And on a more triumphant note...

...I have turned in my exam questions!

My 6-week and several day process has now come to an end. It's hard to believe, really. I wish I felt happier. Maybe I'm just exhausted, or maybe it won't hit me until my official exam, on October 27. At least I have some time now to get ready for that. I realized while writing my preliminary proposal that I have some kinks to work out... and I hope that's OK since this was my PRELIMINARY proposal. I felt the need to highlight that word for my committee. I don't want them judging my readiness based on the current proposal alone... even though I think they understand, it's always good to make sure. My official proposal defense is the hoop that comes after the A-exam, the final hoop standing between me and my freedom (to do research and other things). I hope to be ready for that in December or January. I think I have a good start here... hopefully my committee will agree, and I am ready to sell it!

So for now I can take a breath. Tomorrow I am just going to go to work and come home like a normal person, which is amazingly exciting! I have a lot to catch up on for work. And then Thursday morning I'll go to work again, and then Thursday afternoon I'll be off to see TMH. It will be great to see him; I miss him more than normal. It's been longer than usual since we've seen each other because I went to a wedding on the weekend that he couldn't attend.

So, I did manage to do it all! I finished my exams (until Oct 27), I went to a wonderful wedding (my grad school friends) and now TMH and I will have some time to relax and talk and maybe even ponder the future this weekend. Whew!