The big day

So have I told you about our wonderful friend, Mariam? Well, Mariam is one to always have her camera on her, and for this I am very grateful. She, unlike me, thought ahead in order to document the momentous occasion of Jeff's viva. So what follows is basically the most recent post on her blog pasted into mine. :-) I love technology.


(1) The dream team (well, the support team, really)... Andy, Allison, me, and of course Mariam behind the camera.


(2) The crowd grows. Everyone came by to wait out the viva and support Jeff. Have I mentioned that we have a really great community here?


(3) The crowd, from a different angle, also showing the window that we were staring at (up at the top left corner of the picture). Andy would go up occasionally to see if he could hear them moving around and preparing to leave -- and came down one time to reassure me: "they all just laughed in there!" It sounded like there were some pretty comic stories and moments along the way. As one friend commented, if I am this nervous for someone else when I have nothing riding on this, what will I feel like when it is actually my exam time???!


(4) Allison found me a blanket (it was a cold wait!), but then begged her way into the warmth.


(5) Webster, the external examiner, came out the door we expected, but then Jeff and his supervisor came out the secret back way, much to the surprise of everyone (especially me, I was waiting by the main door!)


(6) The external examiner (Webster) and Jeff's supervisor (Steve Holmes) and the new nearly-doctor!


(7) Someone congratulating the wife... the whole thing was such a blur that I can't even remember who it is that is hugging me at this point. =]


(8) Can't you just see the happiness (and relief)!?! =]


(9) At this point we migrated over to the Whey Pat, one of Jeff's favorite pubs. Here's Jeff and Reno, one of the absolutely smartest people I know, who coincidentally is working on Tolkien and various other things I can't comprehend.


(10) Me, Meg, and Amber.


(11) At the pub... boy do I slouch... I need to work on that. It's also been pointed out that the shirt I'm wearing makes me look like I've got a full-body tattoo in this picture. =] Brilliant!


(12) Ivan, another recent PhD, advises Jeff on what he ought to be thinking and feeling at this point. =]


(13) Me, Allison, and Mariam, self-portrait style.

Pause.... At this point, we left the pub, and Andy, Jeff, Mariam, Allison, and I went to the Thai restaurant, ordered take out in large quantities, and brought it back to Mariam's house (all the way across the street!) to eat. We ate ...mmmmm... and then transported ourselves in our little Mini (it was, shall we say, tight? Apparently after eating all that we weighed the car right down so that the wheelwells were riding on the tires with every bump and turn...) and went over to Andy's house where we met up with Andy's wife, Laurel. Reno also came over, prepared in case the guys went to smoke cigars. Instead, we popped open some champagne and watched such high-brow films like "SNL the best of Will Ferrell" and then the great movie "Zoolander."


(14) The group at Andy's house: (back) Jeff, Andy, Laurel, Reno; (front) Allison, me; (behind the camera again) Mariam.