So, yes, it's submitted--and although I'm not supposed to know who my readers are until after the faculty have voted, I wound up seeing the form with their names & addresses when I dropped off the unbound copy of my diss at the grad school.

• Reader the First: senior faculty, former chair, current DGS, and one of my recommenders. Said fac member is not in my period, but has already read 2/3 of my diss and I believe really likes it.
• Reader the Second: golden child associate prof whom I've known since college, whom I've TAed for, and who has written me about 15 rec letters over the years.
• Reader the Third: Eccentric senior prof who may or may not know me from a hole in the ground; really the only person in my field at INRU with whom I don't have ANY relationship. Said person did attend a colloquium at which I gave a paper last year, though.

They're very heavy hitters, but I feel good about them. I don't have any doubt that they'll recommend approval, but I hope they like it. At any rate, I hope that their collective wisdom will produce useful feedback for my eventual revision process.

Everything else went well, though today was a miserable day to be trotting around with 10 lbs of dissertation slung over one's shoulder: windy and rainy, the rain blowing sideways much of that time. Still, it was rather nice to be back in Grad School City. I think it hit me today that this is it: after eight years of living in that city, ten and a half of being enrolled as a student, and three of teaching the younger generation, I'm really done, and it's not my school or my town any more. Of course, I'm an alumna and I'll be back in town occasionally for the rest of my life for the big football game or for college reunions, but I still had a strange and somewhat empty feeling as I wandered around campus.

After turning the thing in, I went and bought myself lunch at my favorite pub-y restaurant: a big ol' turkey club sandwich and an equally impressive glass of Jameson's--practically the size of a double. (Did they know I was celebrating? Or did they just figure that anyone who was drinking at 2.30 on a rainy Thursday really needed it?) Then I did some window shopping, which turned into real shopping: a black top on sale at Ann Taylor and a pair of FABULOUS shoes on massive sale at a nearby boutique: Via Spiga 3-inch heels, in shiny dark brown calfskin with punch-work detailing on the toe (rather like what you see on wingtips). Retail: $164. On sale? $45. No tax.

Then I got myself back on a train, and now I'm home and totally screwed for my classes tomorrow--supposedly, I'm giving a mini-lecture on a topic about which I know lots of odds and ends, but which I've hardly organized into anything coherent. Wonder if I can wing it.