can't think of a title

just sent my first e-mail to my committee. was going to post this on facebook, but thought it might be a little obnoxious since that's all i seem to post about lately. this, however, is my blog and i can post what i want to, post what i want to, post what i want to. you would post to if you had a committee.

it's a happy-dance day

what a great day. the sun is shining (somewhere); it's a brisk 33 degrees outside, which means snow is melting, birds are singing, i just caught a typo and avoided embarrassing myself, man! could it get better? hmmm, i suppose i could have a meeting this morning and secure my fifth and final committee member for my phd!!!!!! uh-huh. uh-huh. uh-huh-uh-huh-uh-huh. it's been a four-and-a-half month journey. meeting with people, pitching my ideas, getting names of more people to meet with, getting names of people i've already met with, revising my proposal twenty-seven times, on and on. but for now, it's done. sigh of relief. next step: polish up the proposal, send out to my committee (oh, does that feel good to say!) for final feedback, traipse all over campus for each of their signatures, and submit for approval from the grad school - basically, the administration and authority over special degrees like mine. here is my final cast of characters (and by final, i mean, for now; things can always change):

patrick remington, md, mph, has agreed to serve as the chair of my committee. thank you, thank you, thank you.







d. paul moberg, phd, my boss and the guy i met in washington dc at a conference before i came to wisconsin. great guy, super smart, and this is a terrible picture of him.






susan zahner, drph, teaches in the school of nursing, is super nice, and was my first non-pop health committee member to sign on. thank you susan!!








shep zeldin, phd, teaches in the school of human ecology. not much to say yet, don't know him well. but super greatful he agreed to be part of my committee!








gary green, phd, met him this morning, love him already. really nice, seems supportive of my ideas, does work internationally and domestically with community development and building assets in communities.






so yay! moving on. i'm also suddenly filled with a feeling of, oh my goodness, what have i done? these people now have expectations and i have a responsibility to deliver. i no longer belong to a department; i am an island...





i'm an island! i'm an island! hoorah, hooray! i'm an island! and i have a committee! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

new kicks

got me some new kicks. and what better way to break them in than to wear them out on a cold, icy wisconsin winter day? unfortunately, converse don't exactly have the greatest traction, so it may not have been the best shoe choice for today, but when you get new shoes, you have to wear them right away!i've been wanting brown all stars for a lloonngg time. i finally ordered them last week and they arrived yesterday. i haven't bought shoes in a couple of years so it's a pretty exciting day, wearing new shoes. there's a definite bounce in my step. people are saying, penny, something's different... and i point to my new kicks. ahhh, people say, nodding and smiling, must be the shoes.