On being accepted

It has been slow going with Geraldine this week, but as the proverb says, slow and steady wins the race. In Geraldine's case, I'm hoping that slow and steady completes the dissertation.

My database currently has 101 languages entered and I have information from 8 or 9 more languages waiting for me to type them in. If I continue at this rate, I should hit my target of 150 by spring break and I will more or less be done reading by then as well. Last week I finished the bulk of my reading by forcing myself to write notes on the last 50 chapters/articles on my to-do list. It was tough, but it feels good now that it's over and I can now enjoy looking for more obscure texts from the early 1900s. Hubby's sudden interest in reading Latin poetry until late into the night has been good for my research as well, being that there is nothing to do here that late other than read, read, read, then read some more.

I received an unexpected e-mail last week from a publisher. I am now a blind-reviewer, meaning that the publisher sends me other people's work to review and recommend/ critique. I received a chapter of a book and it is now my duty to review it and either suggest the book for publication, suggest it for publication with changes, or reject it. It's kind of exciting to see the other side of the publication world. In return for my service, the publisher will give me 3 books for free. I have already selected my books. If it turns out that I don't like those books, I figure I can turn around and sell them... but that would be dishonest. Maybe they will turn into a door prize at a future department meeting should I be disapointed with my selection.

In other news, the abstract that I rewrote and submitted to a different conference has been accepted. No news yet pertaining to travel awards for the conference, but it is close enough that I won't end up broke if I don't receive funding. Let's hope that this acceptance will motivate me to polish my paper enough to submit it for publication, as it is far less controversial than anything else I've written on the subject (and I won't have to worry about it resulting in my name on a visa blacklist for a certain country whose language I study).

I am also hopeful that this is the first of a string of acceptances coming to our household this season. I applied for more FLAS funding and Hubby is waiting to hear if he has been accepted into a doctoral program with funding and if he will have a big trip to Berlin this summer (with full funding). Should there be rejections in our future, everyone is invited to join us on our porches this summer as we drink ice water and live off of zuccinni and cucumbers from the garden.