Mission Accomplished

Things have been a bit hectic around here for the past couple weeks, and in a moment I'll post photos to prove it. When you last tuned in, I had just submitted my thesis and was preparing for my defense. Overall, the defense went well. I fear that I have been spending a little bit too much time in front of the computer, as my presentation skills appear to have diminished somewhat in the past several years. Either that, or when put into perspective a thesis defense is slightly more important than a debate round and my preparations probably should have reflected that a bit more!

Either way, I survived the defense, and on May 21 I graduated with highest honors! Consider this photo to be more of a soft proof. Inside the diploma cover, I found not only this "temporary" diploma, but an official notice declaring that the diploma did not reflect my recently earned honors, and that a new official diploma would be in the mail shortly. Does this mean that I earned two degrees? No? Oh well, I guess I'll have to go back for more. In addition to the pomp and ceremony associated with commencement, there was also the time honored flocking of friends and relatives. Here, everyone crowds in for a piece of the spotlight with the tired and very relieved graduate (as always, you can click on the image for a bigger one): Mark got into the spirit of the day (school spirit, that is) with his Brandeis blue shirt (forget adding pounds, I'm fairly certain that the camera subtracts inches off my height): After commencement festivities were over, the transition to "life after Brandeis" hit pretty quickly as I finished moving my belongings to the apartment I'm subletting for the summer while working in Cambridge. I'd have photos of that, but I haven't even had time to unpack, let alone take photos because...

The day after commencement, I started work. Four days later, I left work early to travel for Texas for another momentous occasion. After the weekend in Boston, it was Alex's turn for some limelight as the family continued its cross-country progress to attend his graduation (are you beginning to see what I mean about the camera subtracting inches? I'm pretty sure I used to be taller than these guys.): While in Texas, I also learned about knitting socks, worked a shift at Alex's school's all-night graduation party, got a good 5 inches of my hair chopped off, and spent some time listening to Isaac's thoughts (Don't worry Isaac, your own commencement dinner will come before you know it!).:
As you can see, it's been a pretty full two weeks. Eventually I'll bring you some photos of the "senior week" festivities at Brandeis and more updated information about what the next few months will bring. Stay tuned!