31 days of Learning #9-10

I'm in Springfield, MO, finally making good progress on my dissertation. For over a year, I've been gathering information on the women who made up the first generation of Pentecostal missionaries. At times I've been excited, bored, and downright discouraged.

I've never thought of quitting, but I have wondered how long this will take to complete. What I know (#9) from months of sitting is that the seat is less tolerant than the brain. When your bottom freezes onto the chair, it's time to let the mind drift to other things. Like a break or lunch!

#10 of 31 is that people have different tolerances of closeness when studying. The guy who plopped himself and his books right next to me in a big room with the excuse of "I hate to sit with my back to the door," obviously has less personal space needs than I do. We've worked edge to edge from 9-9pm today, and I'm hoping he finds another place to work tomorrow. If not, I may have to spread out my books elsewhere. Groan. I'm in the library room with a historical collection I need to reference several times a day.

It's been fun to pull together the long weeks and months of work. I'm editing, sorting, rearranging... and finding I have lots of material gathered. Hopefully in three weeks, the first draft of my dissertation tutorials will be nearly done. God be thanked for hope!