Wow - it has been a while since I have blogged...I will try to catch up as best as I can.

- I have my dissertation defense date set - October 27 at 1:30 pm - THIS FRIDAY!! I am working on my presentation and am anxious/excited.

- I went to a conference in San Francisco Mon - Thurs of this past week. I was pretty much on my own. Had my own room & handled everything by myself. I met an online friend there and it was great to see someone face to face that I have communicated with online for so long. Her screen name is MonkeyGirl but I was very disappointed to discover that she looked nothing like a monkey whatsoever. She is tall, kind, and warm. The conference was interesting and I had a good time in San Francisco.

- I am continuing with PT but am getting a little frustrated with the most recent person that I have been working with - she just recently graduated and I have determined that she either (a) was barely a "C" student, (b) does know how to apply what she learned to real work, or ( c ) is simply unmotivated. She simply asks the supervisor what to do and has me do it - I don't think she understands the why behind the activities because she focuses on details of the activity that are not a part of the big picture. I will have to talk to the manager to ask not to work with her any longer. She is very nice and pleasant but that does not help me to heal.

- Guess what I did yesterday (Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006)? I rode my bike all the way to work AND back - BY MYSELF!!! :Clap-Hands: :beer: :big_grin: Bob & I figured it was 6 miles one way, so I rode 12 miles yesterday - woo hoo!! :cheer: I had the best conversation in my head the entire time - "yeah you are!" was my internal response to everything my body was doing. For example:

My body is biking up an incline very well & my mind says "yeah you are!"

I was working really hard to keep going & my mind says "yeah you are!"

It felt fabulous. I hope to do it at least 1-2 times a week and work really hard at it.

"yeah you are!"