Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

Let me just say a heart-felt "Whew!" in relief at having cleared a few more hurdles this week.

First, I finally heard back from the third member of my four-professor committee on Monday (and I just learned today that the fourth person has been on Sabbatical this semester, so I don't think I better wait for her input, right now), and her suggestions were fairly minor and concerned with format (insert references in the body of the text, etc.) rather than content or anything substantial.

Second, I finally finished grading my students' final exams, and enough of them did well enough on the exam to verify that all my efforts this semester were not in vain. A few of them apparently didn't study, or studied with the wrong study group, but most of them at least did pretty well on the essay questions, and almost all of them did better on the multiple choices than they had on any of my previous tests. I even got a very nice note of thanks and appreciation from one of the students, who wasn't there the night I handed out the course evaluation forms.

Third I went to graduation ceremonies this morning for the Graduate School of my university (a first, for me), to see my good friend (the one who'd defended her dissertation and inspired me to get a move on earlier this Spring) receive her diploma, along with two other candidates in our program whom I've known almost as long, and at least three women in other programs within the Graduate Department of Religion who had started the same year I did. It was hot even under the tent, and it went on for two hours (giving me plenty of time to finish reviewing a paper for Watcher Junior while everybody I didn't know was getting their diplomas), but I had dressed for the heat, unlike most people, and I was the only one who clapped for my friend Wendy, so I'm very glad I was there. I had been hesitant about seeing my professors there (residual guilt, even though both of the professors in my program have given me positive feedback and "go ahead" signs on my proposal recently), but I had brief conversations with both of them, afterward, and they were both very enthusiastic and positive about it being my turn to graduate this time next year.

("Next year, in Jerusalem . . . "!)

And fourth, I just now got done typing up my very extensive comments and suggestions for the undergraduate paper submissions I'd been asked to review for Watcher Junior, and which I'd kept meaning to get around to for most of the past month. All the reviews are due this Sunday, May 15, so I'm not even getting mine done at the very last minute! And one of the papers was quite enjoyable and seemed likely to be publishable, with minor revisions and polishing.

Sometimes, I love my job(s)!

Even my trip to the dentist to get two cavities filled this week wasn't anything like the ordeal I was expecting. I chose this very expensive dentist (rather than go to the dental school, or whatever) because he's very good about not hurting, and I am a terrible, terrible wuss about pain, especially when it comes to my extremely sensitive teeth. (Plus, there's some childhood trauma left over from far too many trips to a most unempathic and unkind dentist, necessitated by my very, very weak and cavity-prone teeth, even when it was just my baby teeth.) However, this time the dentist suggested that he could do both of those gum-line fillings without resorting to novocaine that would leave me numb for most of the afternoon, and I decided to let him try (with his assurance that he'd stop at my slightest wince and I could have the novocaine at any moment I decided). I was in and out with two fillings in under 20 minutes, thanks to the dentist's accurate guess that there were no actual nerves anywhere near where he'd been drilling, this time. It felt weird to have that drilling against my teeth, but it didn't actually hurt.

My delight in this novel experience was, however, somewhat lessened by my discovery that there was no price discount for the lack of pain-killers and the quicker filling process. $160 for two tiny, tiny fillings right next to each other, in under 20 minutes! I am so in the wrong line of work for making money!

Guess that's all the news, for the moment.

Have to go get ready for the final two episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, now. Plenty of Kleenex on hand.