Monday, March 24, 2008

A New Doctor in the House

My sister Laura successfully defended her dissertation on Friday! Congratulations, Laura!!!

She invited her sisters and their families to converge upon Charlottesville for the occasion. Jeff, Vinny, and I came for the weekend, as did Rachel. It was an exciting time for all.

Although we were not able to attend the defense itself, in the afternoon she held a special, informal colloquium about her research. So we got a taste of what she has devoted the majority of her working hours to over the past couple of years.

On Friday night we had a sisters' night out, with just the three of us sisters. We went out to dinner and had a great time together.

On Saturday she held an afternoon soirée celebrating her successful defense, for which I made a delicious, dissertation-shaped cake. (Photos of the cake-baking and decorating process will be posted sometime later, after I get them downloaded from the camera.)

In the evening we left Vinny with Anne's mom and attended a wonderful play called The Elvis Project. A blurb from the venue's website:
The Elvis Project is a collage-like meditation on the multiple meanings of Elvis Presley. A look at how one man, incidentally the King of rock’n'roll, has affected the lives of many. Two short plays: Graceland and ‘Asleep on the Wind’ by Ellen Byron. Featuring works by Charlottesville playwrights Robert Wray and Doug Grissom. Performances are March 13-15 and 20-22 at 8:00pm. Tickets are pay-what-you-can.
During the intermission they served fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. The guy who played Elvis was a familiar face to Laura and Anne: he works at a restaurant they frequent. Rachel got an autographed copy of a picture of Elvis (the actor's picture, signed as Elvis).

Rachel left early Sunday morning, but the rest of us enjoyed a delicious Easter dinner at Anne's mother's house. We left in the early afternoon and made it back home by about 11 p.m. I took a day of vacation today before I get up extra early tomorrow morning to head to Austin, Texas for a meeting.

1 comment:

Laura said...

I'm glad you could come visit and glad you had a good time, too! Hope your trip to Austin is safe and fun.