Pass!

To mark the momentous occasion of passing my dissertation proposal yesterday, I would like to make an acceptance speech:

To Amy, my lab mate who is one step ahead of me in the process and whose guidance, assurance, and generosity with tips and articles will forever be appreciated. I am incredibly in debt to her kindness. To Emily, who was always willing to share the details of lecture that I missed because I wasn't paying attention while I worked on polishing the proposal and PowerPoint presentation during our one-week intensive class. To Nikki and Sabrina, who helped trouble-shoot and advert a crisis when I wasn't able to print my PowerPoint notes a few hours before the presentation. To Cisco, who gave me a quick ride home on my lunch break so I could print said notes. To Julia, who texted me this prayer yesterday morning: God, give Robin peace and take away any anxiety that is wrestling inside her. Giver her the words to say during her proposal - may she kill it. Amen. To all my friends who sent me warm wishes, good luck messages, blessings and prayers throughout the day via text, Facebook, and G-chat. To my dissertation committee members, who didn't ask any questions I couldn't answer or b.s. my way through. To Lauren and Andrew, who helped Ben and me celebrate last night by taking us to the Hollywood Bowl to listen to the Los Angeles Philharmonic. And finally, to Ben for putting up with my grumpiness this week as I sat through eight hours of class and two to three hours of dissertation homework every day. Thank you all for the support and encouragement. I've learned that it takes a village to produce a dissertation - and I couldn't ask for better village people!

With such a big milestone (aka hoop) out of the way, I plan on taking this weekend off. Ben is going to Vegas with some buddies, so first on the schedule is happy hour tonight with some girlfriends, followed by rock climbing and beach day tomorrow, then church and maybe salsa dancing on Sunday (if I can work up the nerve). All interspersed with lots of reading of fluff books, newspapers and hours and hours of sleep!