Dissertation Progress

I met with my committee chair yesterday and she approved my proposal to be sent to the whole committee with very minor revisions. I'm extremely happy about that. I will be doing the edits over the next couple of days and then sending it to the committee early next week. I will then schedule my proposal defense meeting by the end of April.

Wild Honeysuckle Rag by Martha Mier

Robert Morgan...

I absbolutely loved Gap Creek by Robert Morgan. I read it before I started this blog, so I don't have a review up of it, but I remember admiring the main characters' struggles, her pluck and the descriptive writing. So, I bought 2 more books by Robert Morgan, Hinterlands and This Rock. Neither of which I was able to finish.

Both Hinterlands and This Rock were depressing. The stories seemed to be more about failure and impotency than about life and love and making the best of what one has. I kept wanting to like This Rock, but I think it was actually making me grumpy and not appreciate what I have in this life--I was getting too involved in Muir's failures and his conflicts with his brother.

So, after a little over 200pp I've put This Rock aside.

Beach Buggie Boogie by Martha Meir

A fun way to start your week.

woohoo!

David and I are going on a Rick Steve's 13 Days in Eastern France Villages and Wineries tour. Two days in Paris to get over jet lag, and one extra day in Nice at the end of the trip. I'm so excited I can barely sit still.

Dates of trip are in July, we are celebrating (a little late) our 40th birthdays and (a little early) our 20th wedding anniversary. Perfect timing as it's right in the middle of both.

Now, to get to exercising so I can keep up with the tour!

Red and White Houndstooth Towels

Two of these are birthday gifts for my mom to give to her friend, Kathy Rhea, and the other two are birthday gifts that I will give to my friend...

Lazy Days by Martha Mier

The theme for this weekend, especially today. Lazy indeed. Enjoy the song. I really like it.

I will do ANYthing to sunbathe

Here is Lochi inside our printing cabinet, basking in the sunshine. She's so pretty, isn't she?

Book Review: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Olive Kitteridge is an irracible woman who has a remarkable ability to drill deep to the core of a person's problem. She is big, loud and opinionated, but inside she is human and desiring to love and be loved just like the rest of us.

The book is organized in discreet chapters, that feel very much like independent short stories. All of the chapters touch, directly or indirectly, Olive and show how she influenced people in her small community--both good and bad. All of the characters desire to be loved--accepted for who they are--and some are and some aren't.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to everyone. Especially Aunt Janice.

Book Review: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baronness Orczy

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baronness Orczy tells the story of a man, the Scarlet Pimpernel, who helps aristocrats escape from France during the Reign of Terror in 1792. He outwits the authorities time and again and they have the strongest desire to capture him in the middle of an attempt so that they can also send him to the guillotine.

Enter the weathly British aristocrat, Percy Blakeney, and his beautiful estranged wife, Margerite. Margerite is French and unwittingly helped in the capture of a French aristocrat. When Sir Percy learned of her help he refuses to love her. Margerite pines for the affections of The Scarlet Pimpernel, who is, of course, Sir Percy, only no one knows the true identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Margerite is set up by a French dignitary to reveal the activities of the Scarlet Pimpernel in order to save her brother's life. Though conflicted, she agrees, only to set a trap for her husband. She then must do everything in her power to save both her brother and her husband.

The story line is actually very good. It moves at a good pace and is engaging; however, the writing is a bit over-the-top. For that reason I'll give The Scarlet Pimpernel 4/5. Recommended for those who like to read historical fiction.

Rondo Alla Turca by Mozart

Sweet Talking Boogie by Eugenie Rocherolle

Anyone but You by Jennifer Crusie

What a delightful book. I thoroughly enjoyed ripping through this one (read it in a day and a half...which is one of the things I love about Crusie. Her books are so good you just devour them).

Anyone but You tells the story of Nina Askew as she adopts a dog who introduces her to her neighbor, Alex, and a great little tension filled romance develops between them. The hangup? Alex is 10 years younger than Nina and Nina is just divorced from a very rich successful lawyer.

As the relationship develops between Nina and Alex, the reader truly grows to love the characters. That was why I was so disappointed that things seemed to move so quickly at the end--the character transformation was believable but not really well developed. It was the only complaint I had.

Highly recommended for those who like romances.

Book Club Book Review: Mississippi Sissy by Kevin Sessums

Mississippi Sissy by Kevin Sessums is a sad story about a sad little boy. That's my one-sentence summary. It had some really lovely moments retelling his love of language and how his mother taught him the importance of being who he truly is, but the book suffered, ironically enough, from poor editing. I don't mean the grammatical/syntactial kind, I mean the content kind of editing that would have culled down some of the chapters into smaller, tighter, better written and more readable segments.

Sessums grows up in Mississippi, the son of a coach and "could have been" professional athlete. His father dies when he is 7 and his mother when he is 8. Most of the book is spent detailing his relationships with both and how they did and did not affect his being gay. Later in life, Sessums' mentor, Frank Haines, is murdered. I have to admit that this is the section I skimmed through because I thought it was entirely too long and detailed.

Overall I give them book 3/5 stars. Recommended if you like to read memoirs (which I don't and could be part of my resistance here).

DONEDONEDONEDONEDONE!!!!!

I have been working diligently all week long. I finished up Chapter 3 of my dissertation yesterday and Chapter 1 today. In the three chapters that make up my dissertation proposal, I have written 86 pages. And I think they are all pretty good. I'm very proud of my work and hope that the next phase progresses as smoothly as possible.

Just so you know. I will review Chs. 1&3 on Monday and make sure I still think they are good (sometimes a couple of days give a whole new perspective on things) and then I will make what revisions I think are necessary and send them to my dissertation advisor.

She will have 2 weeks to review, we will meet and I will get her suggested revisions (so far that has been very simply stuff...hopefully it will continue to be so) and then once I make those revisions I will pass the proposal out to my committee members and schedule my proposal defense. I should have all of this done by the end of April.

In the meantime I have to keep myself busy with something, and I have no idea what that might be! ugh! :)

Steppin' Out Boogie by Eugenie Rocherolle

I love the walking bass in this one. It's fast and fun and I hope you dance like my page turner did (too bad it didn't show up in the video). Btw, I don't know why the video block is show up all black, but if you click play it will work. enjoy!

Week 4

Rough week this week. Stress combined with hormones and several weeks of an extremely low-fat diet resulted in some serious binges on both of our parts (plus we went out to eat 3 times which we never do any more). I gained 3 pounds, David 1.5. Ouch.

Book Review: Light on Snow by Anita Shreve

Light on Snow by Anita Shreve follows the lives of Nicky and her father, Rob, Dillon. Nicky's mother and baby sister were killed in a traumatic car accident just days before Christmas two years before the story begins. Rob is still in the woes of depression over the accident and Nicky is trying to navigate the complex world of moving on with her life and remembering and treasuring the past.

Then one day as they take their afternoon walk, Nicky and her father stumble upon an abandoned baby who they save. Their lives are thrown into further turmoil a few days later when the baby's mother shows up.

Light on Snow is a beautifully written novel about love and forgiveness and acceptance. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and hope you do too.

Highly recommended.

Dissertation Progress

I have actually completed chapter 2 of my dissertation. It's the literature review and was a monster undertaking. I have sent my draft to my advisor and will hope for a favorable review next week.

Oh, and I think I finally decided what to do with the quilt bee quilt--I've been fussing and fuming for long enough, don't ya think!?!

Book Review: Bread Alone by Judith Ryan Hendricks

Bread Alone is about a woman, Wynter, who is going through a divorce from her executive advertising husband. Their marriage started out as one of mutual support and understanding and turned into one where she was erased in his glamorous career. When he tells her that they need to separate for a time, she honestly believes that he is simply going through a difficult time and waits for him to make the decision to take her back, despite all evidence that he is having an affair with a co-worker. The journey that Wynter must go through to discover her true passion (baking bread) makes up the plot of the novel and allows the reader to discover her own self and passions through Wynter’s struggles.

I liked the book quite a bit. I thought it was very well written and presented the reader with an interesting take of the tolls of divorce and the processes that one must go through to redefine herself after essentially being erased in a marriage that is about supporting the husband. Only through discovering her art was Wynter able to have something for herself worth standing up for and avoid making a similar mistake with a different man.

Recommended for all readers.