So near and yet so far...

Many of my lovely family and friends have followed my...shall we say...colorful progress toward securing my master's degree in history from the University of West Georgia. On the whole, the process has been a delight. I have loved every class, enjoyed every teacher, soaked up every experience, and performed every assignment required of me. My work has, apparently, been pretty decent. I don't like to brag, but I managed to pull off a perfect 4.0 GPA throughout my entire 36 hours (12 classes) of graduate coursework. The only thing standing between me and that coveted diploma is my thesis. It's just a paper. A 75+ page paper. A thoroughly researched, scholarly written, meticulously footnoted, professor-scrutinized, repeatedly revised, never ending PAIN IN THE ASS paper!

I am reminded of one of Randy's experiences in AOCS. When Gunny Buck wished to drive home a point to his hapless charges, he frequently did so with pushups. He would cheerfully announce that the squadron would be doing, say, 20 pushups. Heartened, the guys would drop down and get started. Just 20. No biggie. Gunny Buck would then begin the count: 1...2...3...3...3...3...3...3...3...3...3...4...5...6...6...6...6...6...6...6...6...6...6...6...6...6...well, you get the picture.

It also reminds me of giving birth to a first child. Somewhere in the 15th hour of labor, when your husband's loving encouragement just makes you want to run him over with the car, the thought begins to creep into the back of your consciousness....what if I'm the first woman to ever be in labor for a year? A decade? The rest of my life? Sure, it's never happened before, but what if it happens to ME?

This is the point I have reached with my thesis. This is the reason for the photo at the top of this blog (note the aspirin, kleenex, and CHOCOLATE). This is the reason for the particular song that's playing. This is the reason for the hammer in the "current pages of my thesis" graphic above. It somehow seems an appropriate symbol for this stage of the process. Imagine hitting your thumb with a hammer while driving a nail in place. Now imagine hitting it over and over and over and over and....well, you know what I mean. I've managed to cough up 60 pages of this interesting, little known story that I'm trying to tell. This is good. But it's not good enough. It needs revising. And revising. And revising. And revising....it's the process of turning this interesting, little known story into a valid addition to an already impressive body of historical knowledge that makes me want to slit my wrists with a spoon.

So, dear friends and family--keep all fingers and toes crossed that I'm up to the task. And if, by some miracle, I do manage to pull this thing out of my...head--and get it turned in in time for December graduation, be advised that I'm going to do something spectacular to pat myself on the back. This will NOT be a "dinner out and retail therapy" event--this is going to be a "check something off the bucket list" event.....Hawaii anyone???