Mom said I ought to post what happened to me today, so here goes.
I've been working on my prospectus over the last few weeks. The prospectus is a formal proposal to the English Department. You tell them what you want to do for your thesis, you tell them why, and you tell them what material you'll be drawing from. With a creative thesis like mine, they want to know what genre your project falls under and what work you'll be doing within the genre.
I put off my prospectus because I worried my project wasn't "academic" or "literary" enough, and that turning in a prospectus would only expose my hackery to my peers. But I've been working on this master's degree for a while now and figured it was time to kick things in gear. So I set up an appointment with my committee chair for today, asking him to proof my prospectus. I cringed when I emailed it to him this morning, and at 2:00 I knocked on his door, expecting to get my clock cleaned. ("You call
this a prospectus?!")
He said it looked great. There were a few small points he thought I should clarify, but he signed off on it. He also suggested some conferences and workshops over the summer that might be worth looking into, for making contacts with agents and publishers and such. Needless to say, I was very relieved when I left his office.
Next I tapped on the door of another professor. See, I need to have three professors signed onto my committee, and I only had two--my chair and another professor recommended by my chair. For the third member of the committee, I selected a professor I'd taken two workshops from. He was familiar with my project and had given me some very positive feedback. But every time I tried to contact him, he'd been out.
Not today.
He answered the door and invited me right in. I asked him to be a reader on my committee. He inquired when I planned on defending and I told him in the fall. Grimacing, he leafed through his files and confessed he was already on eight other thesis committees due for defense in the fall. I told him I understood, but he interrupted and asked what I was working on again. I told him it was my angel story, and he nodded and considered that for a moment.
"I really want to be in on this story," he said finally. "So I'll say yes to you and no to the next person who comes to my door."
He signed my form and told me not to send him anything until the beginning of fall semester. I practically floated out of his office and back to work at the Bookstore.
All I need to do now is tighten up the prospectus and turn it in next week with my committee's signatures. And then finish my novel, naturally. It's coming along nicely, and I'm meeting with a great writing group every week. It's good to have a deadline, and the feedback is always very helpful.
And that's my good news for the day.
My Dad warned Ryan when we were married that he would need to keep me fed. I don't think that Ryan had any idea what he was getting into or that there was a possibility that I would pass the same trait onto our daughter. "Feed the beast" is a common phrase that he uses when describing his girls.
Eric wanted Uncle Zach to read to him and Beth won't be left out of anything. The kids love it when Zach and Alison come to visit. When Zach came yesterday he offered to stay with the kids so Ryan and I could go out on an honest-to-goodness date. I think we kept him too long, but we had a great time and so did the kids. Thanks a million Zach and thanks Alison for letting us borrow him.
Beth is such a girly-girl. She loves jewelry and baby dolls and is already very dramatic.
Eric loves to play with the flashlight that Papa and Lela Clines sent. I find him in the pantry all the time with the lights off in the middle of some imagined game. It's great. He also loves the now-too-small-Thomas PJ's from Grandma Alleman. Good thing it's still cold enough for how warm they are.
No, I did not do this to Eric. But for the sake of peace and quiet it's an intriguing idea.
My wonderful cousin, Mary Ann, comes to visit sometimes and Beth has really taken to her. She even found a way to sit on her lap, limited space and all.
(Good luck Mary Ann on your rapidly approaching due date.) 
Beth was also excited but I don't think she understood what was going on with all the noise and kids running around, she just loved to be around people.
Although, after the eggs were all gathered she did enjoy 
It’s hard to see how big the blankets are piled here, but that’s Eric sleeping curled up alone on his pillow while his 3 giant stuffed bears, 1 five-foot long dragon, 3 blankets, 1 stuffed dog, 1 stuffed cat, Ernie and Zoey (from Sesame Street), and 4 books are tucked carefully into his bed.
This is Eric proudly showing me the full roll of toilet paper he unrolled today. Before I found this, he was going to the bathroom and taking a little longer than needed. When I called out and asked him what he was doing he answered: “Playing with the toilet paper, Mommy”.
Relaxing? Well, she looks happy.
As a mother, I am both happy and sad at the moment. You see, Beth is not a good traveler. She screams in the car more often than not. Well, at the library yesterday, Eric found a CD that he wanted. Well, Beth just loves it and is so happy when we put it on she dances in her car seat and claps her hands. So what is the down side of this you may ask? Well, the CD is Woody's Roundup (from Toy Story) and is polka, accordion, yodeling music. The kids love it! 
