Great day... had breakfast with Matt and Connie.  I made omelets.  then they went to the auction and I went to school to give tours to perspective students.  It was fun.  I came home and talked to a couple of people on the phone.  Had a great time.  Love and kisses, Marilyn 

This morning, I am heading to the chiropractor then I am going to look over some writing for Matt... then working on finishing my narrative for my conference in March.  Then Connie and I are going for a walk and I have to attend the Athletics Council meeting this afternoon.  Some time this week end I need to grade my students work.  Hope your day is wonderful.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

and it is finally raining.  We need the rain because we are two inches behind this season and last summer was not rainy... But we have had a week of cloudy days and I am ready for sunshine.  This is one of the things I like about Savannah... It has so much more sun than Michigan. We are supposed to get sunshine on Saturday. 

This is my last day of class, but this week I have council meetings tomorrow afternoon and I have to give tours to prospective students on Saturday, so this is a second full week of working at school.  I am glad my writing is over because I could not have made it through these last two weeks while trying to write.  But accreditation only comes once every three to six years. 

Last night I swam four 100s hard, really for the first time in about two years... Well thats not true, I did them a few months ago but I could bearly break 1:30.  They were on the two minutes... Did my negative splits where each one gets faster than the one before, 1:28 (missed my turn), 1:23, 1:21 and 1:20...  I felt really strong in the water and my body normally 5'6" felt 6'0" tall... that is what happens when you are feeling really good... it is like everything lengthens out and you become very streamlined... I was puffing hard at the end.  And a younger man (fortyish...)  Asked if I was okay.  My face was red and I was really breathing hard... I guess I have to be careful... with looking like I am fifty eight... and this being the south where people are so polite... I think he was fearing a heart attack... heaven forbide that I would be puffing hard because I just swam a good set, like my 30 year old swimming buddies back in Virginia and other places.  Within a minute my breath was back to normal...  so I must be in pretty good shape too...  I felt great in the water, which is really wonderful!

Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Went to a USGBC meeting last night.  United States Green Building Council.  I took my students for my emerging materials class as a field trip.  They were talking about LEED certifying wearhouses.  It was a good meeting.  I had two glasses diet coke and had problems going to sleep when I went to bed at 11:00.  I didn't fret about it... just went... that's what you get for having caffeine after 7:00, stupid... I was reminding... hmmm not the right word... myself not to do it... but I finished the second glass anyway.  Oh well. 

The review of the visitation team was interesting.  Of 107 attrubutes they were examining... we were only weak on three... they had to find something wrong.  They said we could improve on creativity, three demensional imaging through more study modles section... and our sequencing of classes inside each class is too similar.  Interesting. 

The lady who was presenting the points acted like she was on the biggest loser... with pauses before she divulged the results... so it was kind of nerve racking as she out lined the 107 points... with a ta da monent on almost every one... a pause and a "you are okay" on it...   I don't know if I described that well, but as I said it was never racking. 

It has been threatening to rain all week and we just got a quick shower.  I hope it rains more.  We can use it to start greening up.  l hope you have a wonderful day.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

  

The swimming and its ability to stretch me out helped me sleep well last night.  Off to the exit meeting this morning for our accreditation visit.  Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

They came by our classrooms today.  It seemed to go well.  My students are so awesome!

Carole your windows look great.  Just as they get installed, it warms up.  Fabiola I tried to leave you a message this morning but I don't think it worked.  My weight seems always to be a struggle, but I find exercising makes loosing weight easier and these days just holding my own. 

I hope that I don't have problems sleeping tonight.  I swam hard tonight and my body felt much better for the stretching swimming gives me and worked out a lot of the painful spots from my fall.  I did three one hundreds on the clock 1:28, 1:27 and 1:23... fastest my 100s have been in a while.  I felt good in the water...
Tee Hee... Love and kisses, Marilyn   

Yesterday the accreditation team interviewed the faculty.  They had scheduled 20 minute each for four groups of three... Ours lasted an hour and the one before us was also about an hour.  It was a good interview...  I think our passion and commitment as teachers showed through.

Connie and I had lunch together and went to a play that was a hash of Shakespeare... it was hilarious...  

Last night when I got in bed I could not get comfortable... my left hip was really really aching.  I think I must have bruised the bone or something.  I could not lie still.  Every ten minutes it would ache so much I would have to move and I would twitch to a new position... which of course was not condusive to a good nights sleep. I tried everything like raising my legs with pillows, raising my head with pillows... raising both... I tried icing it.. I tired a rub... that smelled like menthol and made me cold for an hour.  I could not lay on my left side... so I was stuck lying on my back or right side...  I don't sleep on my stomach since I threw out my sacroiliac when I was 25... Finally I took a second pain killer and was finally able to drift off.  Woke up at my normal 7:30.  hmmmm

Hope your day is grand.  I am off to the chiropractor and then to school.  Love and kisses, Marilyn 

Hmmm after a busy week.  I am relaxing with Connie today. 

Last night I went to the restaurant an hour early to make sure I could park, etc.  I went back out the the car to get something and missed a step in the middle of a flat side walk... because it was so dark in front of the restaurant... and  fell to my hands in knees.  My chin grazed the sidewalk.  It could have been so much worse.  I was a breath away from busting my jaw or nose... or face... A preverbial nose dive...

As it is my left knee is swelled and black and blue... my right hand is scraped and bruised and my body is sore all over... My neck is stiff, shoulder aching... leg muscles sore, and the middle toe on my left foot hurts... hmmmmm  My chin looks like I have been making out with someone with whiskers....Don't I wish... I sat through dinner, waddled as I went to the bathroom...
I took a hot bath when I got home with an icepack on my knee.... It was starting to look like a soft ball... but the ice took most of the swelling away.  I am sore but moving enough to go for a walk with Connie this morning.    

The dinner was a welcome party for site committee who are here to review our program... things got pretty crazy this week getting ready for show of our student work for them to review... so hopefully next week things will calm down to a more normal dinn of activity.     

Hope your  day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I woke up with a headache... not a good thing.  We teach our make up classes today for the classes we missed on the holiday on Monday.  In addition the accreditation team comes in this afternoon so we are having dinner with them at 8:30 tonight... It is going to be a long day.  Love and kisses, Marilyn 

The class I visited was really good.  The instructor did an amazing job of teaching, encouraging and eliciting volunteers for their final show.  It was fun to watch such masterly craft.  My students are doing inspiration, branding, background movies on their clients for their studio class.  They are due on Friday.  Three groups showed me their presentations and one brought tears to my eyes the other goose pimples.  It is so exciting to see them excell so well.  It shows how the work they do in other courses sets them up for success in my class. 

I went swimming last night.  I really needed it.  Even though I was exhausted and had to drag myself to the pool, I felt so much better after the exercise. 
 
Today is my long day and tomorrow is a make up day.  This weekend the visiting team comes for the accreditation visit.  Things should calm down more after that.  I can't wait for it to be over.  Hope your day is great.  Love and kisses, Marilyn       

I am doing my peer review this morning, which I was not able to do last term because my peer was in the hospital.  So this morning I  am up before the sun to go down and see how she teaches an advanced painting class.  She is coming to my studio at 11:00.  It will be interested in seeing how she teaches painting vs how I teach interior design studio.

Last night after my long day, there was a reception for a visiting work shop instructor, so I stayed at school for an extra hour. The students really seemed to like the workshop although it was hard to think in new ways.  I went to bed early last night because I was so tired.  I forgot about this early morning class until I woke up and could not go back to sleep... hmmmm

Hope your day is fine.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

This week is really going to be busy.  We had yesterday off for MLK day and so we have to teach on Friday.  Then the assessment team is coming in on Friday and will be here all weekend reviewing our student work to see if it fits the criteria for accreditation.  So we have to do dinner with them Friday night and be interviewed on Sunday.  And the room where all the work is displayed needs to be tweaked,,,,

Then the student group bringing in a speaker today who is spending two days visiting classrooms, giving talks and giving work shops... Matt has invited me to have dinner with her on Wednesday night... but I am going to another professors classroom to do a peer review that morning and I don't know if I can go to dinner on top of everything else.

Today is my long day for teaching... and I want to let my students see the inaguration... hmmmm  

Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

 

I saw the chriopractor this morning... then took my car to get it serviced.  It took four hours... and then I went to school to help assemble student work for our CIDA visit.  Got home and ate... and now I need to look for fabrics for my client.  I am going to plug my internet back into my wireless and see if it works... hopefully it will   greeehhh.... Love and kisses, Marilyn

I have not been able to get on the internet all day to day.  Finally at 10:40 PM I hooked up by cable and guess what it works.  I had a good wireless signal, but my computer was not recognizing it.. hmmmmm I cleaned house today checking my e-mail every half an hour all day.  My kitchen is spotless.  Washed the floor and cleaned the grout and washed down the cabinet.  I also vacuumed and did a laundry.  Hope your day was grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn  

I am staying here... To get rest and caught up.  Hmmm what a thought.  

My sister Connie and I had a conversation about over committing our selves.... hmmm over committing or is it committing ourselves... to a funny farm... hmmmm  Both of us are struggling with so much... Tonight on the phone she was sure it was Wednesday... I knew it was Thursday... because I just taught for 7.5 hours straight... hmmmmm  She has been working on taxes for five days... you can loose a day just working on taxes.  Hmmmm  We were silly tonight.

Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Some times I think I think in am superwoman... and can do anything... which at times gets me into trouble, because I am not. 

For example, I agreed to teach five classes this term because I no longer had the excuse of my dissertation and everyone else (well all the younger instructors) had taught an over load in the last year.  So I felt it was my term.  I knew that it was going to be hard... and guess what it is... Luckily I have really good and enthused students, but I am only two weeks in to a ten week term and I am tired.  Hmmmm

I intellectually understand it will take me some time to recover from my dissertation, but do I give myself recovery time... no.

After today, two weeks down and eight to go.  I really don't want to be counting down, but I guess I need to...

Fabiola and Carole the your chili bowls disappeared with the corn bread...

Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn  

Hump day already.  Weeks are flyin' by. 

Yesterday my classes went really well.  The three classes are exhausting, but my grad class we had an amazing conversation about interior design and sustainable materials and the challenges of comparing divergent products. 

Last night when I got home I talked to my client in Florida for a while.  She is challenged about selecting a fabric to recover her sofas... I told her I would look for on line for her and send her some samples.  It is nice to be able to do some interior design.  Again I am looking for something sustainable, but something that will fit with her lifestyle.

After the call I made a big pot of chilli.  Matt is coming over for dinner tonight.  I hope that your day is great.  Love and kisses, Marilyn    

On the way home from the pool last night.  We talked for a while and walked her dog.  Now that school is back it, we have to figure out how to get together. 

I got my retirement account information and I have lost about a third of its value.  I am sure if the government does the correct stimulus package that within five years it will be back where it was.  I am glad I am putting additional substantial amount of my current pay check into a separate account.  In a year and a half I already have put away more than I had in my retirement account I established in 1980.   Hmmm that is one of the many reasons why I went back to school was to get a better job with retirement provisions.  hmmm

I am not worrying about all of this.  I want to continue to work for quite a while longer because I love what I do... and I trust that the economy will improve.  I do worry about our government being so money driven that they have been making decisions that benefit only the wealthy... and I am not in that category....   Hmmmmm

Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn  

Well its Monday and I have another busy week in front of me.  I took Saturday off but yesterday we had to go to the display of our students work and disassemble it to move it to another location.  I am hoping next weekend I don't have to work on the re-assembly... so that I can go to Virginia, but time will tell. 

Now need to squeeze grading in while teaching.  I think it will be okay.  I think with my teaching load it will be important to be able to grade in class.  Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn 

I relaxed really well yesterday.  It was a good day.  Sunny warm.  Today I am spending time with my sister.  She is back from Hazard and then I am going to school to look at the comments the adviser made on our assembly of student work for our accreditation.   I think I am going to try to grade in class tomorrow.  It is hard to get in the groove for classes and to figure out how to get things accomplished and still have a life.

Love and kisses, Marilyn