Final Grades ... In!

So moments ago Dissertation Girl completed her final section of grades and submitted them to the higher powers that be here at SWIC. Yeah! I can't quite describe that feeling of being done-done! So, my readers might ask ... what's next? (especially given the fact that I am not teaching any summer classes this year)

1. Graduation tomorrow evening -- always a great thing to watch fabulous students celebrate this wonderful moment in their lives! This year, I have a bunch of students graduating so I am looking forward to being there for them! :D

*** note: As I menioned before, at this graduation ceremony last year I was reflecting on the biopsy I had just completed earlier in the day at St John's Hospital. I remember sitting there thinking, "Whew! That was not fun but at least it is over. And there's no reason to worry since breast cancer doesn't run in my family and the doctor at the biopsy said that I have an 80% chance of this being nothing." Well, we all know how that turned out. But at the graduation I was so sure that the worst of it was behind me. It's just a weird sensation to think of that Dianna at that graduation. What will the Dianna at this graduation be thinking?

2. Jim and I are flying out to Seattle on Friday afternoon. Jim will get the chance to connect with his best buddy Greg (which makes me happy). On Saturday Jim and I will be attending a get together of folks who loved Les at "the Lodge," one of the places I adored as an undergraduate at St Martin's (I spent many happy days there with fabulous people -- I even have a distinct memory of reading Wordsworth there on the beach during some retreat I must have been attending at the time). And my "other mother" Mary will be at this event -- and that makes me seriously happy! On Sunday Jim and Greg will probably go hiking somewhere and I will get to spend the day with Greg's very cool wife (Martha) and I am hoping we get to go shopping! (Martha is a master shopper and just a generally fun person to hang with!) The only bad part is that the trip is only a few days -- we will be back in St Louis late on Monday.

3. Dissertation writing will start in earnest next week! Since I have had unexpected pockets of reading time this past week (with finals and all), I am actually getting super exicted about some of the reading I have completed -- but not yet had the chance to write up in my "literature review."

4. Catching up with friends: OK, I can't be working on my diss 24/7 so I am delighted that I -- finally! -- get the chance to catch up on emails and notes to friends (Tanya, Laurie, Rachel, and Mary K in particular!).

5. And finally some home-cooked meals! I know I am not all that great at cooking but my schedule has just been so hectic recently that I haven't had the chance to make much of anything (other than soup). So Jim gets a part-time homemaker for the summer, an adventure I hope he survives!

6. Trip to Japan in July -- I need to review my Japanese language skills before we go. I am pretty sure that things will just fall in place but I know that I used to be a kick a** Japanese speaker after living there for four years. Now I just have to tap into my brain and figure out where that great vocabulary went to!

May 25 is next Tuesday -- I guess this is officially my first cancer anniversary. Though I don't think this is something I will be (obviously) celebrating, I think it's a date that signifies a lot at least this year. None of us really knows what is going to happen to us from day to day. But I guess May 25 is a looming symbol for me of how much I do tend to take life for granted. If I hadn't gone in to get that mammaogram when I did, what would have happened?