Tahoe

Since I’ve never really been camping before, Eric and our good friends Lisa and Peter decided that we should all go for a long weekend. For two summers when I was young, my dad insisted that I attend the annual church girl’s camp. For a week at a time, I would swim, hike, cook, and make all sorts of crafts. At night, I slept in an A-frame shelter with one eye open- for fear of hungry bears but more so for a group of rotten girls who would steal my things at night and tease me endlessly during the day. I quickly came to dread what were supposed to be these spiritual camping adventures very quickly. Not to mention the filth factor. I hate all things filthy. And the outdoors definitely falls into that category.

On this occasion, Eric and Peter planned a weekend trip to Tahoe. Peter reserved a camping site, we rented an SUV, packed it full with all of our things, and then we were off! We left on a Friday and the drive up to Tahoe was really nice. Once we got there, I was expecting to see beautiful sprawling blue water and resorts nestled among tall trees, as the picturesque postcards suggested. But, I could barely even see the lake! Unfortunately there were various wildfires burning near Auburn and the thick smoke obstructed most of the views. We hoped that the air would clear as we found our way to the campsite, near Sugarpine (luckily it did). We quickly set up our tents, put away out stash of food and drinks, and decided to hit the town for dinner. We drove south to Stateline, where we ate dinner at a casino and shopped around at Long’s for a few forgotten items. When we returned to our campsite and got ready for bed, we noticed a young crowd of people setting up camp at the site next to ours. Unfortunately, we were kindly kept awake all night by the lovely chatter of drunken idiots…

The next day, we attempted to make scrambled eggs, found a nice spot to hike above Emerald Bay, made lunch, took a nice nap to recuperate from our lack of sleep, and made dinner. One thing I learned was that making meals out in the great wide open was a grand feat! We took our portable bbq with us, and nearly every meal we brought to make turned into a big problem because it would either not cook properly or we didn’t have the right utensils to make it. But we made do. The best meal of the day was certainly dessert, when Eric made us a nice campfire and we roasted some marshmallows for s’mores.



After a decent night sleep this time, we attempted to make pancakes for breakfast on Sunday morning (another flop, unfortunately) and packed up all of our things for the long drive back home. On the way home, I decided that it was a good time, but would have been better if we had rented a cabin or some sort of accommodation that at least had a shower… I felt absolutely filthy after three long days among nature. A nice long shower once I got home was never more appreciated!

Heartbroken

What does heartbroken feel like? I wish I didn’t know…

But I do know.

I know what it tastes like- Bitter. Burnt. You’re about to choke. The flavor lingers.

I know what it looks like- Fetal position in the shower. Rocking, shivering. Water slithering down your back.

I know what it sounds like- Nothing and everything. Everyone’s laughing, but you can’t hear it. Freight trains screech down the rails.

I wish I could only feel it.

I almost had it all. But then in an instant, I had nothing…

Thesis: Defended.

My graduate school career has officially come to an end!!! After working on draft after draft of my thesis, mindlessly editing and organizing every word, it is complete. I submitted it to my thesis committee members last week for their final review and my defense meeting was scheduled for Tuesday at noon. I took the day off from work, headed over to campus early, and tried to prepare for the kinds of questions that I would be asked during the meeting. I really did not know what to expect, other than offering a brief summary of my research and main findings. Once we entered the conference room, my anxiety started to rise as the panel of professors started to ask me really questions like, “What do you mean by this statement here on page 38?” and “Why did you run your analyses this way?” In all, they asked about 15 to 20 questions while I tried my best to follow them up with reasonable answers.

After a few hours in the meeting, the panel decided that a few changes needed to be made (just minor additions, thank goodness). After which, they would give their signatures on my petition of completion (the official document proving that my thesis has been approved). So, I busily made changes over the next two days, scrambling to obtain my needed signatures and meet the new deadline of Thursday, the 13th (the deadline was supposed to be on Friday the 14th, but since that day was furloughed, the deadline was pushed up). Then I focused on formatting the final document and trying to track down members of my committee for their signatures (after all, it is summer break). After a very stressful week, I submitted my completed draft to the university for binding and ordered a copy for myself to keep.

Eric is taking me out to a fancy dinner and a movie later today to celebrate. I can’t believe that I actually completed this huge task! It hasn’t really hit me yet that I’m really done with school now. I’m sure it will soon :).