Graduation (and upcoming surgery)

I've officially graduated.  I should, however, put an asterisk next to that, because the dissertation is not officially submitted.  I'm still waiting for two committee members to set up a time to sign all the necessary paperwork.  My advisor, though, is ready to sign...so it seems like it's just a matter of time right now.

Graduation was wonderful.  It was great to see everyone, especially people who have been away for the last few years researching and writing.  Savannah was surprisingly well behaved through it all (the ceremony was close to two hours long...).

Jason and I, post-hooding.

I'll have to add some pictures from the ceremony itself later..I need to get those from other family members.

To celebrate, we went to a nice dinner at the Melting Pot.

We had a ton of fun....and so did Savannah, once we got to the chocolate course.  She wasn't terribly interested in the cheese or entrees, but it was clear she had been watching everyone when the chocolate was put in front of her.  She knew exactly what to do.

I'm not entirely sure how much chocolate she consumed, but it wasn't long before this happened....

She had a little bit of a sugar high! After this photo(s) was taken, she regaled us all with songs from Frozen and walked us through some deep breathing exercises.  It was HILARIOUS.

I feel very lucky that so many family members were able to come out for this special day.  It's been a long seven years, and there were certainly times I wanted to quit, especially once I began the arduous task of writing a dissertation.  But family, and most especially Jason, continued to encourage and support me.  I also wanted my little girl to know that you can at least try to have it all--a wonderful family life and an intellectually fulfilling career.  It was important for me that Savannah see me working on this and, ultimately, finishing it.

Speaking of my girl, tomorrow is a rather big day for her.  She'll be having surgery to repair an epigastric hernia at 9:30 am tomorrow morning (at Packard Hospital at Stanford).  Jason and I are, not surprisingly, worried about all this.  While it is a very simple and routine procedure, it requires full anesthesia and intubation, things neither of us wanted our girl to experience.  Savannah knows she's having surgery and nearly broke my heart last night when she climbed in my lap and told me she was so scared. So, please, if you think about it tomorrow, say a little prayer/send good thoughts/take a moment to meditate for our girl.  We need the surgery to go well and, probably the more difficult part with an active four year old, we need her to more or less be inactive for an entire month while she heals.  We appreciate any good thoughts sent our way.

Love you all,

Ashley