Status report

I now have two weeks to go on my goal of finishing a first draft of the final chapter of my dissertation by July 23. I've made some good progress so far, most recently with help from my parents, who came down to watch Justin and give me two full days to work yesterday and today. Thanks, Mom and Dad! Due to their help, I was able to spend a whole day yesterday in my school library doing one final round of research and reading, and a whole day today writing. I added six pages today to the 8 I had written during the last week or so.

Another big help during the last week and a half (other than Tim of course, who is always a big help!) is that my friend Pascale has had Justin over to play with her daughter Madeleine (whom Justin identifies as his "best friend") several times while I got in some extra hours of work. Based on this picture she sent me, I don't think this has been too much of a hardship for Justin!

So, things are going pretty well. I think if all I had to do in the next two weeks was finish this chapter that I could do it without too much trouble, considering all the help I'm getting. Unfortunately, during this coming two weeks I also have to put the finishing touches on five lectures I'm delivering in Gettysburg July 25-27 and prepare for company and Justin's third birthday party on the 23rd. Should be interesting!