Thesis

This has been a busy time for our family, with Mike finishing his thesis and trying to make the most of our time left in the Bay Area.  I’m happy to announce that Mike turned in his thesis today to his committee.  To be honest, I didn’t read it.  One reason being that it’s nearly 300 pages long and the second being that I don’t think I would understand much of what it says.  However, when Mike finished it, he asked me to read the “Acknowledgements” section.  I’m typically not a big crier, but I was sobbing by the time I finished it!  I was truly touched and I look back over the last four years very fondly; this time in our life will always mean so much to me!  Below is an excerpt from the acknowledgements in his thesis.

"Throughout my life my family has been nothing but loving and supportive of my sometimes seemingly strange choices. My parents stressed the importance of education early on and sacrificed a great deal to send me to the best schools possible. This thesis would not have been possible without them. My grandmother, Sandy Thompson, was also an always encouraging and loving person throughout my schooling. I also want to especially thank my sister, who has been involved in a GPA war with me since we were kids (encouraged by Dad), and without her competition this thesis probably would have never been written. My two children, Noah (6 at the time of this writing) and Amelia (1 year old), have made life fun and exciting. I hope they both read this thesis one day, word for word. If one of them is reading this right now, remember, there will be a pop quiz before you get any inheritance. I want to thank Noah for being such a great kid, especially in the last year when he needed to share what little space he had in our apartment with the baby.

            Most importantly I want to thank my beautiful, loving wife Lisa for being there for me through the ups and downs of graduate school and enduring many, many nights without me being home. Although it doesn’t appear to be to most people, science is an inherently selfish business. She moved away from her family and friends, moved into a tiny, crappy apartment with two kids and a dog, all so that I could do single molecule spectroscopy. She also started her own business and supported us financially while taking care of the kids full time and for all these things I will be eternally grateful. This thesis is dedicated to her."

The Final Countdown

It’s very hard to believe but one month from today, Mike will graduate and officially be Dr. Michael Thompson!  I can’t explain how proud of him I am; he has worked so hard and accomplished so much these last four years!  

 

I had the best Mother’s day this past weekend!  Mike kicked it off the night before by taking me to dinner at a fabulous Cuban restaurant.  When picking where we would eat, he decided to look up what kinds of restaurants Dallas didn’t have and this area does.  It was a lovely meal and I’m thankful for Tommy, our 17-year-old-neighbor who lives downstairs who can come watch the kids after they’re asleep.  Getting paid to study while babysitting sleeping children isn’t a bad deal!

 

The next morning he woke up with the kids and let me sleep in until 7:30am . . . for those of you who know me well, that truly is sleeping in for me.  When I did get up, I had a dozen roses waiting for me and Mike was making pancakes!  Noah made me a very sweet card with a heart pendant inside. We went on a hike and then Mike made my favorite meal, smoked BBQ pork.  I am very thankful for their thoughtfulness!

Noah’s T ball is nearing the end of its season; we’ve really enjoyed it and are looking forward to coach pitch next year.  We just got his pictures back and I was so happy with how they turned out.

Down & Out

There’s nothing like coming home from vacation and everyone getting sick.   We had a few healthy days but then Amelia developed a high fever (103.2) and it kept up for almost four days.  I discovered this when we went on a hike; I wore her on my back as usual but she slept all two hours and when we got to the car and took her out, she felt like a little heater!  I took her to the doctor and when we were waiting in the exam room, I was singing to her to keep her happy and she was clapping along even though she was whimpering.  It turns out that she had both a cold (same as Mike and I) but I think the reason her fever got so high is because both front teeth came through.  That makes a total of six teeth!

Noah inside "Castle Rock" on our hike.

Lately, Noah’s been asking what kinds of things he did and said when he was a baby.  So I showed him old pictures and videos of himself, this particular one is a favorite of mine.  He got a kick out of watching himself when he was so little!

I’ve always had a passion for reading and that has been one of my main goals to pass on to my children. Noah seems to be following; we just started the fourth Harry Potter book.  Whenever I finish a chapter, all I hear is, “Please Mommy, ONE MORE!”  Amelia loves to look at books; the video below is me reading one of her favorite books to her.

One last video… this is Mike attempting to feed her prunes (doctor’s orders).