So I took my doctoral qualifying exams last week...

and it definitely feels like I'm getting somewhere closer to school. The comprehensive exams will be more difficult, but then it'll be ABD time (all but dissertation). Those will be in the beginning of the summer.

I'm still coordinating lots of things, and we have another couple of grants that support us continuing the work I've been doing. I'm still working on balancing work and home, and now that the hardest semester of school for me is over it's nice to have some time to do more things, like blogging, which I know Ed loves.

I've started dressing nicer, partially because it makes me feel better in this time of usual sadness from lack of light, and I wear makeup/lip things most days. I also, somehow, have picked up a skincare regimen. I guess I've realized that many of these things I've either avoided or just not paid attention to are important parts to growing up. I've always been eccentric with my combination of liking new and old stuff, current and old-skool. But I've found a need to grow up a little (and I've been doing kid-stuff at the same time, too.) It's time to start setting myself up for a grown-up job, namely a professorship somewhere. I put that off for a while when I first went back to school - but now it's in the forseeable future. So, I bought a new wardrobe that is comfortable but stylish, but then also had fun socks. I also remembered there's this thing called a dry cleaner to clean & press those things I don't want to mess with. Turns out there are many more options when you accept dry cleaning into your life.

Natha's going to through a Calvin & Hobbes stage, reading all of them he can find. He's also trying some of the humor on me. I've also started sending him lunches in paper bags with humorous writing on them. Sometimes it's mentioning something we heard lately (we are listening to all of the Series of Unfortunate Events books on CD but Lemony Snicket, but only those perfomed by Tim Curry) or sometimes it's a joke from Calvin, like writing in Alien-font "Earthling Lunch". There have also been some Verse Fluctuation Declarations, but only Fans of the Series would get that one. (OR read Wikipedia and figure it out.

I now have to go finish preparing a dinner of Eggplant Parmesan and Garlic Knots. I'm sure they'll like it, which is why I chose that. Hopefully it'll pry the two of them away from playing/watching someone play God of War II.