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!