An eventful trip to Florida

The past few days have been full of excitement – some parts better than others. It all started on Thursday, the day before my doctoral defense. My parents and the kids were set to come up that afternoon to install a new door and do some general fix-it things around the house. Instead, Wednesday night my mom felt ill and ended up spending the night in the ER. After several tests, the doctors determined it was her gall bladder and that it needed to come out right away. She went right into surgery Thursday evening and stayed in the hospital until Friday. With dad not being able to talk, Kevin and I alerted the masses and were able to get the family on board pretty quickly. Then, Friday morning was my doctoral defense - I passed! I gave this event its own post. 


After a few more meetings I had my car packed and was ready to head to FL to see mom and try to take a little break from school. On my way between school and the house I stopped at Brendan’s and as soon as I got out of the car I hear all of the air spewing out of my rear tire – it went flat!  After Brendan changed the tire in the 1000 degree heat I headed over to Goodyear to get a new one. I decided not to travel at night and postpone my drive for Saturday. Then, Saturday I got up and started my drive to FL. About half way down, my car overheats! I pull over, add water to the radiator and reservoir and continue my drive. It continued to run hot all the way home and I had to stop several times. It took me almost 2 extra hours to get home. I was hot but poor Tank was in the car with me and he was really suffering. Every time I stopped to put water in the car I had to get him some water too.  Needless to say we made it home safe and I will be taking one of my parents’ cars back to Athens when I leave. 


Mom is doing well, recovery seems to be pretty quick and she is in very little pain. Dad is also doing well. He doesn't have a voice but I think he is pretty easy to understand. Maybe I just know him well enough to be able to predict what he would say. I also try to always find food that he can eat and so far this trip I've found re-fried beans, guacamole, butterscotch pudding (one of our favorite flavors), mandarin chicken, chow mein noodles, and beef/broccoli. 


Here's a video of dad telling Dewey to do tricks. It is pretty impressive to watch Dewey respond even though dad can't talk. One of Dewey's go-to responses is to howl when dad wants him to do a trick but funny enough, dad can't 'speak', Dewey doesn't either!

Dr. Melissa Bright

Friday was my dissertation defense day. The defense is partly about my dissertation, which was about statistical techniques for comparing physiological activity in mothers and their children (yawn, I know), but also the last chance for my committee to ‘test’ me about anything I should know before earning a PhD. I got some typical questions such as “what would you change about this study?” “who cares about this information?” and some very abstract questions like “define behavior.”  So, I guess it’s mostly official, I am Dr. Melissa Bright. I don’t feel like it will sink in until graduation day, or maybe even after. I have met all the requirements for graduation so technically I could do nothing more between now and August 4^th and I will still earn the PhD. Friday didn’t feel too much different than any other day and I certainly don’t feel any different. Maybe it will sink in the first time I introduce myself to someone (probably in an academic setting) as Dr. Melissa bright. I’ve written it three times in this post alone and it still feels the same…

This is a little motivational sign I made for myself about a year ago to remind myself that all I have to do is write (that's the basis of a PhD, really) to finish and get to Australia. I had 4 major benchmarks and I crossed  off each one as I finished them. 

Happy 4th of July!

Fourth of July is my absolute favorite holiday of the entire year. I love fireworks, the heat, being on the water, all of it. This year, however, I chose to ignore the holiday. First, who let the 4th fall on a Wednesday? I, like many other people, had to work the day before. Second, my defense is tomorrow (the 6th) so I needed to practice. Third, I found out that I didn't get the post-doc funding I applied for (to work at Johns Hopkins University) so I was a bit bummed about that and really interested in getting working on my revision application. Finally, my family was set to come into town today so I had a lot to do around the house. I was still able to spend a few hours by the pool with Tamar, followed by some delicious watermelon and an early evening run with Shirn (Brendan's sister-in-law). Tomorrow is a big day so today I'm going to practice one more time, get in a nice run, and maybe take some nyquil to ensure I get good rest.....

Dentist visit and Walky Dog

This week Charlie had his first dental cleaning. It's something that many dogs never have done, mostly because it can be expensive but also because owners don't generally realize their dog needs it. Poor dental health can lead to poor all over health in dogs just like in humans, such as bacteria to the heart, liver problems, etc. At his last check up his vet noticed a good amount of build up on his teeth and recommended a cleaning. For the procedure I took him in around 7:30 in the morning, they started the procedure around 9 and ended around 11:45a. He was sedated for the entire thing so they keep him in the office until around 4pm for observation. When I picked him up he was very excited to see me (who wouldn't be?) and the vet said he was the favorite pet of the day. I have a feeling they say that to many (if not all) owners but I just know they meant it with me.

So excited to be home. 

Look at those pearly whites.

That same day I received a package I ordered a week or so ago. I've been wanting this toy for a long time and I finally did it. It's called a WalkyDog, a special device for walking your dog while riding your bike. I love taking the boys out on bike rides but have in past had to hold the leash in one hand. Riding that way has never been a problem, we've had no major accidents, but I just really really wanted the Walkydog. I bought it from a mom and pop company TheDogOutdoors and in the box with the device was a dog treat - how special! Because I got it on Charlie's dental day Tank tried it out with me. We love it!

ps. Brendan put the video together. I was just going to get a simple shot and call it a day but of course the film maker needed to jazz it up.

Tank, the guinea pig

Today was a special day for Tank. A friend of mine asked me to bring him in as a practice patient for a bunch of high school students learning veterinary medicine. The students were part of a summer program, Duke TIP, where high achieving middle and high school students go to various universities for about 3 weeks of intensive learning in a particular topic. I was a bit skeptical at first because Tank hates the vet and I wasn't sure if we would be in a real vet examine room. It turns out we were in a large lecture hall and there were only 3 other dogs so things worked out great. Tank had a team of 4 high school students and one real vet. Each student took a turn taking a history from me while the vet guided them through each question. I tried to keep it interesting so for each student I made up some complaint or illness that Tank has had in the past (he broke his toe once, he had an allergic reaction and a swollen paw once, he has chronic ear infections, and sometimes he regurgitates his food if he eats too quickly). Then, they took turns checking his pulse (apparently hard to find because he was so calm) and listening to his breathing. One girl started her exam with his face and shined a bright light in his eyes. Luckily Tank was on his very best behavior and just laid there while they all poked and prodded. It was great to get him out of the house and I couldn't have been more proud of how he behaved!

Tank, just laying around in a viking hat. Such a sweet baby :)

Last class ever!

Yeah, right. I'll most likely be taking classes as a post-doc and somehow probably for the rest of my life. Yesterday I started my last class of graduate school at least- Seminar in Multilevel Methods. It's just a fancy statistics class. I'll be sure to update everyone if I learn something practical that we can all apply to our lives (probably not going to happen :). Last Friday also started the last class I will teach in graduate school. I teach Social and Personality Development to Junior and Senior undergraduate students. Most people choose not to teach in the summer because they usually teach in the Fall/Spring. Because of my fellowship I don't have to teach Fall/Spring and am happy to do it in Summer. The class is a lot of fun and I generally enjoy all of my students. We talk about topics such as attachment, development of emotions, gender identity, aggression, altruism, and the family. Wish I had a picture to attach...coming soon I guess.

Running in the rain and soapbox cars

For the past week or so Brendan's sister-in-law, Shirin, has been my running partner. We've been running a trail that is near campus. It's behind a dog park so its pretty heavily trafficked, well maintained, and shaded which is great. We started running one lap then walk/running the next but we just about ran all the way through today. I expect in no time we'll be running straight through multiple laps. I took my bike out there and calculate the distance (I want every step to count!) - it's about 1.33 miles for one loop. Today was a fun run, 2.8 miles total (in about 1/2 hour, didn't bring my watch) but the best part was the rain. When we got there we both said "gee, I wish it'd rain" and sure enough, our first step of the run it came pouring down. It felt amazing, wish it would rain for more runs. With my new shoes the trail runs have been fantastic, feeling not only tolerable but actually good. I've never had runs feel good, hope it keeps up!

Also, yesterday Tamar and I went to the Red Bull Soap Box car race in Atlanta. It was perfect weather but VERY crowded. We found an okay spot to watch the race but I spent more time watching the crowds (you know, waiting for someone in the sea of people to vomit, pass out, or break out in fight) than the race. The racers looked like they had so much fun, I really wish I had a car to race. Dad could help me build one, right dad?

The crowd at the box car race.

The track. Don't know how long it was, but some cars barely made it to the end.

One of the cars. Definitely not my favorite, but a cool one none the less.

This one was my favorite - it was themed as Goonies (my favorite movie of all time)!

     

Oh and we enjoyed some delicious food truck food. I had chicken and waffles - a little spicy at first but I was starving so I didn't care.