last stretch

Will need to file the dissertation either at the end of this week or the beginning of next week. I'm so exhausted I can hardly think anymore. Will just do what I can and that's that. Hopefully, my committee will sign the forms, the formatting will be approved and everything will go well.

aaahhhhh . . . .

I need to focus . . . . focus . . . . focus . . . .

Only two more weeks left!!! I need to focus for two more weeks.

nothing new

Still trying to finish the dissertation. Writing sucks. I've decided that I will be happy if I write two pages a day.

This past Sunday, I went to a Vin_yard church and an English service at a Chinese church close to my apartment. The Vineyard is a bigger church with more ministries, of course, and they were quite hospitable too. Their pastor made it a point to invite new people to a brief get-to-know-you session after the service.

I've always felt awkward at Chinese churches here in the US but it is closer to my apartment. The English-speaking congregation is very small and I got the feeling that they weren't used to having visitors. :)

But I suppose I should give both a chance. The Chinese church has a small group that meets on Friday nights so I'll check it out this week. I prefer to attend a church that is close to my apartment and I think Vineyard is about as far as I'll drive (about four miles from my apartment). I've also emailed a couple of fellowship groups at UCL_ but haven't gotten a single reply. Can't help making comparisons with CICF at C_rnell. Not replying to an email inquiry would be unheard of at CICF.

up and down

I think I have to be very careful in the next month or so. While I did take a break from work when my mom and sis were here, I realized today that I am still stressed out by the fact that the dissertation isn't completed yet. Getting back to work has been quite difficult and I am more anxious than I would like to be.

FedEx has also been giving me a lot of trouble and a customer advocacy representative finally assured me today that I will be able to pick up my package with the paperwork I need to submit to UCLA. They "misplaced" the package, can you believe it.

But I do know that if I weren't already so stressed out and anxious, I wouldn't let this incident affect me the way it has. I look forward to walking to this FedEx store to pick up my package. They won't even deliver it to my apt. Ridiculous.

Okay, time to let go. Sigh.

in LA

I got here safely as scheduled on Aug 26. Since my arrival, I've been busy buying and setting up furniture, replenishing my toiletries and kitchen stuff and getting my car serviced. Spent some time driving around with my mom and sis but since my mom was here longer, she got really tired of LA traffic. It really is horrendous. Everything is always a thirty-minute drive away because of the traffic. I hope I won't have to do much driving.

Don't have time right now to blog about the trip but I will say that we were all safe despite a couple of scares with the car. My itinerary was truly crazy and I hope I won't ever have to drive cross country again. If I do, it'll have to be a much shorter route with more breaks in between destinations. But really, I don't want to drive cross-country again.

As we all know, being with family can sometimes be difficult but I do miss my family now especially because I still have to find new friends and orient myself to the place.

And it really doesn't help when I have to start writing again tomorrow. It was impossible to work during the cross-country trip and now I have to get back into gear. I think I'm about half to two-thirds done with unpacking. I hope. But I do have my home office set up now.

I miss Ith_ca.