Beautiful day today.  Sunny and in the high sixties. What a great day. 

I was able to review the last two sections of the my dissertation and sent them on to my editor.  Woooo woooo wooooo!  I am so happy to have that off of my plate. I was so right to re-read what I had done previously because it allowed me to throw out stuff that I had already said...  and simplify the rest!  I still have the conclusion to write and editing...

Hope that your New Years Eve will be terrific.  I am spending a quite evening with myself.  Can't decide if I should paint to night or just lay on the sofa like a slug.  Slug sounds good, hmmmm but there are not too many days left until school starts.   Love and kisses,  Marilyn       

Hmmmm I made amazing progress today on painting my bedroom.  Took a couple of hours to get ready to paint, remove switch and receptacle plates, tape them, spread out drop clothes, stir the paint.  ... Then I started cutting in the wall near the ceiling, floor and around the trim... and painted around the windows, receptacles and above the doors... by 7:00 I was ready to roll.... by 9:00 I was done.  It looks great in the artificial light... time will tell in the morning.  I still need to, cut in the tray ceiling and paint behind my bed.

I am dog sitting... half way through the painting it started raining.  I had to go rescue the dog...  stuck on the back porch... in the rain... she was very happy to get into her crate.  I don't think that it was raining for long but I felt guilty leaving her out in the rain.

Hope your day is terrific.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Hmmmmm here I am again... but today rather than taking the day off.. I am going to work on my dissertation again.  I have re-read all of the introduction, and the 100 pages of Chapter Two.  I incorporated the changes Terry suggested in my conclusions... and I think it is much better.  It ties all of the information together. 

This morning I will re-read the two sections of Chapter Three that I have done. Then I will complete the two short sections of that chapter.  Which I think will put it to bed.  Then I need to fold the individual conclusions into the final conclusion. 

Yesterday, I had a massage.  She worked on my hip and left thigh, which has been paining me...   I love it when she comes here...  but It makes it so easy and I don't have to buck traffic.  I also went for a walk, only two miles, but I felt that was pretty good for my foot.  My ankle is almost totally better.  

I am planning to take tomorrow off and of course New Years Day, I am going to try to finish painting my bedroom on those two days.  Before getting ready for classes next week. 

Hope your day is great.  Love and kisses, Marilyn
 

Doggin' along...

Well editing... I got so far with my last two sections and ran out of steam... because I feel as if I have written this stuff over and over.  So I am re-reading/corrected what my co-chair of my committee corrected and gave me when I was in Virginia.  Now I need to buff some of the conclusions and then combine them into the dissertation conclusion... she asked me to clarify why is this information important to my research.  Hmmmmm  I think that it will tie the whole thing together better and build one section on another.  Right now my brain is so muddled because I have said things over and over.

I hope my horoscope is correct in that my being is recharged... I don't feel that way.  I feel tired and unmotivated.  Even  though I am getting lots of sleep, this last five percent of my dissertation is a killer... all the hard stuff left until last... was left until last because it was not easy...  Once I have re-read the first sections and the parts leading to this section, maybe it will come together... Then I hope I can easily finish the last two sections and the conclusion ... should only be a conglomeration of the other conclusions.  I hope.  Ha... only time will tell. 

Next week I really have to get on my classes I am going to teach for the term.  So I worked into the evening last night...

I also got some Christmas cards out the door... just about 8 to go... I am hearing back from my friends I sent cards to on line... it is fun to get responses.  Hope your day is grand... it is supposed to be in the 70s here... but it is cloudy.  hmmmm Love and kisses, Marilyn

I am watching the ending of  Forr*est Gum*pp... Life can be so wonderful and full of magic if you just pay attention.  I had a marvelous day.  I slept in because I did not sleep well last night, my hip was bothering me and my leg was twitching.  I think that my hip is out of join from limping.  I finally hit the sofa at about 3:00 am.  hmmmmm Santa had already been here by then. 

I talked to Kristin and Luke and Ellen while I was cooking dinner.  I had ham, scalloped potatoes, and asparagas.  It was good with a glass of red wine and some cookies and ice cream for dessert. 

After that I went into my bedroom and painted part of the ceiling and the walls. I did the hall and one wall in the bedroom.  It looks great.  I will have to do a second coat, but I really like the color.  It is a rich blue green. Scott called from Denver called me while I was painting... He was upset that I spent the day alone... He is coming back right after New Years... I could not explain that I chose to be alone and actually enjoyed it... 

I was pretty sore so took a bath... and then watched a little Pari*tes of the Carri*bean and then forr*est...   All in all it was delightful day.

I sent out emails to people I won't sent cards to... I already am getting resonses... it is fun to hear from people. 

Hope your day was grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I wrote this to a friend in a email and thought I would copy it here... Good sentiments and why re-write something so good.  Tee Hee...

I decided to stay in my house this Christmas.  I am alone, but so filled with love of myself that it in no way is oppressive.  I think it is in reaction to Evelyn being so afraid to be alone on holidays...  I don't ever want to be that panicked about being alone.  And as usual I face conflicts with myself head on... rather than ducking the matter. 

I had invitations to Greensboro with Jorge family (four hours away) and know that I could go to Jacksonville with Carl my brother in law (which is only two and a half hours away), or with Tom and Bette in SC (two hours away)... but decided to stay here and just allow myself to be content in my own house with my new Christmas traditions. Maybe I am at peace with this because I just spent a month with friends and know that one is never alone when you have loving friends... now I sound like Its a Wonde*rful Life... but it is a wond*erful life.

Santa came and gave me a HD TV (did I say it was 37"... flat screen... HD and woo wooo hot), lavender bathrobe, two boxes of new silverware (to match the silverware I bought when I moved in here), bubble bath, and a hard wood floor mop with a washable cover (less waste for the environment)... Yesterday I opened a Mannheim Steamroller Christmas boxed CD set...

It is so magic that Santa knew exactly what I wanted and needed.   I guess he has been around the block a few times... or should I say around the world a few times.  Hope that your day is delightful and that you do something that feeds your soul.  

Love and kisses and a big Christmas hug, Marilyn

Well I decided it was time to get rid of the summer green for what winter blue... don't expect this to stay long... I also changed the layout... something for a change... I also added weather in Savannah and Horoscopes... and Quotations... someone else's selections... hmmmmm

When I went to the grocery store I bought a new seasonal dining room table cloth to fit my newish table that my mail man in Christiansburg made for me to my design... It looks nice and goes with my new scheme, green, blue and white.  Photos to follow. 

Hope your Christmas Eve will be wondrous and full of anticipation.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Hmmmmm I keep on forgetting to tell you that two days ago I thought I might need an ark... it rained 7.3" here... my back yard was flooding at the tree line.  No threat to the house... Pictures show the water receeding.... It was the tenth most rain they have had here... hmmmmm

But yesterday it was 73 degrees and I ate lunch on the porch.  The rest of the week will be in the 50s and 60s.  After being north for a few weeks I am not complaining.  

I hear that it is snowing up in Michigan and Chicago a lot!!!!  I hope that you all enjoy the beauty of the snow.  Since you can't do anything about it, might as well enjoy it.

I am going to work on my dissertation again today.  And go grocery shopping for a few things I forgot, like Tab.  Hope your day is fine.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I finished my Christmas letters this evening... and got half of them addressed and ready to mail. 

I worked on my dissertation this evening... I could not buckle down today to work on it.  I only did about two hours of work.  I had to set Gender aside and moved on to the Settling the Conflict and why interior design needs licensing...  hmmmm I had written it before and really liked what I wrote. It helped to recharge my battery.

I don't know what happened to the rest of the day?!? 

I hope to be able to get more done tomorrow. 

Love and kisses, Marilyn 

I am struggling today I wrote from 10 to 4 and only got about another four pages done... this is a very hard section.... I re-read what I did yesterday and it sounded really good... so I am trying to just keep going... I had to get up to think about what I was trying to say... so many times I think I should have measured how many steps I took ... I might have walked a mile...  Well I did cleaning the living room floor while I was thinking.  By four I gave up and went for real walk.

After dinner I began to clean up the dining room table.  Papers piled up throughout the term...  and it took most of the night to get rid of them. There are still some papers.  I decorated the bookcases and fire place last night.  The house is shaping up. I still need to file papers and clean off the kitchen dining table... hmmmmm and my dresser in the bedroom.

It was amazing last night and this morning I was watching TV in bed.  I felt like I was in a hotel.  Hmmmmm

Hope your day was great!  Love and kisses, Marilyn

This is me to a tee.... I don't think I have to work on it... I already live my life like this and it does feed me body and soul... hmmm I like their terminology "power and light"!

Today's Gemini Horoscope for Dec 21, 2007

Your greatest quality is generosity, dear Gemini. This nature is not to give to others in order to get something back, but to do it for the pleasure of giving. This is how you best get your power and light. Think of all the people in the world who give of themselves without expecting anything in return. You don't have to make much effort to be one of those people - just give it a try.

My dissertation that is.  I didn't do to well working on it today.  It is the first time I have tried to write at my new house.  I don't know if it was that... to many distractions or.... maybe it was because I was working on my gender section.... and since I changed the direction of my section... today I was re-manuplating what I wrote previously to follow the new direction... hmmmmm I was only able to revise two pages... in addition, I got up multiple times to think about how I needed this section to work ... It is hard to change directions like this, but think it will work if I can just buckle  down.

It is good to be home... I can't believe how good my bed feels... the foam mattress is such a luxury.  Last night I went to bed at 11:00 and got out of bed 10:00 am... nice yummy sleep. 

Yesterday I went to Sa*m's Clu*b to stock up on supplies... and somehow a 35" flat screen TV made its way into my car... Magavox HDTV 1080p... hmmmmmm  Wow!!!!  I really like my present, Santa... he stopped by early and put it into my car to make sure I got it.  Thank you so much.  Hmmmmm

I am going to decorate my house tonight.  I can't decide whether to get a fake tree or a real one... In previous Christmases, before I moved to Virginia, I always put up a real tree.  But most of those Christmas decorations are in Michigan ... and I am thinking that a fake one will be so much easier.  Take it out of the box all lit with LED lights... I might have to wait until next year to get one... somehow my bank account is a little low today.  hmmmm  I think this year I will use the fiber optic I have been using for the last four years.   Next year I can decide fake or real.

Hope your day is wonderful.  Love and kisses, Marilyn   

Well I got home last night... it was an arduous ten hour drive.  I was tired from the last two days of shopping and installing J's boat.  It looks pretty good.  When he gets some more money and replaces his drapery with blinds, it will look terrific.  I had a great time, but was tired by the time we were done... I think we worked 15 hours in two days.  Part of me wanted to stay a final day to get it finished, but I came home instead.  Pictures will follow.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Well J and I went shopping today for his new (old) boat.  We got a drop leave dining table , four folding chairs, a blind to try, two lamps and square trays for his stones, rocks and seashells from Ikea.  We also found a chair and ottoman, with cushions, bookcases, and shelving with baskets,a storage unit for his bedroom and drapery at Pier One.  Tomorrow I will pick up the things at Pier One.  The dining table and chairs worked really well for dinner tonight.  I really like what we have come up with... I think J does, too.  At least he seems too.  I think we are getting a spare look that he will like and will function well for him.

It was cold last night and we walked to the marina to take a shower... the bedroom was cold and a rope kept on snapping against the hull every half an hour... and gurgeling along the hull... hmmmmm sleep elusive and my head was so cold because it was still wet... I had to get a piece of clothing to cover my head and still be able to breath fresh air. My throat is soar today... hope I won't get a cold... I don't believe that you get a cold from a cold head... but... himmmm  Living on a boat is interesting.  Anyway... I enjoying this adventure.
 
Tomorrow Vidya is coming over for dinner here.  I want to make spaghetti or something yummy and fun.  We will have the bookcases by then and the chair. 

I hope that your day has been grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Well I am sitting on the sofa in my friend J's boat...  ship? Well is it a boat or a ship... my cousin's (the navy men) would know.... hmmmm it is a house boat about 500 to 600 square feet.  Fiber glass shell, wood inside.  It has a living room, kitchen, dining/office and a bedroom below deck with a really short ceiling.  He purchased in November to live on while he works in Washi*ngton DC.  What a cool place to live, when you just graduated from grad school and at his first paying job.  I cannot believe how cool it is to live this close to the mall and all of the monuments and yet be able to afford to do it at DC prices.... hmmmm    

Sorry I have been off line for a couple of days... I was having major problems getting on and even saving my blogs... hopefully it is okay now... I spend the last five days since I got back from Michigan running around trying to see everyone... it has been fun, but I am beginning to hate goodbyes.  Or should I say continuing to hate goodbyes. 

Kristin and I went to Elizabeth's graduation.  It was fun to watch her be hooded.  Hopefully in May I will have the same thing happen to me.  Time will tell.  I met with my chair and she had really good comments and we scheduled my defense for during spring break at SC*D.  St. Paddies Week. Hmmmmm I think it is doable.  Hope you last few days have been wonderful.  take care.  Love and kisses, Mairlyn
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Hmmmm I have been having problems gaining access here and have been busy since I got back from Michigan.  When I got to the web... I couldn't get on my blog.... greeehhhh It also took me six times to get my last posting to take... so I will catch everyone up when I get home next week.  All is fine, my ankle is amazingly better... Hope you are all fine... I will check in with everyone when I get home.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

When she moved into her new condo two years ago, I made Sharon's family dining room in the kitchen into a little lounge nitch.  It is wonderful to use... We have two one armed modular sofa parts facing each other with a ottoman between in front of the wood burning fireplace.  She sits here to do her on line investing and I blog here.  It is such as nice space with a view of the pond and golf course beyond... right now... the golf course and deck are all covered with snow. 

The night of my divorce, I went... you know, I should buy myself a divorce ring... yeah something to commemorate our final separation as a couple.  As I thought about it the next day... I remembered 20 years ago I almost bought a really nice ring from a jewelry store while I was working on their interiors... The store owner was going to give me a deal and we talked about it a couple of times... the store was in Greenville.  I didn't buy the ring, partially because it was going to be hard to explain a $264. ring to my husband when we had no extra money.  But it was a beautiful sapphire dinner ring in a asymmetrical setting.  I though about it for a long time before common sense took over and I didn't get it. 

So yesterday I ended up in Greenville twenty minutes early for my appointment with my client... hmmmmm I was just going to cruise around town to see what has changed...  As I drove by the jewelry store, that I did the interiors, they had a big half off going out of business sale sign in their window... hmmmm so I went well I have twenty minutes to kill... I will just go in and see what they have... if they have something then it was meant to be.  So I parked and walked around the building to go in the front door.  The store had changed owners and looked a little different from outside... they had added antiques and other weird stuff.  But they said they had jewelry half off... Well they store was very junky compared to the old owner... lots of miscellaneous stuff sitting about... and they had moved the good jewelry to a different case... but there big as life in the middle of the case was a contemporary amethyst dinner ring (no sapphire rings of any size).  I tried it on and tried on a couple of other rings... the price was $538. minus 50%... hmmmm $264 (interesting that is the same price as the ring I didn't get twenty years ago...)  So I said within five minutes I want this one.  As I was waiting to ring it up... I said it was my divorce ring and everyone laughed.. A women there with two kids said oh geehhh she will have to do that too.... hmmmmm  But I went in anyway.... I was on time to my clients and shared with them my new purchase... and Don said its about time...  I told you... you should have divorced him twenty years ago... yeah he did. 

Once I got back to Sharon's, I was sort of flabbergasted that I bought the ring that quickly... I didn't comptemplate it for weeks and check out all kinds of stores... but that is not what I do.  If something is right I know it immediately and don't need to spend much time debating it.  Sharon reminded me that is what she does too... and I love working with her as an interior designer because she is very decisive.  When we find what she likes, it is yes... and no second guessing.  When I think about it that is how I bought my house and my car... I love them both.  As soon as we found my house, we looked at a couple of more houses to make sure, but I knew when I walked in... and I love it more each day I live there.

So the ring... each time I look at it I love it more.  Why... I think, it represents my freedom on multiple levels.  By the way, I am not a big jewelry person.  I don't necessarily believe in all the sales hype about jewelry showing love... In 1972 when I married, I never had a diamond ring and didn't want one... too commercial, too standard, maybe diamond earrings... but now that my life is more about sustainability and hating the all hype about the "things one must have" to be happy, I am even less oriented to jewelry than before.  I mostly wear natural stones and simple silver jewelry.  Nothing blingey ... so why this ring? 

A mediation on the ring...I bought it for myself, I don't need a man to make my life complete.  I got something from the store where I was not able to buy something I really wanted before, because my husband would object. (You have to understand that for 25 years of my married life I worked two jobs and my husband was only fully employed for 8 of 35 years, so he was not supplying the money for the ring, I was) even then I still did not feel I could spend the money on the ring...  But that husband was gone, now.  In addition when bad things happen to me, I try to see the good in it.  I don't think divorce is a good thing and I did everything I could to stay married for the last twenty years when I we were not happy.  Then I finally had to give up on my marriage and tell my husband we were getting divorced.  So why not celebrate my divorce and have something tangible that will remind me of my freedom to do what I want, when I want to do it.  It also represents how much I like myself as a fully embodied and loving person.  It also represents my new life that I have documented here for what three or four years now.  A life I love that is filled with love and celebration with my friends, mostly my girlfriend (for new readers... no I am not gay) So it represents everything that I have become since I went away to graduate school.  Wow now I sound like a diamond add... Ha the irony of that is amazing.. isn't it?      

Last night when I got back from Greenville she assembled her Christmas tree while I watched (it was dusty and she didn't want to kick on my allergies).  Then we had a marvelous dinner and sat relaxing in the living room by the fire.  I found the Christmas tree lights that she had been looking for two week in the front hall closet... (first place I looked (spookie)).  This morning we are going to start putting the lights on the tree. Hope your day is grand... I am really glad I came up here and be in the snow for five days... and of course see my dear dear friends... Love and kisses, Marilyn

Well yesterday I drove two hours to Mount Pleasant to meet Kathy at the pool to swim and to so lunch.  She was running late and I was running early because there was an inch or two of snow so I gave myself a half an hour extra... So I went in to swim... and we were going to meet in the hot tub to talk.  Well when I registered... it was $9 to swim... wow... so I told Kathy and we decided to meet at the restaurant instead.  I swam a half a mile and hit the hot tub... I am still not kicking and only push off with one leg.  I did some no breath 25s to get my heart rate up while no swimming hard... Mentally I feel so much better when I swim.  It was really strange cause it was like my old swimming buddies were there swimming with me although most of the time I was in the pool alone.  Well the life guard was there. Tee hee

At the restaurant, we had a great relaxing lunch.  We talked for over two hours, getting caught up on each others lives.  We both have had a major event solved this last week in our lives and it was really good to relax together.   She said that she feels as if a major weight has been lifted off of her shoulders. 

About the divorce... I think that I have been processing my emotions for the last three years because I am not feeling very much... I feel sad, but... I know that this is the correct decision for me and I cannot go back to my old life.  I love my new life and my understanding how special and unique I am as a person and I cannot even begin to think about going back to that person (my husband) for whom I was never good enough.  I allowed my husband to make me feel badly about myself and I cannot do that any more.  So I am sad, for the dreams lost... but in reality those dreams were gone in 1980 and no amount of positive thinking and bending over backwards to make our live as good as I could... can make these dreams of being a team working through life together a reality... HA we did grow old together... Tee hee  My life has flowed on into a new direction that he highly resisted and I love my new direction.  hmmmmm

Hope that your day is wonderful.  I am going to a client at 1:00 and then back to Sharon's to relax. Happy Birthday! Connie.  Love and kisses, Marilyn  

I got divorced yesterday.  I can't say that I am dancing down the street, but I am content... at peace with my new life and....

I am having a great time seeing my friends in Michigan.  After my divorce, I stopped by to see Betty who has been my friend since I was first married 35 years ago.  It was great to see her.  She started to cry when I showed up at her door unannounced.  Then I went to my client's Sharon's with whom I am staying.  She is recovering from a tooth operation and pretty much around  the house for a week. 

Then in the evening I went to dinner with the women I worked with in 1980.  We had two bottles of wine and wonderful seafood dinner at Charlies Crab.  It was a marvelous night. I really love these women. 

It snowed a little last night.  Today I am going to Mount Pleasant to meet Kathy at the pool at CMU... we will swim and then get into the hot tub when we are done swimming and then go to Itali*an Oven for lunch.  Then I will come back to Sharons for dinner.

Saturday I am seeing a old client... they were my key client in the Gre*enville area... one third of my business as an interior designer came from this single client.  He would tell people... If you need interior design help you have to hire Marilyn she is the only person you can hire. Fran had cancer two years ago, so it will be great to see them. 

Well I hope that everything is fine with you.  Love and Kisses, Marilyn