I hope you have a Merry Christmas... at least better than mine of aches, pains and not-so-patiently waiting for a baby!


(Yes, I know it'll be over soon but I am at the stage where "asleep" and "awake" don't really exist anymore and are instead replaced by a mixed-up state I affectionately call "Zombie"!)

Thanks for the rep! It was certainly an emotional rollercoaster of a weekend for me, with defence preparations and tending to my poor kitty until I had to take her to the vet. I made it through with my kitty by remembering that she would suffer if I didn't (turns out the vet was right - it was stomach cancer, not inflammatory bowel disease) and reminding myself that I always showed her love.

The defence was nerve-wracking, but actually much easier than I thought it would be... I guess that I ended up being over-prepared despite thinking that I would just fall to pieces and forget it all. It's nice when things work out that way; I needed a bit of of the kid gloves treatment after the weekend

Have a wonderful day

Thanks for the rep! I am just so happy the weekend's over that I know it'll be a great week I hope you have a wonderful week as well!

Thanks for the good wishes; every bit helps! The PhD is in criminology, and my thesis is on older marginalized and homeless women's experiences of identity and community life - it's a bit of a niche area, I'll admit

I'm also looking forward to an end to shovelling; the white stuff sure looks pretty outside the window, until I have to get out there with a shovel or try to walk to work in it. Then, it seems to instantaneously lose all its magic!
Here's hoping for spring to get here FAST - for both of our sakes Take care <3

Oh, goodness! You do know how to keep busy! What are you doing for your PhD thesis? And yes...just keep that light at the end of the tunnel in sight and I know you'll get there. Now. No more renovations or tearing anything apart until your thesis is done, young lady! I can't wait until this snow and ice are gone so that it's safer for me to walk Jenny...I enjoy walking and didn't know I could do so much until we were on holidays last year...omg, we walked!!!!!! So I just have to get back into that mode again...when this white crap is g-o-n-e!
Take care, Sweetie!!!...Lynn

Yikes! I thought my life was busy, but your DD has me beat by a long shot! Here, we've mostly finished our kitchen renovation, so that's a bit of a relief. My part-time job is probably going to be gone (company closing) soon, but it looks like I've got another one lined up, so the stress about finances is slowing down. I've still got my Ph.D. thesis in progress though, so it's really hard to give my brain time to rest from that; it just goes into "thesis auto-pilot" a lot of the time. I have a big deadline (3 chapters due to my advisor) on Feb. 15th, but I have started to calm down about it as it's seeming more and more do-able every day

I take a lot of long walks to help myself relax. I can normally feel the schoolwork drift off into the air after 4km or so

I want to have everything done by late March or April, so I'm trying to plug along without getting to stressed in the process... At least there's an end in sight!!

Oh, too funny...! I imagine it's the sign of the times....our DD, being wife, Mother and a financial planner, is in the midst of the RRSP rush, and is working 50-60hrs a week this month and into the next one....she'll be very happy to see the end of February. So will we...we'll be heading for Florida for a month of sunshine! For now, we mostly pick up our Grandson from daycare, since his dad doesn't get home until 5:30, which is a little late in the day for the little nugget....We all have to remember to take time to relax (which doesn't include gaming, texting, etc!)....just take some advice from your cats and learn to re-lax!

Glad to hear that I'm not the only one at least. On days where I'm stressed and prone to forgetting things, I sometimes will start saying out loud "I'm opening the fridge to get the margarine" so that I don't forget. LOL, it's a bit embarrassing, but the cats don't seem to care if I talk to myself

LOL...Hon, you sound just like our daughter! She'll be 35 this year and when I complain about forgetting things, she says that she's got a head-start on me, then, since she's always doing that, too! Sheesh....no sympathy from the peanut gallery!!

Thanks for the rep! I hope you had a great weekend!

Thanks for the rep! Have a wonderful Christmas

Thanks for the rep & Happy Monday! Dealing with family "issues" is unfortunately something that I have a lot of experience with... then again: “If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.” -George Bernard Shaw