But Before the Hunt...

there was
Just kidding.

For real, before the hunt, there was a thesis defense.

While the kids and I were in TX, Chris slept well all through the night and worked all day on his thesis. After three mad weeks we decided he needed more time.

Two weeks after that and he took a break to come help me drive home. When we arrived home there was still more to do. He worked hard to split his time between the kids and the thesis. Finally, and just in the nick of time, the thesis got done enough to defend it.

It was a miracle. Yep, a real, honest to goodness miracle. The first draft his advising professor read received this critique "I have always liked everything you have ever written. But this, I don't like this at all."

We were shaking in our boots after that. And not for the last time, as it turned out.

There was the chapter that Chris hadn't done the research for yet. Miraculously, Monika decided that 'not included' was better than 'poorly done'.

Then there was the time a pump fell off the excavator. The one of a kind, custom-made-pump that would require 30 days to replace. We won't mention the price. Providentially, the only thing damaged was a coupling that was in stock, over-nighted and cost about $30.

Or the day the excavator broke down twice. Actually, it was the last day that Chris had to take measurements that had to be included in the thesis. Prayerfully, he was able to diagnose and correct both problems with a minimum delay and gather all the data he needed.

But finally it reached a defensible status. It was a big day that we had been working towards for three years. By no means the end of the road (I'll be sure to post about Chris being hooded!) but a huge step nonetheless. Chris wore his best suit and I stressed about refreshments. He presented to a full room and did an awesome job. I know, because he actually talked about his work in a way that I could understand. (A useful and uncommon talent for an engineer!)

After we were dismissed so the real grilling could begin, I went to work putting together a small table of brunchable foods for his committee to enjoy afterwards. Not knowing how much time I had kept me hopping to get it all together.

I remember in my teenage years watching my mother host huge gatherings of people, making huge quantities of food and making it all look so effortless. I am reminded each time I have to do something like this, how not effortless it is for me! I stress and worry and rearrange plates and try to make it nice (it is a reflection on Chris not just me!) and then Dr. Lumkes comes out, grabs one bite and leaves.
Talk about deflated. No comment on the food and a rushed aside about how it is going to be a little longer since one committee member arrived late and had way too much to say.

The waiting continued until finally it ended. Success! He had passed! They ate the food and Monika talked about the cake that Najoua had brought back from her wedding in Tunisia. Oh, well. They ate it.

This is turning into a long post, but I gotta finish the day.

That afternoon Chris had to pass the defense created by his fellow grad students. This included wearing an excavator costume, basketball with the real excavator and bottle cleanup with the mini water-powered hydraulic demonstration excavators.
Then that evening, we went to dinner at Monika's house. It was our last time at this annual event. I was given roses from Monika's garden for being a supportive wife (aka the little woman who lets her husband work like a dog for most of three years:)
And that was the end of the day.

"It was the ending of an era, the turning of a page." At least it felt like it till he went back to the lab and worked like a dog some more before leaving to start the new job in Milwaukee. But that is for another post-Milwaukee, not the working like a dog part.