And now, the end is near.....

Cervantes Blvd., San Francisco, CA, originally uploaded by Kait W..

The time has come. Two weeks from now, I'll be submitting my thesis.

I'm excited and terrified at the same time. I don't know what to expect.

I can't believe it's actually happening.

Kitchen gadgets

A belated Merry Christmas to all three of you who still actually look in on my blog.  It was a great Christmas, and if I'm in a good mood later I'll write about it in more detail.

I got a lot of cooking things this year, and I've just realized how very many kitchen gadgets our family now owns.   I'm wondering if we could cook an entire meal using only gadgets.  In our kitchen we have:

- 2 toasters (1 regular, 1 Hello Kitty)
- 1 waffle iron (hasn't been used in ages - not sure if it's any good)
- 1 griddle
- 2 or 3 Crock Pots
- 1 chocolate melter
- at least 2 fondue pots
- 1 bread machine
- 1 donut maker
- 1 rice cooker
- 1 Quesadilla maker
- 1 George Foreman Grill (new for Christmas!)
- 2 pizza stones and various other pizza equipment (including a paddle to take pizzas out of the oven - exciting!)
- sushi-making accessories
- 1 Keurig coffee maker, which I count as a gadget because it's very gadgety - you put in individual cartridges and make 1 cup at a time.

My brother also owns a coffee maker and a Kegerator (a home beer tap), and he and his roommate have a pasta machine, a popcorn maker and other stuff.  I'm not sure about my sister - my brother-in-law is a good cook, so he probably prefers to do stuff by hand.  They do, however, have a very spiffy grill.

It's kind of excessive, I know.  And I should probably start putting more of it to good use.

Can't believe 2011 is almost over!
Kxxx

PS - This post will probably make me have some interesting Google ads.

You don't know Jack.....

.....yet.

Meet my nephew-to-be, John Michael "Jack" Demma III. He is scheduled to make his debut at the beginning of March.

He's my first nephew, so as you might imagine, I'm very excited. :D

I have made my mark on Oxford, Part III

A friend sent me a message on Facebook today:

So...I'm looking for images of "cocktails in Oxford" for a Facebook event and look who I find...

Once again, I realize that I have truly made my mark on Oxford.

Weekend (or, well, Life) Update

So a lot has changed since I last posted.  For those of you who have been following along since the beginning, I wanted to keep you updated on what I'm doing now.

• I'm taking a one-term extension (I may add a second) and am finishing in January.  That means I'll submit the thesis in January and have a viva (oral exam) in late March-early April, and if all goes well, I'll be done.  If I take a second extension, add 2-3 months to the above dates.
• I'm finishing the thesis from home.  I don't have any more scholarships, can't afford to take out any more loans, and am too distracted being a Junior Dean to keep making the trip across the pond.  Also, I've been in England for five years.  I'm ready to be home.
• I'm also applying for jobs.  I've had a couple of interviews and have been flat-out rejected, but a few are looking promising at the moment.  I'm not applying for professor/VAP positions, by the way - I'm trying for jobs that combine all of my experience, and I think I've found a few where I'd be a good fit.
• My parents got me a PT Cruiser as a welcome home present!  My old car was falling apart and was not far away from being eligible for antique plates, so my parents wanted me to have a vehicle that would get me safely to the library, job interviews, etc. 
• I miss the Oxford crowd terribly, but it's amazing to be home.  Plus, everyone is finishing up and moving on, so I'm more likely to run into people in Washington, DC than in Oxford now.

This blog isn't done yet - you'll keep hearing from me until I'm Dr. Kaitlin. :) So stay tuned!

xxx