Work and Play

Austin pics...part 2

Here's the happy couple!

The next picture was of an actual 'longhorn' on campus...it wasn't special just for us - but it was neat that it was there :)

The last picture is the front of the social work building.

Austin pics...finally!

Quick recap of the photos:  The first picture we took was the University of Texas exit sign as we were headed to the campus for the first time.

The second pic is the tower on the campus.

Then, of course, the pics of us with the tower in the background ( I know, goofy, touristy kinds of things!)

In between posts...

I would like to be posting our Austin pics and talking about the trip - but I am actually at my office @ school, and thought I should post my progress - to keep myself motivated!

Here is the latest:

 

Successfully defended the research proposal December 2006

Submitted my research proposal to the IRB (Institutional Review Board) February 2007

Participated in full-board review of my research proposal March 2007

Received my letter of approval (pending revisions) from the IRB March 2007

Working on IRB revisions - currently doing this. This means I that the IRB approved what I am proposing to do for my research, but I had a few questions to address in an amended research proposal document. I *should* be able to do this quickly and send it right back to them for final approval - but it has taken some time to get everything together. In a perfect world, I will have this done tomorrow and will send it off to them.

As soon as I get my final approval letter, I can start my interviews and data collection! Very exciting for me, 'cause this means I am in the final stages of the PhD process. I am so ready to get this going :)

 

 

Austin, Austin...can't wait to get there!

Where does the time go? I think we just hit the ground running the week we left to visit Austin and it has not stopped...March has come and gone, I celebrated my "39th" - bday again ( I see the wisdom in that now!) on Friday and I still hadn't finished posting about Austin.

We had the most wonderful time there! Austin was everything we thought it might be and much more! I think it is fascinating when you mention a place that you are going to visit or move to and you get one of a couple reactions: "Wow, it is such a fun city - don't forget to visit ______, ______, and ____ while you are there!" (everyone seems to have their own favorite places they recommend) - or "I used to live there and it was just wonderful - we hope to move back some day." 

Friends, colleagues and faculty gave us lots of travel tips and info - I do believe we were well prepared for our trip. Our biggest regret - that we couldn't stay a whole week! There was simply too much to do in the short visit we were able to make. But we got quite a bit accomplished and for that, we are very satisified.

Helly - you were correct about the Hilton Garden Inn - that was a fabulous hotel to stay in! It was like a little home away from home for us. The room was like a small apartment, staff called us by name, we had wine/cheese option at night, a scrumptious full breakfast every morning, and can I just say, they had a great little laundry center on the premises?! It is great to get home w/clean clothes. We will stay there again, no doubt.

I mentioned in a previous post about having our toiletry items confiscated at the airport - totally my fault - I had failed to read the prohibited items notice on the Delta website. So, our first visit outside the hotel was to get what we needed, but it actually helped us find our way around the NW part of Austin. It was good to see familiar places to shop, eat ,etc - just to ease the transition of being in a new place. That feeling, however, was quickly replaced by the excitement of seeing new things and exploring.

Our first official stop: The University of Texas campus. ( I have to get the pictures uploaded to the computer and will post more soon).  

Austin Arrival!

Very short post - but we arrived safely in Austin....at 2am!! After a very long week of school work and lots of prep for this trip - we are here!

What we know so far: great hotel: Hilton Garden Inn

Good rental car experience: Enterprise

Very friendly people and staff: airport, shuttle, food service, cars, Target, etc.

Minor glitch on the initial flight - my toiletries didn't pass muster with the security screeners - so a trip to Target was necessary so we will look and smell fresh while we are here - LOL :)  . I suspect that really somebody just wanted my Chanel stuff ....:(

We are off to find the UT campus and check out the downtown area! More later...

Running again

Among other things that were getting a bit off track, I had to slow down on the running after some dental surgery. Taking breaks like that is not good for me...I tend to find it harder to get going again. I am, however, happy to report that I am back on the running now :) I missed it and have felt so much better getting back in the game.

I met a friend this evening at the recreation center and we ran/walked 3.1 miles around campus. The walking helped us have time for some conversation - I tend to have trouble running and carrying on long conversations. I had gotten so used to running w/my Ipod that if I have a workout partner we have to walk/talk. Goofy, I know!

We have a 5K coming up at the end of April and I am looking forward to participating in that. Good incentive to get back in the groove.

It's Spring Break around here and we have certainly placed an emphasis on the 'break' part! I know Kev and I won't have much time to spend sleeping late or watching fun movies and reading. We have really enjoyed it :)  Last night we watched Near Dark - a 'vampire/western' from 1987 - good movie. Bill Paxton and Lance Henrikson were two of the main characters. One of the most interesting things about it - the movie was not full of gratuitous violence. Don't get me wrong, there was plenty of blood and all things appropriate for the vampire genre - but it was just enough. We found out after watching this version of it that there is going to be a remake in 2008...just a guess here, but I imagine it will be a bit more gory and action-filled.

Near Dark

We have also been watching American Idol and just caught the new series on FX: The Riche$. Great new show - Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver - just fantastic. I can't wait to see what the season holds for this show. I really loved Eddie in The Cat's Meow and Minnie was wonderful in Grosse Pointe Blank. I recommend it if you have the FX channel in your area.

Tonight we are planning to watch The Shipping News. As I remembered, this movie was not well-received - but it will be interesting to see why people thought that. It appears to have a wonderful cast and is based on a popular book. Maybe it just didn't translate well to the big screen?  

The Shipping News

 

Long absence but good things on the horizon!

I have been so out of sync with blogging and various other things since the end of the Fall semester! Our school and home life has just been absolutely crazy....I am hoping that things may be back on track since I had a bit of time and the energy to do a small post today.

The biggest news: well, I changed the design of my blog to show the Austin, TX skyline....because we will be moving there in August! Kev got accepted to the grad school there for their MFA Screenwriting program - we are so excited. :) This will be a huge move for us, but hopefully a very good one. We make our first trip there on March 23-26. I am so ready to see what Austin is all about.

I have been frantically working on the dissertation stuff and that has kept me snowed under lately. I need to assess my progress in that area, so I will writing about that very soon.

 

Anticipation...

Well, things seem to be moving along pretty well on the school front! I got the go ahead to defend my research proposal before the semester ends....so that big meeting will be tomorrow @ 2pm. I spent some time yesterday working on a Powerpoint presentation for the start of the defense. All committee members have read and commented on my proposal, but there will probably be some folks in attendance who don't know what I am planning to do - so my committee chair asked me to give about a 10 minute presentation on my research topic.

My proposal title is: Aging in a confined place: Inmate health and healthcare

In the aging lit and lingo - we talk about people 'aging in place' - which generally means - living where you have lived for many years, or to living in a non-healthcare environment, and using products, services and conveniences to allow or enable you to not have to move as circumstances (health, financial, emotional, etc.) change. So I took that a step further to address aging in prison  - which brings a whole new set of issues to the idea of aging in place.

(If I can figure out a way to post the presentation here, I will do that. I know we can load photos in Vox -but I didn't know if I would just have to do a link to my Powerpoint, or maybe just post a couple of slides.) All in all, I guess it is just basically a record for myself, I am really pleased with my work this semester - yay!  

On top of that, this is finals week, so the craziness/stress around campus is abundant! I think Kev and I will *officially* be able to relax on Friday night. I haven't even really gotten any kind of holiday vibe yet...and I can only tolerate the Xmas tunes in small doses right now :) I am sure that will change when all the hurdles are out of the way.

A better day

Today has started out to be a much better day :) School and teaching are winding down for the semester - it seems like it just flew by!

I am looking at a large stack of papers that need to be graded, and I have several on-line activities that the students completed that I need to review. I was very pleased with my class and their work so far - great interaction and good response to the assignments and activities.

For my own schoolwork...I am waiting patiently to hear back from my committee members about a possible dissertation proposal defense date for next week! I have my fingers crossed and I am hoping for the good word soon. I have completed a satisfactory draft of my research plans and all that's left to do is give an oral presentation and 'defend' my materials in front of my committee members.

If they give the okay, then I am ready to complete my paperwork for a fellowship for next year and I am ready to get my research approved by the school's IRB (Institutional Review Board). This board reviews projects that involve human subjects, animals etc. - as a protection factor - so we are not out there conducting research that could potentially harm anyone. The board only meets once per month, so I am hoping to get an approved research proposal from the committee to get the jump on all the other paperwork I will have to do.

Here's hoping for the best.....

Goodbye Dee

It has been really crazy busy around here - so much going on with work and life! I hope to be back blogging on a regular basis soon.

I got some sad, but not unexpected news today...an older family friend, Dee, died last night. He had a long struggle over the summer and fall with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He had such a fighting spirit, but his body was just too weak to keep up the good fight.

Dee and his wife Karol were retired and living down near the Gulf Coast. They were 'snowbirds' as we call them - living in north for part of the year and then coming down south for the winter months. Over the years - their time spent in the south increased - I think traveling was becoming more difficult and partly because they loved it :)

I enjoyed seeing them when I was working down there - they always had funny family stories to share, lots of good homemade food (some of the best hot wings ever!), and they adored our dog Battye. They would walk her and spoil her with lots of attention while I was working.

I feel lucky to have known them and am so happy they have been a part of our lives! I will miss them.