Ph.D. commencement

Yesterday was my Ph.D. commencement from the University of Michigan-and also the first major snowstorm of the season! Some of the other universities in the area canceled their commencements, but the U-M bravely carried on. Some of the roads were very bad, as they hadn't been plowed yet, but others were okay. The parking lot of Crisler Arena had been cleared very well. Since we had given my mentor Kate a ride, we were able to park in the reserved area very close to the building. I was very bummed in the morning when I realized that none of my family or friends from out-of-town (and even most of the in-town ones) were going to be able to make it, but it turned out to be a very good day. Besides Brad and Caitlin, Jacki was able to be there since she came in on Wednesday. Other friends that were able to make it through the conditions were: Kate, Alisha, Martha, Melissa, Todd and Henry, John and Lee Anne, and Alexander and Alexandra. There was certainly plenty of food and cake for all! Of course, Saturday and today (Monday) were beautiful days, but Nature has her own plan. At least Caitlin got her wish and today was a snow day at school, so she got to sleep late.
Why do the shortest people always seem to be seated next to the biggest? Here is my mentor Kate with her seat mates.

The ceremony got started about a half hour late because of the weather conditions and only about half of the reserved seats for the graduates were filled, but it turned out to be a great graduation. This is Kate and me during the hooding part of the ceremony.As my mentor, Kate put the Ph.D. hood on me for the first time just before I received my diploma.
I even got to meet Francis Collins, our commencement speaker and the head of the Human Genome Project at the NIH. He and my mentor Kate were colleagues when he was a Professor at Michigan, and she got his autograph on a program for me. After the ceremony, Brad caught his attention and asked if we could take his picture, and mentioned that I worked on NF1 (one of the genes that Dr. Collins cloned while he was at Michigan). Dr. Collins asked me "Are you Therese? I just autographed a program to you for Kate". Then he graciously posed for a few pictures with me and talked with us for a few minutes. It was quite exciting for me to meet him and he was an extremely nice guy.

He is also a great speaker. He gave the best commencement address I have ever heard. After talking about some of the usual topics, he said that it is always important to keep a sense of humor, too. After telling us that he could not lecture on humor, he said that he would show us, instead. Then he pulled out his guitar and sang a song that he had written to the tune of "My Way". The song was not what you would expect from a man of his renown and stature! It was hilarious and brought down the house... I don't think any of us will forget that speech, unlike all of the other commencement speeches I have heard. I had my camera with me and taped each verse of the song separately. If you are interested in hearing them, I uploaded them to YouTube. Here are the links...
intro
verse 1
verse 2
verse 3
last verse

Busted

I was wrapping Christmas presents a couple of nights ago. As I started to wrap some books I bought for Jacki, I couldn't help but glance through one of them (a memoir-one of my favorite genres). Before I realized it, I was thoroughly engrossed. I thought I could finish it before Jacki arrived, but I wasn't done before we picked her up at the airport yesterday. I was finishing it last night in my study room when Jacki walked in and asked me what I was reading. Of course, I became flustered and "fessed up". While Jacki seemed rather amused (I think she is used to my idiosyncrasies), Caitlin (who tends to see things in black and white) was appalled. Anyway-I really liked the book and I hope that Jacki does, too.
Sorry about my "sneak preview" Jacki, but I hope we can discuss it when you finish.
Has anyone else ever read a gift book they bought before they gave it to the recipient?

Tagged (weird, random facts about me)

I've been tagged by Jacki!

Rules
1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 4 random and/or weird things about yourself.
3. Tag 4 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

A lot of my weird, random facts are similar to Jacki's. I guess we are a lot alike :) I will add a few extra ones to the end, because I am very weird and random ;)

1. I changed the spelling of my name in the first grade. It is spelled Theresa on my birth certificate, but there was a girl in my grade who spelled her name Therese-I decided that I liked it better and I have been spelling it that way ever since. It is Therese on all of my legal documents and everywhere else, so please don't spell it with an 'a'.

2. I also find grammar and spelling mistakes very irritating, and I am my own biggest critic. I often use a dictionary to verify spellings and definitions, even when I am fairly confident. If I make a mistake that I can't fix, I tend to obsess over it and feel really dumb.

3. I live in Michigan but I don't especially like snow or cold weather. I would be happy if it only snowed during the week between Christmas and New Year Day, or if snow and ice did not stick to sidewalks and streets and make them dangerous to navigate.

4. I get terrible motion sickness, but unlike Jacki, it has gotten slightly better as I've gotten older. I still always wear a patch behind my ear when I travel, though even that doesn't always help.

5. I have a Facebook page, which isn't so weird in itself except that most of my friends are 10-25 years younger than I am. Of course, that is because I have been such a non-traditional student and I know most of my Facebook friends through school. It makes so much easier to keep in touch with people, even though I tend to forget to check my page and to update it.

6. I love new technology (yes, I really said that, Jacki) and I like to have the newest versions of computer software. I think I may have been born 20 years too early, because my personality seems much better suited to the newer ways of doing things-shopping online, digital imaging, keeping in contact through email, blogging...

7. Even though I enjoy vacationing with my family, I also like to travel alone. I have taken solo trips to Australia, London, and Aspen and really enjoyed the freedom of setting my own itinerary. Even though my trips were science seminar-related, I had a fair amount of free time, too. I usually like to walk around, take pictures of the sights and people-watch without being rushed. It's a lot easier to meet people from other places when I am by myself, too, since I often ask for directions, or recommendations on where/what to eat, sights to see...

Well, I guess I will save the rest of my weird, random facts for another post.

I am going to tag Jillian, Shelly, and Cindy because they are the only people I know who blog that Jacki (and Heidi) didn't tag already.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

We always celebrate St. Nick's Day at our house and this year was no exception. Our stockings were bulging as usual with candy, fruit and nuts. Of course, there was a shiny new penny for each of us, too:) Caitlin also got a pair of hand-knit socks with tulips on the heel. Even Buddy got a package of treats.We sent Austin his stocking last week, so Jillian and Brittan can start the tradition, too.

Thank you, St. Nick!

WEBS holiday party

We had our annual WEBS holiday party here last night and it was a lot of fun. We had a potluck and ate a lot of food, then had gift and cookie exchanges.
Apparently, Jacki has "tagged" me on her blog to share random facts about myself. I will post a list in the next day or so, but here is one preview:
I like to eat shredded chicken sandwiches with ruffled potato chips in them. I got the original idea from my sister Cherie. Brad thinks this is really weird-he says that potato chips are not a sandwich topping. Well, since we had shredded chicken sandwiches at the party, every one of my friends that was here tried it and really liked it. So give it a shot next time you have the opportunity and let me know what you think. It gives the sandwiches just a little saltiness and crunch-yummy!

Thanksgiving fun

We had a great Thanksgiving, and Austin had fun carrying on the family tradition of "spanking the turkey" before it went in the oven.
There was lots of good food, and Austin even had a little taste of some of the goodies.

On Friday, we opened holiday crackers and Austin got to wear his first crown.

Afterwards, we put up our Christmas tree and Caitlin continued the tradition of wearing the tree skirt before we used it to cover the tree stand.


Austin wore the Santa hat and he looked so cute!

Jillian, Brittan and Austin went back home this morning but we are looking forward to seeing them again in a few weeks!

Thanksgiving preparations

I am busy making pies, pumpkin rolls and other "surprise dishes" for Thanksgiving at our house this year. I am so excited that Jillian, Brittan and Austin are coming for the feast! If only Jacki and John could be here, it would be perfect. I can freeze some of the leftovers for Jacki when she comes next month, but I would like to have another Thanksgiving feast later to celebrate John's return home.

Baby face

Guess who the baby is at the top of this blog. No need to guess too hard-it's me. I have been busy scanning all my family's old slides and uploading them to my computer and Flickr. They date all the way back from when my Dad was in high school until my older brother John's high school graduation.
This is one of my favorite pictures of me-I am 15 months old and looking in my grandparents' full length mirror. Brad refused to believe it this picture was me, though, until I got out the actual slide with the date stamped on the back. He thought it was Jillian, because my "eyes are squintier", my "face is rounder" and my "nose is fatter" than the baby in the picture. That Brad, he really knows how to sweet-talk the ladies!
Anyway, it is fun looking at all the old slides-sure brings back a lot of memories...

The Beverick Bunch

I just looked at a slideshow of current pictures of the cast of the Brady Bunch that was on AOL today. It brought back a lot of memories of rushing home from school to see the show. Since there were six of us kids-three girls and three boys, we each had our own character. Of course, after Joe was born, we had to make him be Alice (he never cared, because he was just a baby). I sure liked that show-back in the day!
Okay, I know we are a lot older in the "Beverick Bunch" collage, but these are the pictures I had to work with! I didn't have a family shot from back then, except one small low-resolution one that really did not work. Other than the 3 girls/3 boys thing, we weren't much like the Brady Bunch anyway, but it was fun!

Who's smarter-who cares?

I read an interesting article in the New York Times today. It discusses how men prefer to be smarter than the women they are with, and whether smart women should pretend to be dumber to allow the men they are interested in their illusions. I know the title mentions Hillary Clinton specifically, but it is not really about her so it doesn't matter how you feel about her or her political views.
I know that I feel self-conscious telling people (and not just men) what I do unless they are also in science, as it usually cuts a conversation pretty short. Even when I went for jury duty, the lawyer questioning me seemed incredulous that I was really a "science person". Why is that so intimidating? My mentor Kate says that it is because I am so "normal-looking and acting" as if scientists are a different breed or something! People do act differently towards me than when I worked at the Pizza House or at the fabric shop, even though I am still they same person-more educated but not smarter. I still think the same random things are funny, enjoy the same things I always did even if I have less time to do them and probably have all the same bad habits.
I am interested to see what other people think about this. Is what this article says true-or not so much? What about other relationships-does it matter who's smarter? There are many kinds of intelligence, so how can you tell?

Family resemblance?

I just had to download this recent picture of Austin (lower picture) that Jillian posted. He is always waving his arms around excitedly, just like his Grandpa Brad in the upper picture from when he was a baby about Austin's age. There is quite a size difference between the two, but they sure have some of the same mannerisms. Austin even likes to constantly "twitch" his feet when he is sitting just like Brad does. Inheritance is sure a funny thing.

Michigan vs. Ohio State: The Rivalry- advance screening

Tonight Brad and I went to an advance screening of "Michigan vs. Ohio State: The Rivalry". It is a documentary that will air on HBO next Tuesday Nov. 13th at 10:30PM. It really captures the football rivalry perfectly and I would recommend it.
Brad just got back from the theater, he had to go back to pick up his BlackBerry which must have fallen off during the show. I wanted him to comment on the blog since he has a lot of opinions (as usual), but since he doesn't want to I guess people will have to call him if they want to hear them :)

Actual bound dissertation

WooHoo! I got bound copies of my dissertation back from the bindery yesterday. It is great to have an actual book to look at as physical evidence of all the hard work I have put in over the past five years. Thanks, Brad, for helping me to pick them up and carrying them. There will be a copy at the U-M graduate school and in the CDB department as well as copies for Kate, all of my other thesis committee members and of course, for me :)
I also bought a copy for each of my daughters-Merry Christmas girls ;)
Can you tell I am excited?

a minor "Cleep"

I cleaned my study room this past weekend-what an undertaking! I got rid of 2.5 laundry baskets-full of journal articles and other assorted reference papers and information from my dissertation. I can actually walk into the room and see horizontal space! I can even walk into the closet now. It is amazing how a clean space can clear my thoughts as well. I tend to start feeling very flustered and agitated when things are in constant disarray, but sometimes I need to have items in plain view so I can refer to them at a moments notice. It is quite a conundrum. I do still have one whole file drawer full of alphabetized journal articles and two other drawers full of other papers, but they are all organized so I feel much calmer about that. Now I just need to tackle some of the other rooms (especially the closets) in the house-Brad and I both tend to be pack rats until we get fed up and do a major purge of all our miscellany. Caitlin calls it "Cleeping" from the old Clean Sweep reality television show. I think it is time now before the holidays get here...

End of an era

Caitlin received her senior pictures in the mail this week and put one in her school years collage frame. I am feeling a lot of emotions just now and it is hard to sort all of them out: pride, excitement, anxiety, nostalgia... I remember buying these frames when she was just a baby. While Jacki and Jillian had a few pictures in them right away, Caitlin's was empty for a few years. Behind the spot for each picture is a short motivational quote or poem. Now they are all covered up with their school pictures and my babies are grown. I am very proud of the women they have become, but I miss the growing up years. I am so glad that we have many memories to look back on, and many more memories to make ahead.

WEBS night out

Some of the members of our WEBS group at the U-M got together and ate dinner at Cottage Inn this week. It seems as if it has been forever since any of us got together as a group, and many of us are finishing our degrees and/or moving on to new jobs in new places. I am planning a holiday get-together, I hope some of us who have moved to jobs in new areas will be able to return and join us but most have moved to different states and even different countries. I am glad that I have been able to find a good lab with a very nice PI whose research I am excited about here at the U-M. It should be a good fit for me and I am looking forward to a new challenge, but it is still really hard to keep changing and saying goodbye to each other as we move on to new experiences.

Thesis defense (I passed!!)

I defended my Ph.D. thesis last week, and it was quite a stressful ordeal. The oral portion of the examination, a PowerPoint presentation of my research, is open to the public and there were about 50-60 people there. In addition to my thesis committee members, most of them were professors, grad students and others from my department, as well as my lab mates and some of my other friends from the U-M. I was really happy that many of my family were able to attend as well: Brad, Caitlin, Jacki, Jillian and Austin, my Dad and Rita, and Mom Eileen and Ralph. I am glad to report that it went even better than I had hoped!
Brad had the family and a couple of my friends over for lunch afterwards and my mentor Kate had a lab party that evening at her home. It was a very exciting and happy day!
I spent the rest of the week finishing minor revisions to my written dissertation. I had my "post-defense" meeting on Monday and handed in my revised dissertation and the rest of my paperwork; in return I received a Ph.D. completion certificate. I guess this is some kind of a "receipt" to prove you have completed your doctoral work until the diploma is conferred in December. Anyway, it was exciting to me.
Jacki went to the bindery with me Wednesday to order bound copies of my dissertation, so I will have an actual book to show for all my hard work.
All I need to do now is show up for commencement in my "pancake" cap and gown, which I have already ordered.
Wow, no wonder I feel like I have post-traumatic stress disorder. Hopefully my life will be calming down a little now.

Pictures of campus

A few days before my thesis defense, I took a walk around the north campus area in order to burn off some stress. It was a gorgeous day and I had my camera with me, so I took a few pictures. I think some of them turned out quite nice:






And here is another view of the BSRB where I work, and Neptune's Fountain:

Back to blogging

Boy, it's hard to get back to blogging after being away for awhile (almost 1.5 months!). I just feel like I am so far behind and have so much to catch up on that I don't even know where to start. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Austin (and some of those he loves) from the last month:




Don't you just want to squeeze those cute little cheeks?