I put up additional pictures so don't just look at the St. Louis ones... Love and kisses, Marilyn

Hmmm I didn't get a day off last week... so it is really going to be interesting how well my mouth works.  I always try to take one day off a week to let my brain rest and recover.  I found years ago if I didn't take one day off my lecturing was gibberish.  So this should be a really interesting week.  Yesterday I flew home with no problems, but had to do my quarterly evaluation for school.  It took me about four hours to do it.  We had to tell them everything we do each term for student, to advance ourselves, to advance our program, the college and society.  hmmmm  I did walk three miles last night... because exercise helps settle my brain. 

I am still processing all that happened at the conference in relation to how I want to proceed with my research. It will take me a while before I blog about it. 

The sun is shining and the sky blue so it can't be that bad... I hope.   Have a wonderful day.  Love and kisses, Marilyn  

But I am tired... have to finish my Self evaluation form for school today... Hope your day is good.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Enjoying seeing friends and presentation... My presentation went well.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I am one of the last presentations today.  I am actually looking forward to it.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Hey there... here I am in St. Louis.  I am enjoying the conference.  I met Kristin Maki and she and I hang out last night.  It is great to have her back in my life.  I am sitting here at breakfast with Lisa Julie and Kristin... it is wonderful to be back with really good friends.  Hope you day is wonderful.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Isn't there a song... movie... Meet Me in St. Louis. Yes to both.  I leave at noon to fly there.   and will be in St. Louis until Sunday.  Helena and I will be staying together, so it should be fun.  I brought warmish and cool clothes... Don't know what the weather will do.  Hope you have a great week.  I will try to update from the hotel.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I cannot tell you how much I like my old schedule back again... I slept in today and still have time to get some work done for myself before I go to school by noon.  YES!  We are supposed to get some rain for the next couple of days... so I am enjoying the sun while it lasts.

My class went well yesterday.  I swam last night... not great or really hard but it was good to be back in the pool.  I look forward to the two classes I have today.   I am off to St. Louis on Wednesday to give my presentation. 

Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

We have another ten week term starting today.  I didn't sleep that well last night.  I think my body was aching from the drive.  I had a really good fantasy book on the CD player... it was called the Dragon Rider.  It was fun and had a happy ending. 

When I get home tonight I need to pack for my trip to St. Louis.  I am a little nervous about leaving school this early in the term.  Usually I like my students to get a nice firm start in class, but I didn't schedule the conference, so that is that.  I am going to give my rendering class two assignments.  My studio class will be working on getting to know their clients anyway.  So it should be okay.  I am trying hard to not start counting down the days until school is out. 

I hope that your day goes well.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Matt and I went to Kathy's for tacos for dinner.  It was really fun.  I am home safe and getting mentally ready for school to start.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

My vacation has been so marvelous and relaxing.  The time I spent in DC was relaxing as I caught up on my sleep and ramped my brain down... and went to Georgetown and had an amazing lunch, walked the streets in the drizzle and stopped in a gallery.  That night I saw The Reader... Took a drive to Annapolis for lunch, some shopping, and see the beautiful quaint city in the drizzle. I walked the mall in the drizzle and saw the art museums.  I went to a art and wine party at the Chilean Embassy and had another wonderful dinner.   Made dinner and had new friends over... and had a marvelous time with them.  Then when I came here.  I again had a great lunch, swam with friends and slept, slept, slept. 

Thursday and Friday, I was able to get some work done (rewrote my programming document and prepared my presentation that I am giving at the end of next week... wow that came up fast)and yesterday I got my car serviced.  I had to have my breaks ground down again... they were chattering when I stepped on them at high speed.  hmmmm almost $600. later... oh well.  I also went shopping to find some tops with longer sleeves, they were on sale... By the way, my favorite store for clothes closed.  Makes me sad.  

Anyway, I feel as if I am recovering from my fatigue from teaching the overload.  The fuzz in my head is less and I am sleeping well.  That is good because I head home tomorrow.  Have had a great day.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

At the hotel... that is why I could not get in yesterday... I changed to a different internet connection and it came up... but part of the time I could not write on it because the signal was so weak.  Oh well...

I had a delightful day.  Worked on revising my programming document for class next Monday in the morning.  Then had lunch with Elizabeth and K and swam with Ellen and went to Noelle's favorite coffee shop to get on the internet, hoping to see her.  I didn't but was able to access my e-mail.  Then Ellen gave me a massage.  I really felt better after she worked on my ribs and legs... (left over stuff from my fall on January 25).  Then I came home ate crap and read for a while before I tried to go to sleep early.  It didn't work... at 11:00 it dawned on my I had not drank enough water... so I got up and finished the bottle of water I had started and drank another whole... to stave off the headaches I some times get from the release of the toxins a massage does.  hmmmmm

I need to get my car serviced... maybe I should call about that now.  It is so much easier to do it when not in school.  I can work there as well as here... with my trusty computer at my side... 

Hope your day is wonderful.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I could not get access to the internet from my hotel.. I did something stupid to speed up my computer and then could not get access to the internet... greehhhh ... and it just took me a half an hour to get access here at Bolos...  Finally I am reconnected!!!  It is amazing how much I depend on the internet to communicate.  I felt totally disconnected... tee hee...

I had a good drive to B'burg.  Slept 11 and a half hours last night... 11 1/2 hours... I feel so much better today... I think I have been so exhausted I have not had a clear mind for a month... Today I worked on Kathy and my programming document and ate lunch with Elizabeth and Katya.  Then I went swimming with Ellen and saw Judy for a few minutes... Now I am at Bolo's drinking a cup of coffee and emailing and blogging.

Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn
 

About an hour before sunset... It has been cloudy and rainy since I arrived in DC and now the sun has come out.  I leave tomorrow morning.  Oh well.  I made a big dinner for tonight.  Having friends over for St. Patty's Day celebration.  I meant to make corn beef and cabbage, bought the cabbage, but last night I went to a reception at the Chilean Embassy and then went out for dinner.  So the lasagna I had planned for last night... became dinner for tonight... I am transporting boiled cabbage and carrots into cold slaw... hmmmm 

I met with the executive director of my professional organization.  I need to put a proposal together to get funding from them.  I think that it went well.  He was hoping I had solved the health and welfare issues for our profession.  I am hoping that I got it but only he will be able to tell me once he reads my dissertation. 

Hope your St. Patrick's Day went well.  The Irish part of me loves this holiday.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I have gotten a few emails from my students about their grades... but more I received emails from students thanking me for their class....  This is what makes teaching so wonderful... 

One of the things that I love about teaching is the transformation process... I try hard to not have that transformation happen in a negative way... I don't want to remake my students in my image, but attempt to instill in them a "fire in their belly for design"  to expand their creative and questioning mind... I have to give credit to Matt Lutz for the fire in the belly comment.. He used it when we were arguing the cirriculum of interior design at VT. He on the side of the fire in the belly, me on what each student needs to know to be a professional "interior designer". 

We do have to have a set of expectations (curriculum) from/for each class, but how we do it... is up to each teacher...  What I have found since getting my Ph.D. is the freedom to allow my students to explore their own eye... their own vision of of the world.  I now believe that their vision will change the world.   My vision has made the world what it is... which I feel is not particularly working... So I no longer want them to be in my shadow of my expectations, but discover their own and different way.  What an amazing transformation of myself as a teacher.  Elizabeth... I can see you smiling, it was such a struggle for me to come to that realization as a student myself. 

The transformation happens at all levels... I work so hard to expand their minds while not beating down their spirit... That is what the emails were about this week.  The expansion of their spirit... Boy I got tears in my eyes about that one... One of the cool things about teaching at SC*D is others have instilled the rules in the process of other classes, which gives me the freedom to let them fly. 

The movie The Reader... is still reverbrating through me... part of this outpouring is the transformation emotion it instilled. 

Hope you have a wonderful day.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

We drove to Annapolis today in the rain.  We walked around looking at the town... it is quite quaint.  and shopped for pottery and hats...  After we drove back I took a nap for an hour.  Then we went to Trader Joe's for groceries and came home and ate dinner.  It was a fun relaxing day. 

Last night we went to see The Reader.  It was unbelievably moving and good.  The choices one makes in life are sometimes so hard and fraught with the possibilities of inflicting pain... in those we love.  We cannot know how our interactions can reverberate through life. 

Hope yours day goes well.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Hope your day was good.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Two straight days of grading... I got home at 9:00.  I am relieved to be done.  I am off to Washington DC tomorrow morning and then on to Virginia on the 18th.. I will check in now and then.  Have a great week.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Crazy with grading and critiques... I hardly even looked at my email today... Hope your day is good.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I realized I graded for ten hours yesterday.  Started at 10 and finished at 10:15 with..... 15 minutes of shopping to get food for lunch and the week... an hour for lunch and 45 minutes for a walk... Long day... Unfortunately I didn't leave myself enough down time before I went to bed and at 12:00 I was up talking decongestant in hopes of drifting off... at 1:00 I was still up... Greeehhhh

I hate the time change it always messes up my sleeping... I go to bed an hour later and wake up at the same time... or go to bed an hour earlier and can't get to sleep...  and have to get up an hour early... ghreee. 

Full moon was beautiful last night, but I don't think it was conducive for a good night sleep.   I have photos from my walk with Matt on Saturday and from last night.... with lots of moon shots as it was getting dark.  I will try to get them up tonight. 

Love and kisses, Marilyn