On Wednesday I'm giving a lecture based on my research. It's Saturday and I'm getting close to ready. The basic problem is that I have 25 pages and can't have more than 15. On top of that I know there are some things I don't have in the 25 that I need to add. However, I have figured out where I can subtract about 6 pages, so I guess I'm getting closer.

Since my daughter was born on the 9th of April I've really not gotten much done on the dissertation. My goal is to finish everything by the beginning of March so I can defend in April and graduate in May. I went to the first meeting of the job group on Wednesday and the most important thing they told us was to make sure that we tried to get A LOT done on our dissertations over the summer. No one wants to hire a person in February if they aren't convinced she'll have a PhD well before August. Joe, the head of the committee, said it's always impressive when asked, "so when will you be finished" to give them a date for your defense. Of course, it doesn't have to be scheduled yet when you say that, although it would be nice.

So, the big goal for summer. Write, write, write. The lecture on Wednesday should help me get started and focused.