1. the dissertation. aaarrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh.

2. christmas shopping. i think i know what i'm getting everyone. i just need to actually *get* it. everytime i think about it, i feel guilty for not spending that time on my dissertation.

3. the foreign service. when i'll go on the register (of eligible hires), when they'll actually call me, the excitement and butterflies that come with thinking about a new job and a real salary, and whether i'll have the dissertation done and defended by my start date, whenever that is.

4. babies. shit, man, but babyfever has got me. bad. i lurk CONSTANTLY on a pregnancy/babies board. i tell myself that now is not such a great time, what with the dissertation (sigh), the potential new job, and the (silly perhaps, but real) fact that karl and i haven't had a honeymoon yet, and it sure would be nice to have a honeymoon before i got pregnant. but it seems like suddenly everyone i know is either pregnant or has a baby. that, plus the (now lost) childhood idea of mine that i would have my first baby before age 30 means that it's really hard to hear the "last call" announcement at our local bar over the ticking of my biological clock. [insert self-directed eye roll here]

5. the dissertation again. always with the dissertation.