Dr. PhD

So, it happened. Russ defended his thesis yesterday. And good news....he passed. It was a stressful day for him, with a great ending. He is thrilled to have that part over. Now he just needs to finish formatting his thesis correctly so it can be accepted by the thesis committee (sounds easy but I am told it is a long and hard process.)

Russ's old math adviser was in town for a math seminar. I didn't go to the seminary ( I had enough math listening to Russ defend), but after Russ and I were invited to dinner with 7 other math professors. I was so nervous because I knew I would have nothing intelligent to talk about. I'm sure you are thinking, "Nicole has nothing to say? Usually it is the problem to get her to stop talking." As it turned out, they were all really nice and easy to talk to, not to mention funny. I really enjoyed myself. Russ works with a great bunch of guys. No wonder he likes what he does so much.

We had Thai food from a place in SLC called Sawadee. It was so good! My favorite was the coconut soup and the yellow chicken curry. It was fun to go as a large group because we ordered a buch of different things, and all shared. Now I just need to talk my family into going. :)

By the way, I learned the answer to a life long question of mine... How many mathematicians does it take to split a check at dinner? Answer: At least 8 unless you have a number theorist, which we did not. :) I always thought it was so funny that Russ had a hard time doing simple math in his head when he knows such complicated things. I have now learned it's just the way the mind of a mathematician works. :)

A quick picture of us after the day was over. It was a great day!

Oh Yeah! I guess I should mention today is our anniversary. I guess the fact that Russ has passed totally over shadowed that. I think it is fitting that he should defend the day before our anniversary. I remember thinking when we got married it would be 5-6 year till he was done with school. Six years later, and he is well on his way! I'm a lucky girl to have him.