Whoopsie.

I swear I haven't completely abandoned this thing...between coursework due dates, publication due dates (2 this week alone, ugh), having to completely start over on my lit review for my qualifying paper (double ugh), and other commitments, the last few weeks have been a bit crazy.  I'm pretty sure I haven't gotten more than 4 hours of sleep on a weeknight in 2-3 weeks.  Regardless, I'm going to try to post on a more regular basis...um, starting next week.  Maybe.

...wait, WHAT?!

I've spent the last 2 days going through "how to write a dissertation" books, checking out past dissertations in the grad student office, and lit searching.

Why?

Because as of Tuesday night, I might actually have a dissertation topic.

I expected this moment to involve confetti, balloons, and maybe even some champagne.  Not so much.  Mostly just a "holy crap, I'm actually going to write a 200+ page paper" feeling.

You know you're a doc student when...

- You go out of town for a long weekend, and you have more books, articles, and school-related items than clothing on your "to pack" list (and consequently, your carry-on book bag weighs more than your suitcase full of clothing).
- Your reason for going out of town for a long weekend is that you're a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding, and you wonder if it would be completely inappropriate to bring your laptop to the "get ready" session on the day of the wedding because you know there will be downtime while you're waiting to get your hair done (and of course you've already checked to make sure the hotel where you'll be getting ready has free wireless...duh).  I mean, your co-authors on the article that absolutely, positively NEEDS to be ready to be sent in to Big Name Journal in the Field by the end of the month are going to be pissed when they find out that the lit review isn't done yet because you were too busy getting an updo...mostly because they are all men.