Month: December 2007

Almost 60 years old!!

Kyllan 2 Comments

William and I have not done a Christmas post yet, I know…. but I had to at least make a post to say Happy Birthday to my mother, Sandra.  She and my dad will be in Jacksonville tomorrow, so we will get to see them soon.  William and I arrived in Jacksonville yesterday and have a busy, but fun weekend planned including a gala tonight, wedding tomorrow, reception for us hosted by his parents on Sunday, and New Year’s Eve party on Monday.  So we will definitely be bringing in 2008 with cheer.

Anyway… more on the festivities later.

Happy Birthday Mom!!  Next year = the big one = big party! (Don’t worry… my mom is not bashful about her age… she looks much younger than she really is). 

Christmas Time is Here!

Kyllan 8 Comments

I picked William up from the airport yesterday, so Christmas came a few days early for me. We have enjoyed being together again and look forward to spending time with each other and with our parents later this week. We don’t really have any specific plans the next couple days besides going to my sister’s house on Christmas day. We went to church this morning and they had the annual Christmas production. It was very nicely done with falling snow, live animals, and more. Pastor Evans also gave a short sermon on reminding us to keep Christ in Christmas this year and every year. He talked about how we get caught up in the gifts, but frequently forget about the Giver of the gifts. It was a good message, right to the point, and several people accepted Christ, which is the ultimate gift.

I decorated the house this year and I really think it looks nice. I am sure we will post pictures at some point. With a few new pieces of furniture and other gifts from the wedding, it is really starting to feel more like a “home”. We are thinking of inviting a few people over tomorrow night to hang out and play Nintendo Wii, so we’ll see what happens. I suggested we see The Great Debaters (a movie that comes out Christmas day starring Denzel Washington and Forrest Whitaker). I have seen previews on tv and on Oprah and it looks good.

In terms of Christmas traditions, William and I hope to start some, but haven’t figured them all out yet. We did decide that each year we would buy a new ornament for the tree and gradually build up. His mom has a story behind just about every ornament on her tree, so I think he wants to do the same. My family didn’t really have any traditions per se besides the usual family gathering and the Chinese Christmas Eve dinner that we have to celebrate my aunt’s Chinese heritage. I will miss fighting for those egg rolls this year! One year we had karoake and that was a lot of fun. Sometimes we even break out in Christmas carols (sounds cheesy, but it really is fun when you get everyone involved). I am sure once kids are in the picture our list of family traditions will grow.

Anyone else have a Christmas tradition they would like to share ?

p.s. the title for this post was b/c I have that song in my head. Toni Braxton has a version on her 2001 Snowflakes album that is so nice.  Click here to enjoy it!

ABD

William 7 Comments

I am finally “all but done.” Usually this means that a graduate student is done with course work and can focus on research for the rest of their graduate career. It also means that they have officially been admitted to candidatecy. (If you want to get all philosophical, it marks the transition from a consumer of knowledge to a producer of knowledge.) Me? I’ve been done with course work for a long time, but two transfers, a hurricane, a “special student admission” and a laboratory move created a unique situation. It doesn’t matter now. Simply put, it’s all downhill from here. Pretty soon I will sit down with a committee and we will determine just how much more data I need to graduate.

For those that don’t know, here is the story. I transfered from Cornell before reaching the point I could take their exam. At TU I was missing one course; It ended the semester before I arrived and was only offered every other year. Hurricane Katrina hit at the beginning of the semester the next time it was offered. I finished my course work at UT Southwestern, where my lab temporarily setup after Katrina. A year later, after returning to a barely functioning TU that had completely restructured its’ graduate program and couldn’t decide how to proceed with qualifying exams, my lab moved to UCHSC. As a condition of my transfer to UCHSC, I had to take their exam, which consisted of two parts: a written exam based on coursework and a grant proposal and defense. The fact that I didn’t actually take any of their coursework only made it more interesting. I took the written portion this past summer and defended my proposal this past Friday.

Another Trip to Haiti

William 4 Comments

You may recall that my father is involved with the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation. Below is a picture of him being carried across a washed out road to get to the Hospital in Fond Des Blancs, Haiti.

“The Haiti trip was my second. I did not know that November is rain season. We got caught in the after affects of tropical storm Noel. pronounced “Noll” It took two days of ground travel to get to the Hospital because of road conditions and flooding. We did 13 cases in 2.5 days. We lost 3 of our surgical days to traveling. The Haitian people were very grateful for our surgical services.” -William, Sr.

Boyfriend/Girlfriend

William 2 Comments

This weekend five years ago Kyllan and I had a very important conversation. I don’t specifically remember how it went, but before we left for my boss’ holiday party we discussed how I would introduce her to my co-workers. This weekend five years ago we decided that we were a couple.

Suggestions

Kyllan 10 Comments

William and I are settling down from what was a very busy work week for both of us, especially for William who called me this morning when I was making breakfast at 7am (the first time I think I have ever made a hot breakfast before work) and reported he was just then going to bed . We need something to blog about. Any suggestions?  Any suggestions for Christmas gifts?  I have no idea what I want this year.  I doubt William will buy me clothes or stuff for the house, which is about all I think I want at the moment, so I am stuck.  William has already begun compiling his list (as usual).