page count: 248 (and DONE) [157.365]

Well, I wrote up the (kind of “meh”) results of that last followup study yesterday, and as such, I now have a completely finished draft of the full dissertation, and it’s been sent to my whole committee for their feedback. I already got super-positive feedback from my advisor, but I’m still not really sure what (if anything) the rest of my committee will have to say. They’ve been pretty hands-off.

I have to register my dissertation by June 17th, which means next week will be all about revision/editing. I’m good at that sort of thing, though. (I teach it, after all!)

I am going to sleep for two straight days after I register this thing, I swear. And then, literally 2 days after my registration deadline, M’s school is out for two weeks (and after that, she’s only in for mornings and I’ll be with her every afternoon), which means…OMG. I’m actually honestly a bit scared about how I will handle it, mostly physically (she’s HUGE and often violent/aggressive – it’s a good thing I’m pretty athletic, despite my chronic illness and joint issues) but also emotionally. I love her so much, but 2.5 is simultaneously absolutely amazing (her language skills! the imagination! the singing! the hugs and kisses and sweetness!) and totally, absolutely awful (the literally non-stop limit-testing, the wildness, the hitting/kicking/pinching/scratching/glasses-yanking-and-throwing, the picky eating, the sleep issues…oy). I need to work on my patience. I don’t have enough of it. And I know my patience is running dry mostly because dissertating has been such a draining, exhausting experience for me, but I’m gonna need to be a half-time SAHM while I’m still wrapping all that up, so I’d best find some reserve stores of patience somewhere.