Thanks giving, Week 29

I am thankful for several really major events in my life, one that happened recently and one that happened, well, about 13 weeks ago.

The first, that happened most recently, is that I am officially done with my master's program.  I submitted my final project for my final course for my program yesterday around 10:30pm.  I will get my grade for the class and the results of my capstone essay (a pass/high pass/redo kind of scale) late this week, and then my diploma will come in August.  It feels really nice to be completely done.  I, of course, will spend some part of the next few weeks reading books and articles related to my studies that I just didn't have time to get to during the year, but it will be things I choose, at the rate I choose, with no paper to write afterwards.  I really enjoyed my master's program.  I got so lucky coming when I did, that Vanderbilt has rolling admissions, that I found a job that paid for almost all of it (an necessary feat when classes are $1125/hour, and I had a 30-hour program), that the program was in its first year and so flexible, that the faculty member was wonderful and will continue to be my adviser for my doctorate.  There was a lot I would change about the program, but it was great for me.  I always hesitated to go back to school for education because I couldn't imagine liking an English education program, but this program (in Learning, Diversity, and Urban Studies) was just right, and it really helped me figure out where I want to go with my subsequent studies.  I had a few weeks off over the Christmas holidays, but since then I've either been in class or under the expectation that I was working on my capstone.  And working my job during that time.  Now, I am -- as far as school and work are concerned -- completely free for the next six or so weeks.  Then I have TA training, meetings with my adviser, and classes begin in late August.  I know and don't know what I'll be doing for the next few weeks.  I have a list of some household nuisances to deal with -- say, phones that don't ring when people call them- -, along with a list of fun things around Nashville that I want to see and do, some that will include Oliver and some that will not.  I'm taking a trip to Denver in early August to see a dear friend whom I haven't spent more than a few hours with since we met the summer before our senior year of high school.  I'm going to mostly just be and, hopefully, get bored in a way that will make starting back at the beginning of another program -- one that lasts at least five years -- seem like a really great idea!

As for the thing that happened about 13 weeks ago, well, you can hear all about it here, with the official announcement here.  Wes and I are thrilled, of course.  I am excited to be sharing the pregnancy with several friends who are also expecting, one right around the same time as me and with a son just about Oliver's age.  We are still a bit nervous about the whole thing -- early pregnancy is that way -- but looking forward to an anatomy scan in about five weeks and feeling movement around the same time.

And for one small other thing, I'm thankful that The Closer premiers this week.  I do so miss my TNT drama.