This morning I addressed an inquiry to my newly engaged classmate, Mary, concerning her plans for the future. It turns out that her fiance is hoping to be accepted to the same graduate program that my fiance is currently enrolled in. So, it seems that my fiance and I will probably be living in the same tiny little town, quite likely in the same block . . . heck, possibly even in the same apartment building, with two of my current classmates for the next six years. Mary and I will probably even have children at about the same time, if all goes well biologically.

!

That is weird.
This getting older thing is just plain freaky.

And I'm not the only one who thinks so, either.

Last night a girl in my dorm yells from the upstairs commons, "Emily! Do you know that this time next year you could be pregnant?!?!"

Now, see, this whole intra-class engagement thing has made everyone freak out.
Of course I'd thought of that. Does that notion unsettle me? Well, yes, a little, but not in a bad way. I am quite conscious of the realistic possibility, and I'm very much hoping for it, in fact. This reality had not occurred to this girl yet, though, and she seemed rather shaken, the poor thing. It's time for another big change, and that can be frightening for everyone.

And now for something completely different:

I received some good news from my thesis advisor today - he's been talking to Mr. N and Mr. P about my thesis and they have a bunch of stuff they want me to read. All I did was ask Mr. B to be my advisor and here I am, the lucky possessor of a whole thesis committee. This is a good thing - - especially since those two other tutors are likely candidates to end up on my defense board. If they have a hand in the formation of my thesis they are going to be much less likely to complain. :)

Well, anyhoo, I need to go study.
Big hugs to everyone (especially you, my love),

Emily