You guys, I have missed you so! I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since I last blogged. In case you don't know why I've been incommunicado for the past 13 days, I've been working on my master's thesis on Displacement, Identity, and Assimilation in Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient. (Which just happens to be my favoritest book in the entire world.)
When I wasn't researching or writing, I was doing a bit of the following:
- going for cupcake runs with the boyf
- celebrating my dad's birthday, my parents' 40th anniversary, and Father's Day -- all on the same day :)
- watching Toy Story 3 -- and crying like a fool at the end
- cuddling with my adorable cat, Tigger
- not getting a new iPhone (my little old 3gs works just fine, thankyouverymuch)
- re-reading the Twilight series in preparation for the July 30th movie premiere of Eclipse (shaddup)
- watching the new season of True Blood, which has been amazing so far
While I don't know if I'm going to have my entire thesis done by July 1st, like I hoped, I do have good news to report. I finished the first two chapters on Friday and was able to send them out to my lead professor almost a week earlier than expected. And this was his response:
My lead professor ROCKS, y'all. I sent him those two chapters -- which equaled 41 pages -- on Friday at 6 PM and he sent me the above response on Saturday, 12 PM. I can't tell you how much his response meant to me! I was wearing an ear-to-ear grin all day.
Now I just have to finish my third and last chapter along with my introduction and I am done. I figure that will equal about another 20-30 pages more. A master's thesis needs to be at least 50 pages in length, so that should leave me in good standing in case I need to whittle it down during the editing stage. I hope to finish the first draft of my thesis by the end of next week.
Here's hoping the editing stage doesn't take that long... I can't want to start enjoying my summer without the stress of my thesis hanging over my head! After that, it's just a waiting process until the Fall semester starts at my university and I can defend (eek!) my thesis. And then graduate with a master's degree in English Literature. And then get a $3,000 raise in my teaching salary.
For the first time, the finish line is in sight. I can't wait to cross it...
Please know that I probably won't be back to regular blogging for about another week or two while I wrap up my thesis. But you can keep up with my craziness on Twitter and ask me interesting questions on Formspring.
Now that I've updated you on my life, I want to hear from you! Have you done anything interesting? Traveled anywhere, read any good books, discovered the secret to life, etc.? Let me know in the comments! :-)