March is...

... National Nutrition Month!

And I'm celebrating by eating a Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate candy bar while revising a thesis about obesity...

[and I tried to take a picture, but I can't locate my connector cord...

and it'd only be more procrastinating]

:)

What do ya do? I told myself I was allowed to eat anything while I was working on my thesis... it's taken longer than I thought...

#packingonthepounds #NationalNutritionMonth

Oh the irony... at least I'm drinking skim milk.

Don't worry, I'll be back sharing the healthy tips and treats of National Nutrition Month soon. Revision of the thesis is due tomorrow... then only one more revision, the defense, and then possibly some final changes, then I'm DONE ;)

Today's Agenda

This is what I'm doing today...

Be sure to note the number of words in the document, the number of pages in the document, or the number of windows open at once... and don't mind all the highlighting, that's just me checking all my references...

But in the next hour or so I'll be done with my thesis!

...at least the first draft.

But then I only have to make the recommended changed from my committee...

End is near.

:) then me and my hubby are going out to dinner or something equally fun or silly to celebrate!

Wooo hoo. and Valentine's Day.

So I got an email earlier this week from my advisor about my thesis... I know, I know, you're tired of hearing about the thesis.
But, remember how I thought I was ahead of the game by like 3 weeks, "look at me I'll turn in my thesis so early?"  Well turns out because of the particular college I'm in, my first draft has to be in earlier than it says on my official Graduate School Deadlines table that I have ever-so-neatly posted at my desk at work.

Apparently the first draft (which is kind of expected to be like the final draft) is due Tuesday. Yep, like 7 days from now Tuesday!!

So I'm kind of freaking out.

Although it doesn't seem to motivate me to work on it more... but it's Valentine's Day and so I'm not thesising I'm just being very cute and romantic with my husband as he plans our secret Valentine's dinner for me :)

BUT

I also got another email from that same advisor today. It said:

CONGRATULATIONS YOU PASSED COMPS!

Okay, not in all caps but it did have an exclamation mark. Apparently the official scores won't be mailed (snail mail) until the end of the week. But my particular advisor is particularly cool and let me know today.

She must have thought it'd be great Valentine's Day news. Or was saying, "you passed your comps, so finish your thesis already and you'll be done... finish the thesis!"

Maybe.

So Happy Valentine's Day. I'm loving this holiday this year.

Hurry back soon and I'll show you what I made for Kyle this year so he'd be my valentine. (After he opens it.) I'm so proud of it...

Made It.

So we made it through that thing called comps.

But really, barely, lol.

Turns out that what I thought was just "allergies" on the Friday that comps started was actually some nasty virus thing that ended up being sort of terribly awful and contagious, sorry Kyle :(

Luckily 12-hour Sudafed kind of saved my life... well... after waiting in the pharmacy line to purchase it from behind the counter. I told Kyle on the phone while standing in line, "they're keeping the medicine locked up. It's probably because teenagers use it to make that meth drug that blows people's cars up." Turns out I was right, I probably shouldn't have been talking as loud as I was, and after saying "teenagers" like I did I realized how old I'm getting :(

But I downed Sudafed every 12 hours on the dot, 24 hour allergy (just in case it was still "allergies") and cranked out four papers when two of the nights I couldn't see the computer screen past the fog.

Imagine calling your boss the week she knows you have a big school assignment and saying "I'm sick." Luckily I have a wonderful boss who knew I was actually telling the truth.

But we survived, and I say "we" because Kyle cooked all week and I think they maybe should give him a little certificate too when I finish this Masters. :)

3-4 weeks and they'll mail out the results. Until then I told myself I'd keep the momentum up and crank out my thesis manuscript.  So I'm trying to stick to it. Other than tonight of course when I "just want to relax..."

And with all that, we did actually get some fun stuff done around the house this week.. one project that's been waiting half done since before Thanksgiving for me to finish! Can't wait to show it off!

Happy done-ness.

Comps Continues.

So I wanted to give you an update on this thing called "comps."

So I wrote this on Saturday, and well, here ya go...

.. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ..

"Just so you know... in case you are wondering... and in case I don't feel the same way next Friday night when I'm freaking out about turning in all my essays...


I'm LOVING Comps! (and my husband is helping sooo much around the house!)


I think this means I am officially a nerd. I crave deadlines and assignments, but most of all new information. Funny thing is we got four questions; therefore, we have to write four essays. Two are more unfamiliar territory and two are actually really familiar territory. Guess which ones I picked first... maybe it's the thrill of the challenge.


Or maybe it's the thrill of looking up the new information... I cannot tell you how much time I spend reading about diseases WebMD tells me I have.


Maybe that's why my one of my favorite essays in grad school was titled Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibitors for Treatment of Diabetes when it could have just been written about:


diabetes and counseling...which oddly enough is what one of my comps essays is on.


Much nerdy love. Who knows what I'll do when I finish all this... Yay Comps!


.. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ..


Not quite as cheery today as I was on Friday... but I'm pushing through, like that time I thought it was a great idea to run a half-marathon...

Plan on finishing the 3rd essay tonight! Got 2 hours until self-mandated comps week bedtime.

They call it "Comps."

So I'm at the point in my graduate school education for a little thing called "comps" or the Comprehensive Exam in Human Ecology. Pretty much for one week, it's kind of madness.

On Friday I'll get an email with 4 questions, (each representing a class I took in grad school) and by the next Friday I'll send in four 5-page essays.

Saying it that way makes it seem easy.

But pretty much our house will go on hold from Friday until Friday. I'll still go to work every day, and then race home to work on the essays. Which means I'll have to plan meals ahead (because fast food does not a happy student make... for me.)

Are we remembering what that was like.... I actually found all my notes from grad school, whew!

Yep...

So here's the run down of easy to prepare (not necessarily healthy) foods for the week. That Kyle man that lives here will be doing all the cooking.

For Lunches at Work: Just Straight PB&J, Apple, or Tuna Packs

Thursday: Leftover Hot Dogs, Chili, Baked Beans (Sometimes I hear they send out the questions on Thursday, so we're planning accordingly).
Friday: Tuna Fish Sandwiches and Smoothies
Saturday: Lunch: Chicken Wrap, Dinner: Roast Rice and Gravy with Carrots and Potatoes (Crock Pot).

Sunday: Lunch: Leftover Roast Sandwiches, Dinner: Freezer Pizza
Monday: Fajitas with Pre-Cooked Strips, Bell Pepper, Onion, Non-Fat Refried Beans (from the can), Chips, Salsa
Tuesday: (Basketball Practice) Can of Soup and Crackers
Wednesday: Freezer Pizza
Thursday: Quesadillas, Beans, Chips, Salsa

Friday: Woo hoo, done! We're cooking up a storm or going out to eat to some place wonderful!

I think it'll feel great to have that done. And I'm planning on that being the thing that gets me back in the groove of school-working at night to hammer out this thesis...

After that week, it'll be 2 hard push weeks for the thesis and I'm practically done. Wooo hoo! (Sort of.)

I think I may just attend graduation after all of that.... even if it is hours away, and more than likely no one will be there to see it... (but I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch on this graduation thing, gotta get to work!)

Finishing

On a day when quite possibly you are thinking of abandoning your resolutions, already. And on a day when I've got to realize it is time to get to work on finishing the thesis that is my life. I send you this. (And because I read it on a financial blog I love to read a few days ago.)

All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile,

shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil.

The fight to the finish spirit is the one...characteristic

we must posses if we are able to face the future as finishers.

-Henry David Thoreau

I may actually, very soon, find a way to get that up on my wall at home. Very near to the desk... very near.

It's already now written and taped to my desk at work. ;)

I'll finish that thesis, and I'll love it... whether I like it or not.

To resolutions.... and theses... and to any other of the seemingly large molehills.

No More Classes.

I'm sure there are so many of you that love to read about my grad school classes, that love to hear I have an exam or an assignment or how my teachers are completely different characters than I thought they'd be.

Sorry.

No more grad classes.

Because I took my very last final last night!

...

And so I'm celebrating. I guess by writing this post and I'll probably get Kyle to buy me ice cream or something later.

Because today I'm done with my grad school classes!

And tomorrow... well, tomorrow I start preparing for my comprehensive exam and it's full force ahead on the thesis writing, statisical analysis and all.

You didn't think I was really done with all of grad school did you? I'd make Kyle buy me more than ice cream when that day comes. I'm thinking a really large charm necklace that says "I love my husband even though I ignored him for the first two years of our marriage to finish my masters."

;)

Little Victories

So I got a really great email today.

From my advisor/professor in charge of my thesis.

I've been APPROVED!!! Fully approved!!

I could not be more excited! And I'm sure it doesn't seem as exciting as duct taped curtains or buying a new house or anything. But to be honest, I've spent more time working on this thesis than we did shopping for, researching, and even living in our new house.

So it's exciting. It really is

But, I do want to clarify though. Many of you have asked when I'll be finished with my thesis, or if I'm already finished... well, I'm not finished.

I just got final approval. Which means I can finally START my thesis.

Long process. I know. But after this, all the instructions all the steps are already lined out. I'm using what's called retrospective data which means the data was already collected for another purpose and I'm using it to analyze something else. So I get a spread sheet, run statistics, interpret the data, write the results, then the long parts of beefing up the review of literature from the proposal and figuring out the discussion.

For the non-researchers out there. It's like I've been planning and shopping this whole time and the big event's finally here.... well, unless you consider finishing, or submitting, or defending, or graduating as the big event.

In that case the big event is May.

:) Enjoy your little victories today. Enjoy that someone 'lets' you do a lot of work. And if you're a nerd like me, rejoice with me in 'thesis' victories.

Nerdy Updates

So I've been overdue for an education update. Lame, maybe. But not really for all my fellow nerds.

I have not told you about the Thesis Proposal!

I had my proposal committee meeting last week all the way in Ruston, LA. And it was wonderful! I passed, they approved and the proposal is now headed off to the university for their approval. Next step: reformat the proposal to meet the hospital's standards so that I can submit it to them too to be approved!  And then after all that, I may be allowed to start my project. Funny how that works. But I wouldn't want someone to be doing research on me that wasn't thoroughly approved either!

That Upcoming Exam

So yes, I have yet to take my big exam due to oh, marriage, moving twice, summer camp, starting a new job, writing a thesis proposal... but it's about time. So I decide to schedule my test date and I look up the nearest testing centers. Remember that I love in East Texas, so I expected to at least have to go into any nearby city to take the test. Nope.

Apparently there are no testing centers in Shreveport, Baton Rouge, or Lake Charles. I can go to the ONE testing center in Dallas and fight the traffic. Or it seems small towns outside of bigger cities have testing centers like Bossier City to Shreveport or Addis? to Baton Rouge.  Spring Break for the testing center in Bossier City has put a kink in my testing. So I feel like I'm back a square one. Kyle recommended Beaumont. We'll see.

Never the less, I'm studying at night and could tell you more about water balance in the human body than you ever wanted to know. Just ask Kyle.

Spring Grad Class is Starting

So as you know, I'm working towards the Master's and that means I also have a few classes remaining; no nutrition classes left, but two different statistics classes...  We're on what they call the "quarter" system which means classes just started and I'm always a little worried when they do the math on the syllabus and it says the course will take 12 hours a week.  I did more math: that's over an hour and a half a day! But nevertheless, it will help me greatly in completing the statistics for my thesis.  Did I mention all of this nerdy stuff doesn't leave much time for a personal life :)

Not sure if I'm ready for life to look like this again. But honestly I'm not sure I ever stopped :)

March!!! National Nutrition Month® 2011

You should get very excited about the updates you'll be getting this month about "Eating Right with Color" as the American Dietetic Association sponsors yet another great National Nutrition Month®!

Really don't worry. It will be fun! I won't make you too nerdy... I don't think it's contagious like that.


Soon to Come: Major fall yesterday! Story and picture to come...

Eat, Breathe, Sleep Thesis

I wish you would be interested in the one hundred million two hundred fifty four thousand seven hundred and eighty two pages I have printed and read in the past week.

But there is only so much that will entertain.

If you thought we dropped off the face of the earth, don't worry we're still here. Apparently in graduate school they call 'dropping off the face of the earth'  Thesis Proposal.

So there ya have it.

For those of you interested in something interesting today. We'll one of my most wonderful friends Elizabeth passed her RD exam today! Who knew! She is now an official Registered Dietitian "the Nutrition Experts"... (and she's the one in the middle, yep, sitting on top of the bulldog :)

Someday I'll get around to taking my exam... right after I stop eating, breathing, and sleeping all things thesis ;)

Today do something you enjoy very very much, because you never know when you'll get bogged down with a case of thesis and have to avoid those things a lot.

Self Defense and 19 days left.

So today I've been thesis-ing. I will admit that yesterday I did not do much because I was making cake truffles (otherwise known as "cake balls") for my co-worker's birthday AND welcoming my husband home!

Now I'm not sure many of you knew my husband was out of town. See I read somewhere that you're not supposed to post things like that on the internet. You know 'they' say that if you update your facebook status people who you think are your friends may just not be.

Example:
Jarold Harper: is sooo excited about his new 79inch flat screen for Christmas!
Jarold Harper: is packing for the winter vacay!
Jarold Harper: is excited to be heading to the Bahamas! See you in January!

Jarold Harper: is mad someone stole his flat screen while he was gone! How did they know?

Duh!

So I figure now that my husband is back in town, I can tell you that he was gone. Plus I think they give that warning because they think maybe some woman may not be able to hold her own if her husband is away. But for those of you thinking about it... this woman can, in fact "hold her own" and has been recently trained in self-defense at work and is prepared to use both the defense and the offense.

You know, just in case you were thinking.

But for today. Quick report for 19 days left of thesis proposal-ing: I've been working on the thesis proposal. I spent many many hours doing online training so that I'm qualified to even apply for an IRB approval exemption. Tonight I'm working on what they call a Review of Literature.

So today I'll teach you a little about thesis-ing. A "review of literature" is when you search all the journals and all the databases about everything that's already out there on your topic. You search high and low, far and wide and then write it all into a 20 page-ish paper. To say, here's the problem in the world, here's the research that agrees with me, but here's why me doing this project is actually important. Please let me do it.

Enough about school work. Kyle took a video of a little Just Dance action tonight. Maybe I'll figure out how to post it.

Thesis-ing: T-minus 21

Dear those of you who are students, or who were ever students, or who have students,

I'm still a student. I'm trying to get my Masters and there's this big big mountain in my way called a THESIS. Yes, like most mountains it's exciting and would be quite an adventure. But... you have to start climbing. I started. Then I sat down to take a break and now my legs are tired.

My thesis proposal is due by February, like by the time February starts.

I have twenty days to finish my thesis proposal, and I need to get hardcore about it. So I need your help. For 20 days the blog may be all about what I like to call thesis-ing because I hope that's all I'm doing (other than staring into my husband's eyes, trying a new recipe I found on Pioneer Woman Cooks, starting up spring Bible study, and ...). See I get distracted.

So the blog's holding me accountable. Each day for 20 days I have to report progress on the thesis. Done. See it's in print now and so I have to.

Progress today: Setting up a 20 day plan. And then fleshing out the notes I made on Sunday.

What can you do for 20 days???

And don't worry, I'm sure I'll convince Kyle to post about something actually fun :)