What's In An Update?
Someone pointed out that I should post an update so I don't look like I've fallen off the map.
What's been up?
Everything.
terriergirl is just a few weeks away from completing her PhD. The important stages: Nov 10, thesis due. That's when she's got to submit her final paper. Nov 17, thesis defense, that's where she sits in front of her professors and tries to convince them that she's smart enough to be called "Doctor". After that is the tail-off, where she completes all the caveats, riders, and codicils the professors place as stipulations on her graduation. This will probably entail getting a few of her most recent lines of inquiry to a good handing-off point, and then making sure all her notes and materials are handed off to the next poor shlub working her line of inquiry. The tail-off will hopefully be down to 10-15 hours a week by the end of December , and completely done by the end of February.
But this very aggressive schedule means that she's got to pour the work on. I get to pick up the slack around the household, with lots of help from friends and family. But when something goes Not According To Plan™, we both have to scramble to get the process back on rails. The most recent diversions were when her computer got doused in orange juice and when her cell phone disappeared. In both cases we were able to get things fixed with minimal fuss and delays (Terrier had been doing nightly backups, just in case), but it did ratchet the stress level right up. I'm glad this process is almost over. I feel like I'm in the last few miles of an emotional marathon and am refusing to quit before we cross the finish line. But I may be a bit of a wreck when I finally get there.
In the larger picture, we're doing great. V is walking, talking, and doing all sorts of adorable things. This week she learned how to give kisses, so now I get to go all warm and squishy inside several times a day when my little girl puckers up and gives me a big smack on the lips. Dargo is trying to figure out why we don't go to the park every day when neither Tracey and I can afford the hour it takes, especially when we can't bring the girl because she gets too cold. We're bribing him with a steady stream of marrow bones, but eventually he's going to get surly. Someday. Maybe. The normal assortment of friends and family are having the normal assortment of ups and downs. We love them all, but have been focusing on those in need before those in joy. Not fair, but right now necessary. Our limited free time means everything is viewed through the lens of triage. After the PhD and holidays, things may again return to normal. May. Hopefully. Someday. But for now, none of us are getting out as much as we'd like.
This plan sounds like it includes a lot of "if". Most of the decisions are out of our hands, we do the work, we see what happens. But Terrier and I are confident enough that we've started trying for another baby. We might get pregnant right away (which wouldn't suck), or it might take a few months (which also wouldn't suck), but when we've got news, we'll share it.
Work is a steaming pile of poo. My limited time, a major upcoming release, and the mysterious and occasionally fatal failure of our old platform have created the perfect storm where I no longer have the time I need to actually make anything work. We're banging away on the old platform to make it stable in the hope of moving everything to the new release shortly. But it's a try-and-see process at this point. If anyone knows of an entry level .NET, SQL programmer that wants a 3-6 month gig, we're hiring someone to help us play catchup our deadlines. QA experience is a definite plus.
Spiritually I am both more an less active than I'd like to be. My many small personal trials, coupled with the variously sized trials of my community have given me plenty of opportunity to exercise my belief in the field, so to speak. But my dedicated worship/reflection/meditation time has been almost nil. This leaves me in a place of emotional and spiritual endurance, without the normal ritual touchstones I rely on to center myself. Oddly, it's worked very well, forcing me to more fully integrate my social and spiritual ideas with my day to day choices due to lack time to keep them separate. And while I do miss the purity of a deliberate spiritual moment, I take comfort in knowing that even without them I am able to maintain a level of presence and compassion that I didn't think I could. On a related topic, I'm being reminded that the a major part of the charge given to me at ordination was to "Love Aggressively", and I can't do that as well in solitary meditation as I can in going out and being with people.
I think that's the 10-mile-high view. Hope to see you all soon.
What's been up?
Everything.
terriergirl is just a few weeks away from completing her PhD. The important stages: Nov 10, thesis due. That's when she's got to submit her final paper. Nov 17, thesis defense, that's where she sits in front of her professors and tries to convince them that she's smart enough to be called "Doctor". After that is the tail-off, where she completes all the caveats, riders, and codicils the professors place as stipulations on her graduation. This will probably entail getting a few of her most recent lines of inquiry to a good handing-off point, and then making sure all her notes and materials are handed off to the next poor shlub working her line of inquiry. The tail-off will hopefully be down to 10-15 hours a week by the end of December , and completely done by the end of February.
But this very aggressive schedule means that she's got to pour the work on. I get to pick up the slack around the household, with lots of help from friends and family. But when something goes Not According To Plan™, we both have to scramble to get the process back on rails. The most recent diversions were when her computer got doused in orange juice and when her cell phone disappeared. In both cases we were able to get things fixed with minimal fuss and delays (Terrier had been doing nightly backups, just in case), but it did ratchet the stress level right up. I'm glad this process is almost over. I feel like I'm in the last few miles of an emotional marathon and am refusing to quit before we cross the finish line. But I may be a bit of a wreck when I finally get there.
In the larger picture, we're doing great. V is walking, talking, and doing all sorts of adorable things. This week she learned how to give kisses, so now I get to go all warm and squishy inside several times a day when my little girl puckers up and gives me a big smack on the lips. Dargo is trying to figure out why we don't go to the park every day when neither Tracey and I can afford the hour it takes, especially when we can't bring the girl because she gets too cold. We're bribing him with a steady stream of marrow bones, but eventually he's going to get surly. Someday. Maybe. The normal assortment of friends and family are having the normal assortment of ups and downs. We love them all, but have been focusing on those in need before those in joy. Not fair, but right now necessary. Our limited free time means everything is viewed through the lens of triage. After the PhD and holidays, things may again return to normal. May. Hopefully. Someday. But for now, none of us are getting out as much as we'd like.
This plan sounds like it includes a lot of "if". Most of the decisions are out of our hands, we do the work, we see what happens. But Terrier and I are confident enough that we've started trying for another baby. We might get pregnant right away (which wouldn't suck), or it might take a few months (which also wouldn't suck), but when we've got news, we'll share it.
Work is a steaming pile of poo. My limited time, a major upcoming release, and the mysterious and occasionally fatal failure of our old platform have created the perfect storm where I no longer have the time I need to actually make anything work. We're banging away on the old platform to make it stable in the hope of moving everything to the new release shortly. But it's a try-and-see process at this point. If anyone knows of an entry level .NET, SQL programmer that wants a 3-6 month gig, we're hiring someone to help us play catchup our deadlines. QA experience is a definite plus.
Spiritually I am both more an less active than I'd like to be. My many small personal trials, coupled with the variously sized trials of my community have given me plenty of opportunity to exercise my belief in the field, so to speak. But my dedicated worship/reflection/meditation time has been almost nil. This leaves me in a place of emotional and spiritual endurance, without the normal ritual touchstones I rely on to center myself. Oddly, it's worked very well, forcing me to more fully integrate my social and spiritual ideas with my day to day choices due to lack time to keep them separate. And while I do miss the purity of a deliberate spiritual moment, I take comfort in knowing that even without them I am able to maintain a level of presence and compassion that I didn't think I could. On a related topic, I'm being reminded that the a major part of the charge given to me at ordination was to "Love Aggressively", and I can't do that as well in solitary meditation as I can in going out and being with people.
I think that's the 10-mile-high view. Hope to see you all soon.