...in which to get those things crossed off my list. Do you know, I'm getting there. I did a hundred push-ups on Saturday night. I did them in sets, not Marine-style all in a row. But still: I did a hundred push-ups! No more abalone-esque upper bodies here. I can do the Teaser, more or less. I was wishing I could do it better and then I asked my husband to try it. I'm feeling all right about my Teaser now. ;-) And! earlier this evening! I ran 5km in 29:52! It is a little embarrassing that I had to work hard to sustain a 9:40ish pace for 3.1 miles, but there it is.
My diploma came in the mail today, so I'm a for-real-for-true PhD now. There was a hitch with getting the degree conferred, because I found out almost too late that I had to submit a petition to have my master's level coursework declared relevant for the PhD. I said, Excuse me? I said, We're not talking about a master's degree in musical theater here. I said, You must be joking if you think I need to submit an official petition to say that a master's degree from my department is relevant to the pursuit of a doctoral degree from my department.
The automaton at the other end of the line said, Rules are rules. Again and again she said it, until I said, You have been EXTREMELY unhelpful and hung up the phone with a certain...emphasis. A certain dismayed emphasis, accompanied by a strong inclination to swear. Would it be a big deal to have the degree conferred in August? In the long run, of course not. But I busted my butt -- I don't know how clearly it came through here, but I was teetering on the very brink of crazy in January and February -- to get that dissertation defended and deposited by the spring deadlines. I was incensed. So was my advisor; so was the departmental secretary.
In the end, the departmental secretary marched herself over to the dean's office. She said, Jamie Gladly has worked SO hard. She has young children and she lives all the way over in Gladlyville, but she got her defense done well before the deadline and she has always taken pains to get her paperwork taken care of. The dean's office said, All right, we can push the petition through. The secretary wasn't done. She said, AND before I go you have to call that Suzanne woman who only knows how to say "Rules are rules" until we all want to punch her, and you tell her that Jamie Gladly is getting her degree conferred in May, not August. The dean's office said, Will do.
And they did. Hurray!
Now to declutter the rest of my house and get ~250 pictures into an album!
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