Dora Is ONE!!

Dora Morel Watford turned one year old on February 27th!! There has been so much going on around here, that I haven't had time to post anything. Rachel and Don had a party planned for the 23rd, but they postponed it. They are going to reschedule it, I hope, and all of their friends will be there.
So, they had an impromptu spaghetti supper/party on her birthday!

Ballons on the light

 I gave Dora a set of Mega Blocks, and she loved them! She is saying, "Here, take this. Uh, oh, I tricked you!" She hands you one, and then she pulls her hand back really quick. She is a stinker!

 I know if I reach my hand in there just far enough, I can grab a bunch of blocks!

 Isn't she a cutie pie!~

 Uh, oh, I got CAUGHT!!  haha

 Rachel had little pinwheels and tissue paper in the glass vases.

 Dora finally got the hang of grabbing the icing and eating it! Notice that the dress is now on the chair. We didn't want spaghetti sauce all over her birthday dress!!

 She LOVES spaghetti!

 I made the cake for Dora. Rachel saw one on pinterest with white icing and colorful sprinkles up the side. I attempted to make one. It is heart shaped. The writing says, "Dora is 1!"
I will make a bigger cake for the 'big' party.

 Look at little Miss Priss posing for the camera!

 Dora's cake with her candles!

We had a terrific time with Dora on her first birthday. She is the greatest little girl in the whole, wide world!! Of course, I am not partial at all!!

 

Whew...exhale...

Is it possible? Can I finally exhale? Did you ever see the movie called "Waiting to Exhale"? Well, that movie does not represent my life, but the phrase relates to me pretty well.
After almost six years of studying, writing, fretting, studying, writing, worrying, etc., etc., I finally finished what I started - my Ph.D. degree in Curriculum and Instruction. That name means Education, basically! haha
I started this journey during a crisis in my life. My mamma had cancer and was not expected to live very long. She urged me to sign up for the program and to keep on going. She always told me to study, because she was going to be okay. So, I did. She knew how important achieving this milestone in my life meant to me. I studied while taking care of her. I studied, and studied, and studied. Mamma passed away during my last quarter of classes. The next quarter, I took my comprehensive exams and passed with flying colors. Then, the dissertation process began. The first part went fairly smoothly, learning about all sorts of research and preparing to begin the dissertation journey. Then, the writing began...or did it...That is when things kind of fell apart. I was now taking care of my dad, and the time and mind that I needed just weren't there. I started, and I faltered, and I started, and I faltered...Finally after a couple of years of paying tuition and not writing, I took an entire year - 3 quarters - of inactivity. That did help, because I wasn't feeling guilty all the time about not studying. This summer, I began the journey again. Wham! Beginning around the end of July, I actually got a brain in my head that allowed me to concentrate, write, and study. I got three chapters done - which was called my proposal. I kept working on it during fall quarter, and the entire three chapters were approved. Then, I began my data collection. I did that in December. I wrote my last two chapters this quarter, got them approved, got approved by the School of Education, and had the final defense of my dissertation. Along the way, my daddy got sick a few times. It was hard, but I finally did it. Daddy got sick this past weekend and spent the whole week in the hospital. I was to have my defense at 530 pm Friday, and he had an emergency heart procedure scheduled Friday morning to begin at 5 pm! What a hectic day. On top of that, I had been sick all week and felt horrible. I was ready to do my defense from the hospital room or my car, whatever it was going to take, I was going to get it done. Finally, after texting and rescheduling the time three times, I set it for six. Then, the doctor was late. Luckily, the procedure was not very long. The doctor came out and told us it was a success. I spoke to him. I went in and spoke to Daddy. Then, I went home and was there with ten minutes to spare before my defense! It went smoothly, and they congratulated me and called me Dr. Hooper! I went to the hospital to tell Daddy, and he said, "It is about time we had a Dr. Hooper!" haha
He has been very supportive of me all the way, and he is always very interested in all of us pursuing and furthering our education.
Whew! I started the journey in a crisis, and I ended it in a crisis. Why would I have expected anything less??  I did it! I am a Ph. D., and my name is Dr. Dewilla Hooper!! Yippee!!!!!!

Now, maybe I can blog more often and actually do some fun things for a change!!

Later gators!~!

I Did It

I did it~I finished my degree, and I am now a Ph.D.!! Hey, that ryhmes!!

 

I had my final defense of my dissertation Friday night, and my committee members all said, "Congratulations, Dr. Hooper", at the end of the conference!  So, I am now Dr. Dewilla Hooper!!

Yippee!!

 

 

 

thoughts

The weather here has been really nice. I do not get outside in the sunshine much, but it looks nice coming through my big, living room windows. It would be nice to take a walk in the sunshine today. Maybe I will get out in it a bit. I promised my cousin that I would help her do some things in her house today, so I know that I will be inside for a lot of the afternoon. That is okay. She needs me, and she is a very special person to me.
 A lot of people are anxiously waiting for the football game that will be on tonight, but I am not into football. So, my television will not be on that channel. I have so many things to catch up on, but I'm not sure when I will get to do any of them. A year or two ago, I purchased some nice scrapbooks, and I planned on putting my children's pictures in them. I got as far as gathering lot of pictures and putting them into tote boxes, but that is as far as that project ever got. I bought a lot of cross stitch patterns to make for my granddaughter, but they are all still in my pattern boxes. Now that my dissertation is hopefully finished, I must begin to do some of these projects. Perhaps the bright sunshine and nice weather will give me the much needed boost, push, urge, or whatever I need in order to begin the work!
Milestone 11 is where I am in the dissertation process. That step is when the School of Education reads and hopefully approves my full dissertation. Milestone 12 is formatting and editing, when the whole 'book' goes to the editors to check all things format wise. After that, I have milestone 13, which is the final defense of my dissertation. Then, milestone 14 is final mauscript approval. Milestone 15 is final publishing/copywrighting, and milestone 16 is final Dean Approval. So as you can see, the process is quite long. Each step can take up to two weeks. I really hope that the steps do not all take two weeks, because that will take me into April!  The first time my work went to the School of Education for approval of my first three chapters, they approved them without any edits required.  I am hoping for good luck with the last two chapters, too. I really hope that the two week per milestone timeframe is merely a guideline and not a reality!  Hopefully, I will hear something really soon from the school about all five chapters of my dissertation. They have had it for five working days, so i should hear something from them later this week. I can only wait and keep my fingers crossed! In the meantime, I need to learn how to loosen up and be free again. That is a hard thing to do, though:)
Have a great day!!
 

Waiting

The waiting game is on again. My dissertation is now in the hands of the School of Education, so I am waiting to hear from them as to whether or not any edits are needed. The process is long and in many steps, but that is okay. I have come a long way, and I am moving onward and upward.
The weather has been pretty nice around here. It is like spring a little bit, and that is good.
Little Dora is crawling all over the place. She does pull herself up and walk around things. She practically runs when you hold her hand for her to walk. She drags us really fast! haha
When she does finally take off on her own, I'm afraid that she might just end up flat on her nose! hahaha She is a little speedy Gonzales!!
I do not really have much to say. I thought I did, but I do not seem to have any words coming to me right now. So, I shall close this tiny blog for now. Have a good night!

Tuesday

It is Tuesday, the first day back to school from the three day weekend. No students came today, so it was a nice, calm day. I received some good news yesterday. My mentor approved my full dissertation! It is now in the hands of my committee members, and I hope they approve it, as well. Then, on to the school of education for approval. Next, I will defend my dissertation and hopefully become Dr. Dewilla Hooper!!  The process is long, with many steps, but that is a good thing. In order to earn your Ph.D., you should have to jump through a lot of hoops. After all, this degree is a "biggy"!!
The weather in South Georgia is just crazy. We have summer one day and winter the next day. Today, it was winter. Yesterday, it was summer. Like I said, it is just crazy.
It is hard to believe that it will be February really, really soon. Now that I am finished studying constantly, maybe I will be able to get out my cross stitch patterns that I bought to make for my little granddaughter~ That should be my goal for now, so I guess it is!
I hope everyone is having a great day!!

January

It is almost the end of January, and I have no idea where the month has gone! It seems only yesterday that we were celebrating Christmas and New Year's Day. A lot has been going on, that is for sure. School resumed after the holidays rather quietly, thank goodness. I have been working pretty consistently on my dissertation, and I am happy to announce that I submitted the full dissertation tonight for my advisor to peruse. Of course, this was just the first submission. There are many things yet to do, but the biggest step has been taken!
All seems right with the world, for a change.
Next, I have plenty of work to get done around this house. I have been in school for such a long time, that I have neglected a lot of housework (ugh!) and this place has gotten rather piled up with books, books, and more books...not to mention a plethora of other things piling high to the sky!!
I have promised my children that once I get finished with this Ph.D., I will clean up this house! I suppose I must keep that promise, or they may just take things into their own hands and do a lot of throwing away! I do not want to throw away anything, but I will get this place up to par and out of its rundown, piled high, crazy condition.
I am not quite sure what I will do with myself when all of the editing is done on my dissertation (if there needs to be any). The world is out there waiting for me. The next step in the process will be for my committee to approve my dissertation. Then, the last step in the process is the conference call with my committee, but I think that will be okay. I had one of those last quarter, so now I know what it will be like, and I am not as rattled about it as I was the first time.
My little granddaughter is so adorable!! She is as sweet as pie, and she is always happy. She barely ever cries, and she smiles all the time!
So, things are looking up in the world. I am anxiously awaiting news from my mentor, so that I can finally be settled about this whole thing.
Have a great night and a terrific weekend!!