New Carpet

This afternoon, a team of 3 men came into our home, and, before we knew it, installed some lovely new carpet on our stairs. We love it - so much so that we don't want to walk on it.







Once we save up enough pennies, we plan on installing wood flooring in both of the bedrooms. But first we need to paint the bedrooms. We're thinking a light gray - better to keep the colors in a bedroom cool and calming, we think.

Birthday Camping Trip

Last weekend, we headed out to Lake Whitney State Park for our very first camping trip together - and to celebrate Ted's birthday, of course! The lake is very pretty, and, oddly enough, there's a landing strip in the middle of the park. We got a later start than we had planned and thought we were "late" to set up our campsite. Apparently, we were wrong. The campsites around us filled up after dark, and the next morning, there were people everywhere. Next time we go camping, we will definitely head out earlier and bring more cushion to sleep on and more blankets to keep us warm. The ground gets pretty hard and cold during the course of an evening - go figure.

Here are some pictures from the trip. You can see our campsite, the lake, our campfire, and the inside of our tent.

Thanks!

Ted says thanks for all the great birthday cards you sent him. He feels loved. :-)

One Pumpkin, Many Sides

There was no real plan for this pumpkin. We just let our creativity run wild. We've got one more that needs to be carved, and we think we'll just go with a traditional jack o' lantern face.

By the way, if you are looking for an easy way to make nice clean circles on your pumpkin, break out your drill. Different size drill bits will give you lots of interesting patterns.

One Year

Friday, October 17th marked our first full year in our cozy condo. The place has changed a lot in that time - and we still have a lot more to do.

Here are some pictures of the condo when we began working on it.











And here is a slideshow of what the place looks like now. I've also included pictures of the upstairs, where we haven't done much work yet. We are getting new carpet up the stairs and in the hallway tomorrow, though, and the upstairs work will begin!

Dissertation Topic

Awhile back, Mrs. Jones asked me what my dissertation is going to be on. I thought I would respond with a post, since there are probably a few other people who are wondering the same thing. I am writing a literary biography about the family of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This British Romantic poet had three children, Hartley, Derwent, and Sara. All three were accomplished 19th century figures, but few scholars recognize that fact. In fact, they are studied primarily because of who their father was. To me, this seems to be the wrong approach. STC was not a major figure in their childhood, and his children spent very little time with him. So . . . I will "reverse the trend" by examining their lives, emphasizing the fact that their father was not around. I will look at the other influences in their life and examine what their were able to do with these influences and contribute to their age.

As a result of this dissertation, I've had biographies on the brain, both generally and theoretically. Hence the addition to the sidebar of the "Biography of the Day." For those of you who have taken the time to check those out, thanks for indulging my interest. One of my next projects - a biography of my family (so send me your stories!).

Call Me ABD

That's right, ladies and gentlemen. I am officially ABD. I had a fruitful discussion with my committee members this morning and am eager to dive into the dissertation - just as soon as I give some much needed attention to job applications and articles that should be sent off for publication. :-)

Who Says there is Nothing in West Texas?

For those of you who think West Texas is a lot of flat nothing, we beg to differ.

You can find many fields of cotton there. And we can all agree that cotton is essential. Besides, who wants to get stuck wearing polyester all the time?



The other thing you can find lots of there: wind farms. We predict that before long, the great state of Texas will have more wind farms than anywhere else in the world, all safely producing lots of clean energy. And if you don't like clean energy, you're just plain strange.



Our West Texas education comes compliments of Ted's recent trip to the area. For more photos from his drive to Lubbock, check out the slide show below.

Prospectus Defense Scheduled

For those of you interested in school news, I have my prospectus defense scheduled for Tuesday at 8 a.m. I will be defending the proposal for my dissertation and, assuming I pass (which I should), I will be officially "ABD" (All But Dissertation). While it sounds impressive that my dissertation is the last thing I have to complete to be an official Ph.D., it is still a large mountain to climb. I am excited, though, because I can then start looking at and applying for real jobs. And I can't wait to dig into research that I have chosen to do and get all the more closer to that big day - graduation.

(Former) #1 Team Comes to Town

Last weekend, we enjoyed a BU football game. OU, the number 1 team in the nation, made its way out to Floyd Casey, and we wanted to see them play.

We got there early and got to watch Robert Griffin, our freshman quarterback who's got all the analysts talking, warm up.



Later, the specimen of a strength and conditioning coach had the guys out on the field preparing for the game.



And who should show up but two former track champions & Olympians, Jeremy Wariner and Reggie Witherspoon.



Here's Jeremy Wariner signing autographs.



And here the two of them are leading the Bears onto the field.



For more photos from the game, check out the slideshow below.



By the way, we would like to point out that OU is no longer the #1 team now that UT has beaten them in Dallas at the Red River Shootout. Hook 'em Horns!