Duck! Here come more bullets!

Just time for a quick update!

• The last project from my time doing my MS (data collected Summer 2004) got accepted for publication this week! Yippee! It was a long struggle with horrible reviews along the way and 3 (I think, can't remember...maybe only 2) submissions. 
  
• I am supposed to defend 2 weeks from today. 
• 2 freakin' weeks!
• I am going to try on my defense outfit today. If it doesn't fit, I am buying this.
• It might not fit. I have given up time to workout and have instead focused my stress relief efforts on eating lots of cheese and ice cream. And cookies. And breakfast sandwiches.
• Have an appointment on Wednesday to give a draft to the dean. The committee needs it by next Friday or sooner. I am really appreciating that they are honest about the fact that they won't read it till right before the defense anyway.
• I'm trying to finish the 3rd chapter still....am planning on sending everything but the discussion to my advisor today.
• If I get that far, I am going to a dinner at my advisor's house for an invited speaker/ ex-student. Free food is a good motivator...must get back to work now...

Mapping out the semester

Thanks for all the good wishes about the postdoc! I am still super psyched and am trying to carry that excitement over to my remaining dissertation work. Here is what is left to do:

1) Finish data collection for Chapter 3. Another lab is processing samples for me while I collect the rest. This is hugely time intensive and really, really boring. Really.
2) Analyze data. Need to use a new program for this but have done a lot of groundwork/reading about it.
2) Write up Chapter 2. Everything is done, it has been analyzed, presented at conferences and I'm 2200 words into a first draft. Not many, but it is started.
3) Write up Chapter 1. Should be fairly straight forward.
4) Write up Chapter 3/4. This might be two chapters depending on the data.

In the past 9 months or so, I haven't been great about keeping deadlines for myself. While a lot got done, I had plans to get even more done and wasn't bothered by pushing back, say, my goal date to submit Chapter 2, in order to finish up side projects.

Now it is urgent to finish the dissertation. Thankfully, my fellowship for this semester will help me meet the following new deadlines:
September 30th: Chapters 1 and 2 drafts to advisor. Finish data collection.
October 31st: Chapter 3/4 analysis completed and draft to advisor.
November 11: Complete draft to Dean.
November ?: Defend dissertation.
December 5: Free from the shackles of grad student life forever!

It is really strange that my day planner is getting more use now than ever, despite the lack of classes, assignments, meetings, etc etc etc!