Wow, it’s been a while, huh?

I have been crazy busy this last while, mostly working on my thesis proposal, which is pretty much the culmination of my entire first year of study. It’s due in a few hours, and I put what I hope are the finishing touches on it just a little bit ago. I’m waiting on some last-minute feedback from my advisor, and once I hear back from her, and probably make a couple more touch-ups, I’m releasing that baby bird into the air.

This week I was down in Uppsala from Sunday evening to Wednesday afternoon, and I had the chance to get a lot of work done. I spent six hours on Tuesday in the archives, combing through hundreds-of-years-old estate inventories in search of “status objects” among clergy families. I know you won’t believe me when I tell you that those hours just flew by, but they did. Not only that, but they were fruitful hours — I found one priest with three sofas and another with gilded leather wallpaper!

Now that the proposal is finished, I’ve got just one more big assignment before summer break. Next Friday I’ve got an essay due for my Self and Identity class, and while it’s important — the bulk of the course’s grade — after the thesis proposal it feels eminently manageable. The last week of May will be pretty wild, with workshops and seminars galore in Uppsala, broken up by a whirlwind, 18-hour trip home in the middle, but I’m actually looking forward to it, not least for the opportunity to meet with a prominent historian in my field who has said that he’s eager to discuss my work.

Now, though, I’m being summoned to go out in the sunshine with my two-year-old, so that’s where I’ll be if you need me.