Stacey is a doctor!

Yesterday Stacey had her PhD dissertation defense in Iowa. I took Thursday and Friday off and went along with her to offer support, and she did great! Now, I didn't understand quite a bit of what she was talking about, but it was obvious that she knew her stuff. So after she met with her dissertation committee behind closed doors, she was officially pronounced "Dr. Payne" :-) I'm very happy and excited for her, and she is relieved to be finished. The next step is to find a teaching job at a community college in the area. I know she will be a great teacher—and that's not just a biased opinion—so keep your fingers crossed for her. Hopefully things will work out great!

Here's an interesting note: after her defense yesterday, someone from the department took lots of pictures, including several of the both of us. Prior to that, there have been 1 or 2 pictures taken of us... how sad! I really need to get a new digital camera!

My NCAA tournament, while hit hard by some big upsets (I'm looking at you, Kansas), is still in the running for first place in my groups. I have 3 of my four Final Four teams left: LSU, UConn, and Villanova. Unfortunately, the Jayhawks were picked to be in the championship game, so that is tough, but I did pick LSU's upset of Duke, so that brought me back into the game. We'll see how things shake out these next couple of weekends.

As many of you know, I'm looking at townhouses, since I should have enough money saved up in a few months to move out. Unfortunately, my budget precludes me from many of the more attractive offerings, so it's not an easy task. (Oh, how I wish money wasn't an issue!) It's looking like I'll end up south of Schaumburg, probably just south of where Stacey lives. Of course, who knows what will happen over the next few months? (Unfortunately, me winning the lottery probably won't be on that list.)

I hope all is well with you, my faithful readers. I know it's been a while, so make sure to drop me a line so we can catch up.

-Mark

This post dedicated to the memory of Tony Almeida. Rest in peace, Soulpatch.