Domestically Challenged: DE-FENSE!

I survived the dreaded oral defense. This is me, celebrating with a pint of Strongbow at O'Grady's last night:

The picture is a little blurry, but then again, so was I.

I knew the defense would go well when I tried my suit on in the morning and it was a bit roomy. Nothing like direct evidence of weight-loss to boost one's self-esteem. All of that morning running with JS must be paying off.

The defense wasn't until 3, but I got there early to avoid having any technical difficulties. Luckily, Costin also showed up early and coaxed the projector to communicate with my computer. He also brought the coffee I ordered to help sway the committee in my favour. Costin is amazing.

My talk went almost flawlessly. There was a point during it though when I noticed a little voice inside my head saying, "You are rambling! What are you talking about? Shut up! Shut up! Shut UP!", but I got through that part ok. Then there was an hour of questions - two rounds in fact. The first examiner was great because he asked me some historical who's who from my field and then said "Ding! That's right." when I answered correctly. The other examiners were more serious, but I survived relatively unscathed. Now, the only thing left to do is implement the corrections they gave me for the written thesis and get it bound. Then it's really over!

I don't think I'll get to start making those corrections this weekend though. I'm currently being distracted by this:

It's a bag of BRAND NEW YARN! Sue, who obviously rocks, gave me this Thursday night. Inside was the yarn I have been secretly lusting after since April, Cascade Pastaza.

and some Koigu Kersti

Sue told me her and Lisa had a great time in LK picking out yarns. Thanks guys! These yarns look great together but I'm not sure what I want to do with them. I'm feeling some scarf action, but will I do stripes? knit the two yarns together? or do something completely different? I plan on spending the better part of the weekend figuring that out.

Comments

Congratulations. The thought of even *attempting* an oral defense gives me the willies, so you must really be queen of the world.

Posted by: stephanie | September 17, 2005 at 03:07 PM

Way to leaks! Love ya!

Posted by: bus | September 18, 2005 at 09:28 AM

Congrats on a great oral defense! That is awesome! Are you going to give yourself a little vacation? You certainly deserve it...

Posted by: Teri | September 18, 2005 at 08:45 PM

Hip Hip Hurray!
Congrats on a job well done!
Now's the time to relax and recharge (and maybe relapse a little bit :-)
Glad to hear all that stress is behind you.

Happy Knitting Without Guilt!

Posted by: Choochie | September 19, 2005 at 09:35 AM