any motivation to use the potty. So I ordered a few pair of thick cotton training underpants. After two days of peeing herself and near-misses, it all clicked and Waffle Girl was yelling "I have to go!" and running to the potty like a champ. So the family has a diaper-free month ahead of us before baby #2 comes along, what with the random pooping and peeing.
As for my pregnancy, I'm feeling excellent. There have been a few indignities, though. I wanted to find some comfortable pumps to wear for a wedding last week - mine were all kindof tight. I had to bite the bullet and go up a size.. *gasp!* I bought some cute shoes in a size 10! That bummed me out. Even worse, it was time to get out the electric trimmer and tidy up my "lady garden", if you know what I mean. I'm sad to tell you that I can no longer see any of my bikini area and had to go entirely by feel. When I noticed a little drop of blood on the clipper, I knew that this was not going well. What's the old saying, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye."? Let's just say I was in danger of lobbing off something pretty important down there, so I quit while I was ahead.Now I'm looking forward to a mellow September. I still need to make final edits and formatting changes on my dissertation, but that's all a formality. After this weekend the heat should finally be gone and perhaps I'll even spend a little time outdoors.
