Another busy day.  I mowed the lawn last night when I got home from school.  Not good sleeping last night but was able to sleep in this morning.  Hope your day is good.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I have sent an email to the tour group in Texas about the hotels for my trip overseas in June.  And sent designs off to Florida for my clients new custom made dining room table design... they finally are able to build it . 

It is really nice to be concentrating on things for June right now.  School went well yesterday.  My students really buckled down on their work, using my comments to get things were they need to be.   The seem more engaged and understand where they are going with the project.    

I joined Tw*tter this last week, but it seems to have no depth or content.  I only allows for 140 letters so everything is short and a report about what you doing this instant.  I guess it is counting how many people you have following you and you are following.  Sort of like a shortened version of Fac*book... Not me... I like room to go into depth like I get to here.  I have enough real friends that I don't need to count aquatences.  (that doens't seem to be spelled right.)

I slept well last night, but took Alk* Seltz*r Pl*s before I even went to be.  I hope I am not going to need to do this for the rest of the term, but I really need sleep. 

Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I am eccentric... hmmm When my friend called me that it hurt my feelings... now I think my horoscope is telling me that.  Oh well. 

Slept crappy again last night... at three I took some Alk* Seltzer Pl*s... finally got to sleep.  Back to school today.  I think I talk to my students about building codes today. 

I finally finished sorting through three years of papers.  Stuff from my dissertation, student work, teaching assignments, presentations, paid bills, phone notes, business cards and even junk mail.  I started with about six - six inch piles... I sorted through three a month ago... and now I got the other three down to one three inch pile.  Organized the information, filed stuff and threw out a whole bunch.  It feels good to not have piles all over my office and my dining room table.  It took me most of the day.  Went to Kathy's for dinner with Scott.  We had a nice time.

Hope your day is wonderful.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I ended up on the sofa last night... I am having problems getting to sleep.  I think stress at work has been disturbing my sleep for the last three weeks.  I don't like to take more than Alka S*lzer Pl*s, but changing locals seemed to help.  I went to sleep soon after much to my relief.

Today I am continuing to relax and recharge my batteries.  I need to mow my lawn, but think I will do it on Tuesday morning otherwise I will need to mow next weekend and I am going to Virginia.  It is K's birthday.  Elizabeth I am coming for the weekend.  The weekend after is totally booked with stuff for school.  The 15th I am going to Treasure Island to see my clients new home.  Then only two more weeks of school with intense grading. 

It has been cool down here for being in the south.  Only one hot afternoon last week.  I am enjoying it.   Last night I took a walk in the neighborhood, I need to do that more often.   I swim two days a week and walk about 4 miles at school each teaching day, but I need to get back to walking three miles on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to get back into better shape.

I am getting ready to set up a three week tour for June and need to be in much better walking condition to be able to do all the hiking we will be doing. 

Hope your day is wonderful, love and kisses, Marilyn    

I cleaned up my kitchen... because I had a meeting with someone who wants our students to render a new facility for dogs and cats in a town south of here.  The facility will pick up stray dogs and cats, but not put them to sleep unless they are sick.  We had a good meeting.  I think I need to go down to take better photos and get the lay of the land.

I want to sort through some more papers to finish getting stuff put away from all the writing the last few years... and wash my kitchen floor and go for a walk.  Hope your day is great.  Love and kisses, 

I just finished putting my grades up on line... Two of my students are named Marie and use nicknames... I got them confused.  They got the same grade mostly so I think it is okay... if not... NOT.  Oh well we do the best that we can.  I am going to hit the deck with a good book and relax for the rest of the day if not the weekend.  Have a great day.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Mid term grading.  Well yesterday, my students presented, then I sat in the classroom moving from desk to desk grading.  In three hours I got comments written for four projects.  Three to go.  I am going in early today to get the rest done.  Tonight I have 29 students handing in rendering work.  I cannot decide whether to grade it on Friday or have a three day weekend.  I am thinking it is smarter to have a three day weekend.   Those students already have five project graded, so it won't make that much difference on their grades, but peace and quite for three days will make a big difference in my life to recharge me for the last five weeks.  Once again this term, that third term, is really hard.  It is hard to get the energy level up in the students and myself.  For 25 years I taught at university's with two semesters.  It was much easier, even though I was working full time for twenty of those years and teaching on a part time basis.  

Love and kisses, Marilyn 

Newswe*k had a article about people telling their life stories and how interesting they are.  During the depression peoples stories were taken by out of work writers.  A few years ago they were doing it orally.  Steven Spi*lb*rg also is documenting the experiences of people from the hol*caust.  It got me thinking.  I have had a varied and interesting life, my friend Carole has too.  My friends Kathy, Toa, Sarah, Elizabeth, Michelle, Fabiola and many more have wonderful stories that need to be told.  Not just in the day to day dribble that I describe here, but in our life stories.  The complexity of life our experiences of growing up, fitting in, expanding our horizons, our loves and losses... I think I will add another blogger blog to My Blog section... where I document the experiences of my life. 

Just a thought.  Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

The sun is out and I feel pretty good after a good night's sleep.  I slept in again.  It seems as if I just get caught up... and then have a sleepless night, which sets me back again. 

I will grade at school today and get that caught up.  Then use my office hours on Thursday to put the grades into Blackboard.  All day Friday I will grade my Studio III projects.  They are presenting their schematics on Wednesday.  Grades are do on Monday, so I should be in pretty good shape to get the grades done.

Hope your day is great.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Hmmmm I didn't mean to...

I got up and mowed the front yard, then relaxed for a little while and made a list of stuff to buy at S*m's Cl*b.  Then  I went to my massage, I had forgotten to eat, so she gave me some string cheese and a bottle of water.  What a nice woman.  I went to her house, which is near S*m's... so when I got done, I went shopping.  Got my usual $300.00 worth of stuff.  (I stock up on the big stuff about once ever six weeks.)  Then I came home and ate... My neck was hurting a little so I lay down on the sofa with my head hanging over two pillows (my new way to stretch my neck) and fell asleep.  I woke up after about 45 minutes unstacked the pillows, rolled over and slept for another hour.  I should not have done it, because I knew I was going to have problems going to sleep at night.   But it felt so good to take a nice long nap. 

When I got up I didn't want to grade... so I didn't.  I watched TV, played solitare and scrabble and when I went to bed I took a sleep enhanser, it still took a whle to get to sleep but I slept through the night.  I did not want to get up this morning. 

Hope your day was grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Matt needed his car serviced and I joined him and we went to Hilton Head beach.  I was a nice day...  although a little cool.  I had a sweat suit on and eventually laid in the sand out of the wind in the sun and took a nice nap.  We had dinner at a diner... All in all it was a wonderful day. 

I am getting information about taking a tour of Peru in June.  I have a big refund from taxes and really want to see the things I studied about when I was at VT.  Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

We had a great field trip today in Savannah.  Atlanta... we went to Altanta...Got home at 10:00 to night... love and kisses, Marilyn

My world changed yet again, I was a student at Virg*nia T*ch when a deranged student decided, for what ever reason, to make his mark by murdering 32 students and faculty.  I was not on campus that morning and at noon I sat at the airport emailing my friends in Michigan that I was okay.  I was headed down to Savannah to interview for my current job.  But I was a changed person.  This is not the first time I faced this kind, of insanity.  I was also at Mun*ch.  I knew that if you just perseve through the pain... that you can get through this insantiy... I am a loving and caring person and I will never understand the breadth human kinds inhumanity to human kind... It takes your breath away.

Some times it seems as if life's losses will take you down to your knees...  That was what I felt those days, two short years ago.  My once serene and peaceful campus was inundated with media and helpful (?) others.  We came through to the other side of grief, but we are all changed by it. I hear that more random violence is happening regularly in the US... and I wonder why?  Is our world so isolating that the only way to get someones attention is to take out a gun?  I don't know, but it makes me so sad and thoughtful today. 

I hope that you let your loved ones know how important they are to you, every day.  On that thought, as I always end my blogs, if you are reading this... Love and kisses and a big bear hug, Marilyn 

and it looks all green and beautiful out side.  I think I will need to mow my lawn this weekend though... the weeds are showing their pretty heads... they are blooming which is why I say pretty.  I don't want to treat my yard with weed killer, because I don't want to put poison in the environment... so I don't know what to do.  I guess I will enjoy their variety...

Tomorrow I am off to Atlanta after classes.  Then we tour three firms there on Friday.  I am going to have to drive up there and back by myself.  Why would it be I am dreading the drive when I do the same thing only 2 hours longer to Virginia and I am fine with it.  Maybe it is the wonderful friends at the other end of the Virginia drive... and relaxation. 

We have class today, a talk students should go to then I am off to the pool.  I think my mind is fuzzy because I didn't get to swim on Monday because of the deluge... Maybe I should have swum in the streets... tee hee Hope your day is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I had no problem getting home from school, but I didn't bother trying to get to the pool... but I guess there was 18 inches of water in the streets of Savannah last night.  Hmmmm 

I don't know why I don't have much to say these days... guess I am just tired from a busy years. 

Hope your day is fine.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Yesterday was so pretty.  Today it is cloudy.  Back to school and this is a long week because we have a field trip to Atlanta on Friday.  Hope your day is great.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

I had a great Saturday relaxing... filing papers and lazying around.  Today I graded and had Scott over for a cook out for Easter dinner.  All in all it was a good weekend.  Hope yours was grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

But I got them done in one day!!! Rather than the six days to do last years taxes.  It is really nice to be making good money because I actually got a nice refund back. 

Tomorrow I will take off and relax.  Then Easter Scott maybe coming over for dinner but I have to grade... 

Love and kisses, Marilyn 

Exhaustion is really affecting me.  I did not sleep well this week.  Last night was the best night I had and I was up three times and woke up about five including the three where I got up to use the facilities.  And that on the fatique from finishing my dissertation in the fall and teaching an overload in the winter... has set me up for exhaustion...

My horoscope is saying things are unsettled... not that I really believe in horoscopes... but maybe it is in the stars are making me unsettled or could it be the stress at work. The pressures of the year seem to be coming to a head, at least for me... and I am overly sensitive to stupid things like negative comments camouflaged by humor.  I am back to counting down the weeks until "summer vacation".  At least this term seems to be flying.

Of course after taking a little time off I will get back to my research...   Since there is little time to do it during the school year. I am going to work on getting my dissertation published.  I think I want to continue documenting the history of professionalization of interior design through licensure.  The conference last week showed me that I do not want to go head to head with more experienced researchers about my topic, (and they are working on different aspects of it also) so if I continue to document what happened that may be a way to tap into what they know and have deal with espically over the last five years.  For example there is a Libitarian group who is opposing licensure for interior designers in the courts in six states right now.  I need to get up to date in that aspect and then document it.  So that my profession will know about it. 

Ha funny how looking toward the future raises my spirits and helps me get through the next few weeks.  It is not very often when I get down about stuff.  Hope your day was grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn

Busy day today.  Hope yours is grand.  Love and kisses, Marilyn