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!

Target Practice

We went out to the shooting range on Saturday. This was my first shooting experience - and it was a lot of fun! I think we may have found a new hobby.

Post Hurricane Celebration

Hrricane Ike didn't make too much of an impression on us out here. A cold front moved in just in the knick of time and pushed all the bad weather to our east. We did get some wind and rain, but nothing too damaging. Our friends in the east, however, are still without power and waiting for things to get back to normal. Ick.

In any event, while the Getzes were around our parts last weekend, they decided to host an early birthday party for little miss Clara. Here are some photos from the event.

Waiting on Hurricane Ike

The Getzes drove up from Houston yesterday to escape from Hurricane Ike, which is currently making its way into Texas. We got to enjoy their company this evening as we waited for the storm to make its way out here. We also had a chance to give little miss Clara an early birthday present, as you can see in the slideshow below.

Coffee on the wall

We originally had painted two walls in the living room a leather brown color. As soon as it was up, we decided we didn't like it.

So, we painted one of the walls a cream color, and we finally decided on Coffee for the other wall. We think it looks pretty chic.



We'll post some pictures after we paint the crown moulding and put the living room back in order.

Green may not be John McCain's color . . .

. . . but we think it looks pretty good in our bathroom.



These pictures show you phase I of the bathroom face lift. We hope to finish painting it this weekend.



Our stairwell is starting to look good, too. Ted broke out the extension and covered all the hard to reach places this afternoon.

Alumni Festival

Three years after our first date during the Baylor Rugby Association's '05 Alumni Festival (see the link to their page on our sidebar), we finally made it out for another alumni event. Ted was convinced to play in the match (though we don't have any pictures to prove it). We did get some shots at Cricket's later that evening during a couple of intense matches of foosball.

Naco-nowhere and the End of Summer

Summer is quickly coming to an end. The first TA meeting of the semester is this Friday, and classes begin the following Monday, so it seems that a reflection on the summer is in order.

Summer '08 began with the arrival of our first visitors, my parents. Shortly thereafter, I began teaching at the local community college while Ted continued his business travels. In the midst of teaching, I headed out to Daytona Beach to grade AP exams. Ted joined me there, leaving at 2 a.m. in order to maximize his time there. I was able to join him in Charlotte, NC immediately following AP, and we enjoyed all that the Southpark area has to offer.

At the end of the Summer I session, Ted's parents and nephew, our second group of visitors, arrived to help us celebrate Independence Day. We said goodbye to our visitors the weekend after the 4th, and, having completed my teaching duties, I was free to travel with Ted. We have been all over - Jacksonville, AL; Carrollton, GA; Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; and most recently and often, Nacogdoches, TX. This blog comes to you from Naco-nowhere, as Ted calls it. The drive from home to here is beautiful, but the scenery has been "washed out" this week. It has rained,
and rained,
and rained,
and rained all week long. We're not talking about the start and stop kind of rain. No sir, it has rained consistently all week long. Yuck.

We also were able to get away and relax in California. Beautiful scenery, cool weather, and no pressing deadlines - doesn't get any better than that.

All in all, it has been an eventful summer. I've really enjoyed traveling to new places with Ted and am sorry that I have to stay put for the fall semester. But such is life as the summer comes to an end and we look forward to what the fall has to offer us. As always, we'll keep you posted!

California Vacation Pics

We got back from our California vacation a few days ago. It was the first time either of us had been out there in about two years, so it was nice to go back. Check out the pictures below and enjoy the sites we saw in Balboa Park, San Simeon, and Morro Bay.

For your consideration

My students will be writing on this issue in the next two weeks. The case is interesting, and I haven't made up my mind about it. Hopefully it will lend itself to good student responses.