Whew!

When I had my committee meeting late this spring, I was given the deadline of writing a dissertation and two manuscripts in a matter of six months. I have been progressively putting myself under duress to meet this deadline. Not to mention job hunting on top of all this considering that funding for me was due to end in December. It was determined that defending in November would be a realistic goal for me. Personally, I think it was more realistic for me to end up in the morgue than end up walking on the stage to receive my Ph.D. come December.

Thankfully, due to new funding, my contract is being extended to spring. Yes, I still have an awful lot of work still to do--but at least one of those is not funeral pre-planning.

For the very first time in months, I think that just maybe I can see the light at the end of this dark tunnel. For the first time, the Ph.D. is feeling like a tangible goal.

Some days, the sun really does indeed come out.