July 10th, 2009, was a very important day for me. It was on a Friday afternoon that I made the trip to the University of Redlands for an orientation meeting for the incoming doctoral students in the School of Education.

On July 10th, 2012,  I was in Redlands again, presenting with my classmates at the Summer Institute on Leadership in Educational Justice with the letters Ed.D. after my name. Yes, that's right. Exactly three years to the day.
And there you have it. Bookends on a three-year window. It's amazing, really.

I am around a lot of people who don't think that it's all that amazing, but I know how amazing it is. I finished a doctorate in less than three years. In that three years I've read thousands of pages, written (at least) hundreds of pages, and slept for fewer hours than I am used to. I've fallen in love and have been heartbroken more than once. I've seen families expand through birth and marriage. I've been to many--too many--funerals. I love my best friend--my beloved Milo. And now I have a Barney.

It was a rough week, so instead of celebrating the milestone, I was arguing with my collaborators, suffering from insomnia, and dealing with a car emergency. But, now that I have a chance to breathe, I have to say, yay, me!

So...my sister gave me a Kindle Fire as a graduation present. I must admit that I am quite obsessed with it. It is so compact and so powerful. I love the wi-fi, because I can watch movies from Netflix and Amazon anytime I'm connected. I am reading Jane Eyre and am downloading a lot of free books. I've only paid for one so far, and it is the Calorie King book...not that exciting, I know.

The downside is that it is way too easy to buy stuff from Amazon now, as if it weren't easy enough before. For the Kindle, I bought a cover and a screen cleaning cloth, and I'm considering buying a stylus. And then there are things for my phone that I think I want, books, handbags, etc., etc., etc. It is good that I have *some* restraint. Then again...

This could be dangerous...

When sister #2 got her doctorate, she had a lovely party and then a week later had a huge wedding. The wedding was the night before my finals week started. (I think I actually failed the test I had the next day, but, because I was among the department favorites and had been doing well up until that point, I still ended the course with an A.)

When sister #1 got her doctorate, my whole family went to Boston for her graduation. Then my parents and she and I took a month-long European vacation. (Not that I'm complaining, or anything. It was a great trip.)

Now I'm getting my doctorate. Sister #1 says she can't come, because (and, yes, I'm paraphrasing here), the last day of 3rd grade is more important than my graduation. Sister #2 can come, but is choosing not to, because "Liza's wedding is going to be more fun" than my graduation.

Just saying. Times have changed...

my dissertation reaches 26,000 words. What do you think???

I'm at 25,772 right now.

So, I had my dissertation proposal defense (finally) on Monday. And I passed. It was actually not too bad. So now I have one more hurdle to go...the actual dissertation defense. I hope to post something about it before the end of May...the end of April would be even better. Then I will get back to blogging...I think. Cross your fingers and say your prayers! :)