a longer road

I had a meeting with my thesis committee this week - for the first time in more than 18 month. I like my committee and really appreciate the wisdom/focus/feedback they offer. This week they gave me one piece of wisdom/focus/feedback that I didn't like quite so much - that there is no way I'm going to finish this PhD by August 2010. They think I should be planning for a December defense. On one hand, it's a relief - I do have a complicated analysis and want to do it well. August was sounding a bit overwhelming. On the other hand I'm now "that girl" who is spending more than 5 years in a Phd program. Ce la vie.