I passed

So it was bloody and it was painful and it wasn't the best performance of my life, but I passed my oral exams today. This means I am officially Smurfette, Ph.D. candidate, or ABD (all but dissertation).
I feel a little bad. When I called Senior Jefe, I think I hurt his feelings. I told him today is the best day of my life. "Not the day we got married?" He asked.
Nope. It's not even a close second.
It's not that I don't adore him, or that I think for a second I could have done this without him. But... I have wanted a Ph.D. in geology since I was 6 yrs old. That is a long time to wait for something, to dream about it, to work everyday toward it, never certain that things would pan out. I'm still not there yet. I have a lot of hours, a lot of research, a lot writing to do before I'm done and I'm really there.
But I was never the smart kid. I was routinely told by teachers that all I would be good at was being a house wife or a flight attendant. It's not that those are bad things, but it isn't what I have wanted for myself. More than a few times I have had to tell faculty members to go ahead and fail me out, because I wasn't going to make it easy on them and quit. And some of them have tried to do that. At BIG U (undergrad edition), a professor flat out told me I would never be a Ph.D. because I would never make it past the oral exam. He wasn't the only one who said it. But now it is done and behind me and no one can ever say I didn't work for it.
So anyway, I adore my hubby, but snagging him and keeping him happy is EASY compared to what I have just been through. So until the day I walk down that aisle and get hooded as Dr. Smurfette, today will live in infamy as the BEST day of my life. Now I get to slog through the FUN part of science, where I make mixtures and think big thoughts and write papers. I am excited.
In other news one of the  gods of ophiolites cited my M.S. thesis paper in his work on the Albanian ophiolites and independently confirmed my work, or at least that is what the abstract leads me to believe. I haven't gotten to look through the paper yet, but it means that my paper has merit. Citations are like love from scientists. And I worship the guy who cited my paper. He did the textbook work on the Oman ophiolite, which has really set up the paradigm for how seafloor spreading and ocean crustal architecture works, so this is HUGE!
And I do really want to thank all the people who have been there and believed in me and supported me through this brutal process. Senior Jefe deserves credit for sure, but so do a lot of military spouses who have been there and encouraged me and listened to me bitch and moan my way through this process, as well as all the people that helped me prepare and more importantly, helped me pick myself up of the mat after I failed the first time. I would have quit if I hadn't had people who were there who had my back and let me know it. Oh, and I should also thank the maid and the dog sitter who have run the household while I was off trying to conquer this little corner of the world.
Love you all! You're the best!!!