Got to work done today on the last chapter of my research.  It sort of felt good to work on it... scary to be getting ready to finish up.  Even though I want to finish it is still scary to get close to this... It leads to people judging it and four years of my work... that is scary... I know that I will be fine and am not worried about it.  But change and the unknown is always scary. 

 

Then I worked on my client for an hour... Have a great day... tomorrow is my busy day.  Love and kisses, Marilyn      

But looks like it is going to today...

 

Kristin just gave me an idea about the two chapters that I have been struggleing with... turn them from negative we didn't do this because into a positve we did this because... wow what a difference... writing it in a postive light rather than the negative light... for example... what is wrong with interior design being feminized. NOTHING! Thats the way it is...

 

Today I am starting my Virginia chapter... I realized last night I was resisting... starting the last chapter of my dissertation research... and resisting my last interview... because it puts me that much closer to finishing and the insecurities of that.  So off I go today... get it started... I also hope to do that last interview I have been resisting doing that too.

 

I was invited to a party by two of my swimming buddies for Saturday night... I invited Krisitn to go with me.  Meet some young professionals in Blacksburg rather than just students.  Hope your day is good I will be writing.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Hmmm Looks like it is going to snow... but it is much too warm.  Over cast with clouds low to the sky... 

 

Slept well last night, but still tired.  Will take me another couple weeks after school is out  to recover from this stressful term.  Teaching three classes and finishing my dissertation is hard.  Seems like when I get caught up on sleep I will have a night or worse a couple of nights where I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep for hours.  Then I am soon exhausted again.  Coffee is my friend.  I think I need some more right now... kind of foggy.

 

Hope your day goes well.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Hello all, I hope that everyone had a good day.  I was able to finish grading this moring... Thanks Carole for the offer to help grade... not sure how I could get the papers to you and back in a day.  Beside I wouldn't want to break your days of relaxation.  It was good to get them done.

 

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep worring about my medical bills, seems like they weren't paying for much.  I had my yearly check up in Novmeber.  So after lunch, I called my new insurance company about the seemly not covering my check up and yearly check up and recent tests.  Turns out three doctors office visit is covered, but the tests and innoculations (for my trip to India) are not... hmmmm I have racked up $450.00 on my $500.00 deductable for my check up and additional tests....  But once I have done that, they will pay 70% of the rest of my bills, up to $2,500.00.  It is amazing that a intellegent woman can read this stuff and still not know what it means... Hmmmm was hoping that my check up was not going to involved a lot of cash.... wrong!  But if I need a doctor for the rest of the 2007 I am covered... Of course I usually don't go to the doctor more than once a year.

 

I then went up stairs and worked on my clients kitchen...  It was good to work on her project again. 

 

Take care, Love and kisses, Marilyn 

     

I have my cup of coffee, and my grading all lined up read to finish... Hope your day will go well.  Hopefully I will write more later... Marilyn 

It is going to be a busy week... I am  a little nervous that school is back in session.  Two more weeks then finals.  Hope your day is good, we have beautiful weather her in Virginia.  Love and kisses, Marilyn  

Graded most of the day but didn't finish.  I am not very fast.  Too many corrections so that the student knows why they got the grade they did.  By one thirty I went for a walk, had dinner, and opps I took a nap... then finally graded five more.  I still have nine or ten more to do... but my brain did not want to work on grading anymore. 

 

So tonight I went up stairs and printed out the rest of my stuff for my applications to Univer-sity of Minn-esota, Flor-ida Sta-te, and Eas-tern Mic-higan Unive-rsity the three places that I think I would actually want to work.  I got them done, they are ready to go tomorrow.  Thank you Elizabeth for reviewing them.  It feels good to get those out.  I spent a lot of time preparing them before Thanksgiving break.  Once I get grading done, I need to get some work done on my client, before I head back to my dissertation...   

 

Hope your weekend was good.  Mine was relaxing.  Have a great day, Love and kisses, Marilyn 

Back at grading, after taking yesterday off... Baked my sugar cookies and frosted them.... (a long process).  While doing that I made sauerkraut and speachels... (old family recipe...) also labor intensive.  Kristin and I went for a walk on the trails around her apartment complex.  It was a beautiful day... We had a good talk about my dissertation... she thinks I need to examine Conflict theory... I will look at it when I get my grading done.  Luke and Ellen came over for dinner and I drank too much Sangria, but it was nice to relax... after they left, I fell asleep on the sofa... woke up in the middle of Saturday Night Live... went off to bed and took some asperine so I wouldn't wake up with a headache... (oh for my college friends... I was only two glasses of wine not a bottle or two... I am still a lightweight when it comes to drinking and I don't want to change that). 

 

Started grading at 9:00, I need to speed up the process...  or it is going to take me four days to get these puppies done.  

 

Have a good one... Carole your up... I know it is hard to write when you are busy...    Love and kisses, Marilyn

Only twelve papers down... And why do I assign papers when I whine about grading them.  When I got tired of grading I got back on my Conflict chapter... Got half way through, but I am going to have to sort through it more... It is the most agressive part of this four hundred page puppie... and I am not usually confrontational, but how do I word all of this to be acurate and yet state the problems. hmmm I worked from nine to ten except for swimming for an hour and being gone for two hours plus a dinner of left overs... I hope I can speed up in my grading. 

 

Oh Kristin told me last night that there is an opening at Eastern Michigan University.  Got the stuff off of the website. I will apply.

 

Hope you have a good one....  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Kind of sloggie today, after yesterdays feasting... or maybe it is the grading facing me... Hope your day is good.  Marilyn

Tao brought Nancy, and Kristin and I had a wonderful time.  It is so nice to get together with friends for a good meal.  The pies weren't very good... can't seem t find tart apples to make good pie... But we chocked them down.  Everyone went home with bags of food enough to eat for the next couple of days... Hope your day was wonderful.  Grading tomorrow, Love and kisses, Marilyn

Stuffing ready to go in... cinnamon buns thawing and rising, black cherry jello jellowing, cranberry sauce cold, pies sitting on the counter, butter softening, bread rolls thawing, table set, and plates of cookies already distributed to my neighbors.... hmmm can't think of anything else.. now just have to wait for the turkey to roast, bunns to rise, and stomach to prepare for food, oh such good food... Kristin and Tao are filling the missing parts... 

 

Just called Margie to wish her happy birthday and happy thanksgiving... She is a friend from Michigan that I met in married housing the first time I was in graduate school in 1973... she, her husband and kids are doing fine.

 

Hope your day is blessed with this kind of tranquility.  Love and kisses,  Marilyn  

has taken over my kitchen.  Two pumpkin pies, and apple pie... scotch short bread... brownies, and easy fudge.  That is after making four kind of cookies earlier in the week... ooied gooie chewie bars, date bars, chocolate peanut butter bars, peanut butter granola bars... and a mix for frosted sugar cookies.... hmmmm  

 

Turkey is ready to go tomorrow... with stuffing and cranberry sauce... Looking forward to Kristin and Tao coming to dinner. 

 

Worked on the revisions of my professionalization of interior design chapter for about seven hours again today... It goes slowly, but I am almost done with this set of revisions... first 100 pages revised.  Yeah!!!!  Terry has really helped me to clarify muddy parts and make my writing more direct. 

 

Hope your day went well.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day, I have a lot to be thankful for including my freindship with you!  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I have visited a few friends... and now have to write my writing and not this pap... but Carole worries when I don't say something in the morning...  slept well last night... Night before was rocky up four times... woke up outlining my introductory chapter... the writing geek is alive and well in western Virginia. Love and kisses, Marilyn

Elizabeth, Kat, and I went for a walk at Kristins apartment... she caught up to us half way through the walk.   I got some more good pictures with my camera.  I love the zoom... I am still getting used to how the camera works... I forgot today how to turn on the flash... just open it... but my pictures turned out really good.  I will put them up on here soon.  I still have to get used to the coping the photos from the disk to the computer... I decided that I could copy the photos on to hte mini disks once I have enough to fill up the disk... that way I have a hard copy of everything... That is what I loved about my old camera.  It put the hard copies on a mini CD rom... I really loved that... but now I love the 12 zoom.  

 

Today, I worked for seven hours.  I was able to finish the revisions to the history of interior design and also finished the history of architecture.  It was really good to get that done.  I have two more sections to complete from the edited stuff Terry did.  Then I am on to writing, or grading or doing my client. Hope your day is good.  Love and kisses, Marilyn  

and healthy... I will be doing my actual dissertation writing today more than blogging.. just like yesterday... started worring last night that I was not going to finish in time... on my third day correcting the history of interior design chapter which is only ten pages long...  it is taking me a long time to edit my work...  BUT IT IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH BETTER, I keep telling myself.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Only five days late and a week later than they said the turn around was.   But at least I got it back...

 

Been correcting my history of interior design chapter today... went swimming and Kristin is coming over for dinner tonight... Hope your day is swell... Love and kisses,  Marilyn

 I baked Christimas cookies today... peanut butter granola bars, peanut butter and choc. treats, and ooey gooey bars.... mixed dough for frosted sugar cookies and cut up dates for date bars... I ran out of pans so had to stop... See my side bar of blogs for Yummy Recipes.

 

 

Hope your day was great...  pictures coming up.. Marilyn

Being grateful...

 

I just took a test about Are you Grateful or Hateful?  Surprise, surprise I scrored a perfect 20 out of 20.  I am grateful for so many things in my life and I have no problem telling people that, all of the time.  This week of Thanksgiving I have so much to be grateful for. 

 

For example, Vidya called last night from India... It was so good to hear from her.  Here she was literally on the other side of the earth, and we talked as if she was just down the road in Blacksburg.  I almost got us both crying when I said how strange it is going to be to not have her here at Thranksgiving because, she has always been here at my house for Turkey Day, since I came to Virginia. She has enriched my life so much with her friendship.  I said that we would definiatly think about her getting married as we sat down for dinner.  

 

I was amazed how sad I was when I unpacked my suitcase (because I could not go to her wedding in India this week without a Visa).  It was the closest I came to crying in all of this, becasue I packed the suitcase with such optimism.  When I told Vidya that what I was most upset about was missing her wedding... because. I can go to India anytime, but cannot be part of a wedding of someone that I love.  She choked up and said well we could go to her sister's wedding together.  Then we could make the tour of the Golden Triangle together.  Makes me misty just writing that and I know that it will happen... 

 

Although life gave me a family who was not what one could hope for and a  husband who continued a negative pattern, (to say the least).  I have choosen my new family of friends, who are as supportive of me as I am supportive of them.  They have blessed my life and feed my soul.  We work hard together and we celebrate together I love each and everyone of you.

 

I have never made very much money, but I have loved what I do, as in interior designer and as a college student.  I have a lovely house and all of the things that I need,but then again I don't need all kinds "of stuff".  I don't think that stuff makes you happy, friends (and good families) make you happy, but I am grateful for everything that I have. Maybe the challengens I have had in life have made me so grateful for what I have now...    

 

It is funny last week, I realized how much I enjoy saying that I am a college student... a white haired college student.  I love people's reactions... I will really miss that once I get a real job as a faculty member rather than a student.   Because most faculty look like me... oh well I will be grateful to graduate and get a well paying job... for the first time in my life. 

 

Kristin, Elisabeth and I are going for a walk this afternoon (Elizabeth we put it off unitl 3:00).  Cheers, a grateful, Marilyn  

 

 

Rambling On's being featured at Best of Spaces has reverberated on my blog... normally I have about 100 to 150 visits a week.. this week ai have 350... people looking in from Rambling On's sight.  I bask in the light reflected from her... Welcome everyone...  Congradulations Rambling... I read you everyday cause you are an interesting woman...  Marilyn