And the winners are:

I've narrowed down the PhD application list to six schools. In order of preference they are: 1. OSU -- I'd love to stay here and work with our brilliant Anglo-Saxonist, Drew Jones. 2. University of Massachusetts at Amherst -- Dr Jones knows the A-S there, and it would get me back to the East coast. I miss rude people, cold winters, and assumed liberalism. 3. University of Washington (Seattle) -- again, famous A-S there. And I've heard Seattle is a wonderful city. Seattle and Amherst frequently trade places on the list. 4. University of Wisconsin at Madison -- Well-known A-S here, too. Having someone well-known to guide my dissertation was the top priority in choosing most of these, as you can see. 5. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign -- Yep. The Anglo-Saxonist in residence is a good one. 6. University of Tennessee -- Ok, so I really have no desire to go to TN. I've heard it's in the middle of beautiful countryside, but I've also heard its in the middle of nowhere. This is more or less my safety school, since they were foolish enough to admit me for an MA. And that's it. My life for the next four years has presented itself in a neat little list to my advisors, and I'm damn near being overwhelmed with it all. I've just got to keep thinking about the office I'll have someday. It'll have a carpet, armchair, electric tea kettle, my lovely Medieval painting by Dottie, and hopefully a large stuffed raven looming over my desk, like the professor I met with yesterday. Off to teach and learn. And not worry about the applications. At all.