No more marking first-year papers
No more citing sources...
Greet me with banners and balloons
And my hard drive smashed to pieces
Nothing left for me to say
When I write my master's thesis.
John K. Sansom, "When I Write my Master's Thesis"

To celebrate turning in the first draft of my doctoral thesis ('thesis' here in Canada but 'dissertation' in the US), DH dragged me on my first run in . . . well, I'm not sure, but I believe it was pre-kids and pre-master's program, so that's at least 9 years. Yep, my first run in 9 years.  Realizing that made me feel a little better about not being able to run the whole 2 1/4 miles without stopping.  And, being an academic, I had to quantify what I learned by doing it:

1. It's a lot more fun to talk about running a half-marathon over a couple of margaritas in Tucson in December than it is to start training for said event in Toronto in April.
2. DH is awesome for letting me blow my nose on his ratty t-shirt instead of my 20-yr-old sweatshirt.
3. Knees hurt.
4. In Canada, running gloves are a good investment.
5. It feels so awesome to be done with a run!
6. Knees hurt.
7. It's a little better when the snow stops.

All of these statements are based on empirical evidence from Friday morning, even, unfortunately, #7.


Apparently, in our house when we blog, we quote a song and then link to it:  http://greetings2thenewbrunette.blogspot.ca/2012/02/song-du-jour-when-i-write-my-masters.html#!/2012/02/song-du-jour-when-i-write-my-masters.html

I don't know if that counts a citing a source, but at the very least, like an obedient academic, I've learned how to fit in when I write.