IT IS OFFICIAL!!

Hello, friends. I just had to stop in and announce that IT IS OFFICIAL!!! I am Dr. Corcoran! I defended my dissertation on Wednesday, June 2^nd. I made the revisions my committee recommended that evening and emailed it back to my chair before bed that same night, and on Friday, June 4^th, my chair emailed and told me that the program director of my college had approved my dissertation with no further revisions, which he said has never happened in the 50+ dissertations he has been the chair for. At that point, it was forwarded to the dean for final approval, and I was really hoping that I would hear something by Friday evening, but I didn't. The dean's part of the process is a formality, but that is what makes it official, so until I got the email saying I was Dr. C, I couldn't claim the title. What a journey it has been. And yeah, I should take a nice long break, but I have already signed up for another class. I started a Master of Public Health degree at the university I work for about 3 1/2 years ago (before I started working there), and I decided I want to resume it because I get a 90% tuition discount, so I started my new class on Wednesday. My ultimate goal is really to be a health educator. I have been interested in health for many years, and with obesity at epidemic proportions, both Dan and I have a heart for helping people escape the trap and learn how to not only lose weight, but maintain the weight loss forever and get their health back. With a Ph.D in educational leadership and an MPH, not to mention the holistic health coaching certificate I am working on and my own weight loss, I should have decent crediblity, so we shall see what happens in a couple of years after I finish my degree. In the meantime, I am very happy with the job I have now and have no intention of leaving at least until after I finish the MPH.

I brought my kitties home on May 8^th, so they have been with me now for a month now. They are really super sweet. Their names are Charlotte (Charleigh), the tabby, and Isabella (Bella) is the calico.

Bella was a bit standoffish when I first brought her home, but she has really warmed up to me and now she loves to sit in my lap and purr until she falls asleep. Charleigh initially was the one who wanted to be with me all the time, but as she gets bigger, she tends to want to sleep on my desk or on a chair next to me. Emma likes Charleigh a lot, but she tends to growl at Bella. Dan thinks Emma might think that Charleigh is Mimi, the kitten I resuced from my back yard about five years ago. After I was unable to find her a home, my daughter decided to adopt her, so Emma and Mimi basically grew up together. Mimi is also a tabby, so it is possible that Emma feels a kinship with her. I have only let them see the birds a couple of times because they really want to get them and the birds are a little too curious about them.

I finally went and got my hair colored a week and half ago for the first time in about a year. I got it done last summer when I thought I'd have to go back to work, but after they announced I was going to be permanently remote, I just let it go. The whole top of my head is pretty much gray now, and I was getting a bit tired of looking old. Here is a picture of what I had done. I didn't get it cut. It is very long now. It is down to the middle of my back and I let most of my bangs grow out, but I decided to cut a small fringe because I think I look younger with bangs.

In other news, April and I will be taking two vacations next spring. We are going to Disney World for five days in early February, and then we are going to take a cruise with my mom in early April. Disney is about 7 1/2 to 8 hours from where we live, and the port for the cruise ship is an hour away, so all within driving distance. I am really excited about going back to Disney. Last time April and I went in 2013, she got really sick and our two day vacation turned into one decent day and one really sucky day sitting in our hotel room. I am praying that since we will not be flying, she will not get sick. She does not travel well for some reason. My mom has wanted to take a cruise for years, and she was supposed to go with some of her friends to celebrate their 70^th birthdays, but their plans fell through, so she asked if we would go with her next year. We will probably do a 5 day cruise to Mexico. Hopefully it will be better than the cruise Dan and I took in January of 2020 when we were fogged in at port for over 24 hours and never made it to Mexico. It was sad.

I hope y'all are doing well. I will make some blog visits either tonight or this weekend.