The Party is Over!

The title of this blog posting refers to two "parties" -- the dissertation-alooza and Jim's surprise 50th birthday party!

Let's talk about Jim first!  I had been planning this party since late last year.  Jim is not big on parties and surprises but I wanted to do something special for his 50th birthday.  Since I knew that we were going to be in Scotland during his actual birthday (July 17), the party had to take place before we left -- so viola!  June 29th was the last Saturday before we would be leaving for our trip.  I was pretty stressed out (mostly because I was also working as hard as I could on my dissertation) but it was also hard to juggle keeping a secret, dealing with catering problems on my own, making sure folks would come to the party, coordinating the decorations and the cake, setting up, and just doing everything I could to make sure everyone had a good time!  But I think it all came out successfully!  Here are a few pictures (I took some before folks got there but then didn't take any once people arrived -- I was too busy mingling with all the wonderful people who came!):

The party was at the Dubliner, a bar/ restaurant that we frequent on Washington Avenue, about two blocks from our place.  I had just a few decorations including this banner I had made!

In lieu of gifts, I asked folks to bring donations for "Stray Rescue," the great downtown organization that Stella, our fabulous pooch, came from.  By the end of the party, we had collected $220  

I used dog bowls from the Dollar Store for candy and little mints that said "Happy 50th Birthday":

The birthday boy himself!

Jim walking into the party!

And check out this fabulous cake (it was a cake replica of Jim's D600 Nikon camera!)  Not only did the cake look great but it tasted fabulously!   (It was made by "Cakes by Nette")

I am happy with the way that the whole party turned out -- I am not sure how many people were there (maybe 45-50?) but I think a great time was had by all!

And the other party, you ask?  Dissertation-alooza!  The day before the party (Friday), I finished the revisions of Chapter 5, the last chapter that I needed to edit before our upcoming trip to Scotland (on Thursday!).  I feel like Chapters 3 (Methodology) and 4 (Results) are the strongest -- perhaps not fantastic but I think pretty darn close to "good enough."  I might need a little more guidance for Chapter 5 (Analysis) but I did the best that I could.  The best part, of course, is that these chapters no longer look like the old versions, making them stronger versions of what it is that I want to say.  I hope to defend my work in September so I just hope that all the work I did this last month did the trick.

So now -- I pack and figure out what I am going to bring to Scotland for three weeks!  More to follow soon!