My New Life

I got my car serviced.  Matt's battery on his car stranded him a few months ago... so I had mine tested... We replaced it.  hmmmm I am heading north next weekend and didn't want to expose its low output to the cold.  Car is now in tip top shape... so am I.  I am finally recovered from the rush at the end of school.  While I was in the service area I finished revising Appendix E, F, and G.  Hmmmm

After getting the car serviced I went to the pool.  It was lucky that I did cause it was going to close at 3:00 UNTIL next MONDAY!!!!  So I got a good swim in, but I felt crappy in the water.  Then I came home, went shopping for food stuff and made a coconut cream pie and Canadian sweet tarts... to take to Scott's house for dinner.  Kathy, Scott and I had a really nice dinner and watched the new Star Tr*k movie.  It was a fun relaxing night.

The night before last, after the storm has passed by us (we really did not get much wind, but lots of rain).  I looked out my French doors to see the leaves blown down from the storm glowing on my back deck in the moonlight...  There was also a large tree in my backyard that the moonlight on the wet leaves lite up the tree like it had electric lights on it.  It was beautiful....  Mother nature is truly amazing.

Love and kisses, Marilyn

It is supposed to storm today here.  It rained a lot in the night.  Carole wrote about her career dreams...

I think from the time I was eleven on I wanted to be and interior designer.  I really did not know what that meant.  I thought decorating homes, but I did do space plan layouts of what my dream house would be.  When I went to school at Michigan State, everyone was surprised that I was not in physical education because I was such a good swimmer, but I wanted to be and interior designer.  I went to school got my first job and then second job which were on the periphery of the field.. .then I got my dream job working for Chuck and Mary Agnes Carter.  We designed houses, and offices and schools and and ... I loved what I was doing. 

Six years later I went out on my own... and soon after that started teaching interior design as well as working in the field full time. One of the people I shared a building with asked me what I would like to do if I were not an interior designer and I said teach interior design. 

When I was researching for my dissertation I found that I was in the forth wave of the interior design profession, so it was developing around me as I did it.  It was so much more than just decoration.  The tv shows do not depict what interior design has become in my lifetime... It is about helping people work and live in environments designed to fit their needs.  Wow what more can a person want. 

And then I went back to school to become Dr. Interior Designer... and  saga continues... Love and kisses, Marilyn

I took Matt to the air port this morning and he said remember to relax while he is gone. 

Today I woke up with a headache... not a bad one, but Matt elbowed my back last night and I forgot to drink water...  so the headache today... hmmm so I didn't try to work on my book today... Instead I just did what I wanted to do...

I raked part of the yard for exercise.  I have all kinds of trees in my backyard... I got smart this year... and rather than trying to rake the whole yard and hurting myself... I did a third last weekend, another third, mid week and another third today.... not bad at all.  I will have to do it again because there are still a lot of leaves in the trees.  But this is doable.   

I read my book, and took a nap, actually I took two naps.  I made sauerkraut and spatchels (sp?) (like German macaroni and cheese with home made noodles.  Then I took a walk... and watched tv.  The last two nights I read at night rather than watching tv... hmmm  Any way it was a wonderful relaxing day.  Love and kisses, Marilyn 

Last night it was amazing... ten times bigger than one I have ever seen.... Love and kisses, Marilyn

Try to make that in the tardas tinny voice from Dr. Who... I edited my introduction last night.... opps I basically rewrote it... and here it is....

By 1980, interior design was a well established career in the United States and Canada, but in 1981, changes to the building code made independent practice difficult.  This is the story of how interior design developed, fulfilled the components of a profession, and then battled for survival as an independent profession.  The lens used to view these struggles is licensure.

 This study, written as a dissertation, examines the forces that led to the development of interior design as an independent profession.  It traces how interior decoration became interior design during the building boom after World War II.  This building boom produced a need for a new service – the design of the interior of existing buildings.  Commercial interior design exploded on the scene with unprecedented growth in projects ranging from malls to hotels, restaurants to office spaces, and universities to hospitals.  In addition, there were tracts of new homes built in suburban developments.  These homes needed personalization by the owners with the help of interior designers. 

In addition to these new buildings, an expanding educational system and women flooding into universities in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, helped fill the gap for university-educated designers.  This budding profession applied psychological and sociological theory to enhance the interior environment beyond aesthetics.  By 1985, the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) estimated that there were 200,000 practitioners in the United States and Canada working as interior designers (ASID White Paper, 1987).  This book establishes the history of the professionalization of interior design by examining the movement toward licensure in three jurisdictions in the United States[i] using the framework of the theory of professions.    

So I think that has so much more punch than my more scholarly and boring introduction in my dissertation... Hmmmm I am still working... page 133... of 300 pages.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

and working on editing my dissertation...  So I didn't work on it.  I felt a little guilty for a while, but book tv was really good.  sooo I gave up and relaxed... I didn't sort papers or splice words... hmmm  I really enjoyed relaxing.  I finished the book I was reading and... just.... relaxed. So today I can't wait to get started again editing my dissertation...  Hope your day is grand... Love and kisses, Marilyn

Maybe I worked to much yesterday... six hours on the body of the document... another two or three on removing names of people without permissions...

I am doing my laundry and had a massage... and enjoying my favorite show... Bo*k TV.  Hope your day is great.  Love and kisses, Marilyn 

I started revising my dissertation to have it published as a book.  I got one third of the way through revising the body of my dissertation today... and tonight I revised the footnotes to remove peoples names... hmmm I cannot use the names of people from whom I don't have permission to use their names.  That is really hard to say. 

When I needed a break I raked the yard... and worked for another hour and took a walk... hmmmmm

Hope your day was good... Love and kisses, Marilyn

Okay.... I had six days off so now it is time to get to work.  I heard in October from a German company that they will publish my dissertation, so now I have to re-read it and revise it.  I have about five people I need to get permission to publish their interviews out of twenty-one. In addition, I need to remove anyone's name I do not have permission to use their name.  For example: I have about twenty pages of information garnered from the Americ*n Society of Int*rior Design files, quoting letters, memos and e-mails of what happened in each jurisdiction I examined.  I hope it won't take a long time to do this... hmmmmm

I hope your day is wonderful.  Is is sunny and bright here, but cold... I can't believe I think 45 degrees is cold.  The moon was amazing last night and it shone on my bed which I love... Love and kisses, Marilyn

I feel as if they last post was whining which is not appropriate for Thanksgiving.. I have so much to be thankful for.  I have many friends around the world... around the US and Canada... and in Virginia and in Michigan.  I have a beautiful home, that I have made my own.  I love my profession and have been successful in executing it.  Since last Thanksgiving I became a Ph.D....  although I have had my struggles, but overall have had a wonderful life, I think because of my optimistic spirit... but everyone has struggles it is how you deal with them.  I have one good friend down here and my sister is in my life...  I am thankful for everything I have.  Have a blessed day.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I hope that you have a wonderful day! 

I got a good night sleep and my stress is melting away.  Swimming is helping with that... I am happy that I  have considerable time off.  Last term was tough.  My students were challenging.  We are really seeing how "No stud*ent left be*hind" has affected our education system.  The students we are getting are not able to relate information from one class to another.  They feel that if they pass the test then they can forget the information.  A profession is about learning and relating complex information together into an integrated whole...  Some how my students in my Studio class who are two thirds of the way through their college education and did not know anything from the classes that they had previously. 

Normally, I love teaching this class because it is where they understand how all their classes come together in a project.  They learn lighting, materials, building construction, programming, and how to apply a companies brand to the interior.  Hmmmm this term four of the students were able to do this... three not so much.  I do think all of the student learned a lot, but it was a hard term. 

Hope your day is wonderful, Love and Kisses, Mairlyn

Yesterday I was sorting through my file cabinet.  I threw away about two foot high pile of paper.  Assignments from Kendall when I worked there in the 80s and 90, CMU from the 90s to 2003... and files I will never use again.  Some files are hard to toss, so I still have two and a half drawers of a four drawer filing cabinet.  hmmmm  I am also sorting through my books.  I think that I will get rid of many books I will never read again. I have six bookcases of books... and can lean that down too...  There are some books too precious to me.. ones I have read many times that I want to keep like old friends, but I do not need to keep books I didn't enjoy the first time I read them.  I have already packed up most of the Nora R*berts books.  I enjoyed them but will not read them again... I have four boxes to books ready to go somewhere... someone suggested a library or book exchange.  or Goodwill..

Went to the pool yesterday and swam really well and was feeling terrific... until a woman was rude to me in the locker room.  She said yeah it was obvious I was a northerner in a drogitory way.  I was shocked!  Almost ruined my day.  I really wonder where the vaunted Southern hospitality is in Savannah.  I have seen none of it.  For example, of the four times I have been invited to someones home for a party, twice they wanted me to buy jewelery or exchange gold jewelry for cash.  I have tried to develop friends down here in the same way I did in Virginia by inviting people to my house for dinner, inviting them to go to dinner and the movies, or to go on walks... and basically I only have one good friend here besides my sister.  And he is from Michigan.  It makes me so sad.

Well, I am off to the pool again... this time I will avoid the nasty women.  Hope your days is great.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Twenty six years ago John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas... The first time my life was rocked by outside forces.  Opps I meant 46 years ago or maybe I am only 38 years old.... hmmmmm Thanks Carole for helping me count... Hope your day is great.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I took Khoi to the airport this morning for a 6AM flight... so now I am up and I figured why not just sit in my living room with my Christmas tree all lite and music on and write.  The sun should be coming up in about an hour... hmmmm  Give me time to reflect...  I will write more once I process stuff in another place... Hmmmm Love and kisses, Marilyn

by re-orgainizing my office.  I have had papers piled from here to there for the last two years.  Today... I have already thrown out about six inches of papers... need to delve deeper.  Do I really need to keep class teaching binders from Central Michigan University.  Hmmmm  If I teach those classes again I would re-work the class.  So why keep them????  Hmmm but it is hard to throw stuff out.  hmmmm  My office looks better or well, it will, when I am done. 

I have had acid reflux the last few nights.  I think the stress is well it is eatting at my esophacus when I lay down. hmmmmm  Had to sleep sitting up.   I looked up the information on my computer this morning and I need to stay away from tomatoes, garlic, onions, coffee (Ha like that will happen), soda, and reduce my stress.  Ha... Okay in the meantime I will sleep sitting up.  

Hope your day is good.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I finished grading at about 12:30 today. 

Came home to go to the dentist for a cleaning and then relaxed when I got home... had left over chicken, turkey, duck pot pie and took a bath with a margarita... hmmmm in the bath I started writing my presentation of the IDEC International Conference.  I am pretty sure I will present and the words just started flowing... may have been the relaxing and the margarita... hmmmmm any way I have a semi soggy pad of paper with all kinds of great words on it... hmmmmm 

Hope your day is great!  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Hope your day is fine... Love and kisses, Marilyn

I am all caught up on my grading... Critiques this morning, rendering this afternoon and final grading of that class.... then Studio III tomorrow.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Well I am off to school this morning.  Students are working on their final presentation and I will grade rendering.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Maybe this is why I am feeling optimistic.... Okay world I am here...

Finishing the grading for my one class this morning then going to school and picking up new grading from my two rendering classes.  Once I grade those it is down hill from then...  Three smaller projects to do at the end of the week and cleaning up the last recording of grades and absences and other stuff.  Had a really good Saturday, rearranging my house and mowing my lawn.  Hmmmm 

Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I am still working at 3:00, I had 20 minutes off for breakfast... but now my brain just turned off.   so I will finish up tomorrow morning.  I only have about half of one project left to grade.  Another two hours or so... Hmmmm Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

For an extra help class.  Marilyn

Another early day under my belt.  Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Kathy suggested that my sleeping problems came from the storm front coming through... Ida is dumping rain on us... I think she may be right.  I slept better last night.  The rain brought down a lot of leaves so I may need to rake my yard this weekend and one last mowing/edging before winter sets in...

Happy Veterans Day to any one that has served our country in a myriad of ways.  Carole that includes you!  We would not be here without your dedication and service. 

Hope your day is good, the pool is closed today for Veterans Day so I will toddle off home while it is still light out.  Love and kisses, Marilyn