Welcome to Miami Buenvenidos a Miami- Will Smith

As you can probably guess I am in Miami. I give my presentation on Friday.
I am here with my hubby. We are having an awesome time.
Not to be baiting...but I have some stuff I want to post. Just don't have time to write now.

(Colossians 4:5): Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

I’d simply be wasting my time if I did anything other than what He has called, prepared & strengthened me to do.
A miracle occurred in my life today. I ran into a friend I had lost the number for. She hugged me, and immediately began telling me how God had changed her life. This person that was wild...partier...crazy party girl. I couldn't believe the way that God has changed her life.

I can't add much to that except that if God has a plan for the birds in the air, and the insects on the ground. Surely he has a plan for me.
April

101st Blog Post The quotations will return tomorrow....

I just realized I made my 100th blog post yesterday. That seems like it is sort of an occasion. Break out the bubbly. :P I reread the book The Road by Thomas McCarthy last night. (In case you are wondering I stayed up all night). I slept from 6:45 AM until 9:00 AM. You can be awfully productive if you just stay up around the clock, I guess.

My Texas tags expired on my vehicle this month. I had just kept renewing the tags like I lived in Texas. And I decided it was time to get rid of the Lone Star Tag. :( Although I will miss it. The new tag is brilliant....I love how the S's look like meat hooks in Mississippi. I believe I have mentioned this before but I am going to have to repeat. Living in Mississippi is something else. No where else do they spell your state at you. Say someone I don't know asks "Where do you live?" I respond "Mississippi" inevitably the person will spell it back to me. Not "M-I-S-S etc." But "M-I-Crooked Letter-Crooked Letter etc..." No where else in the union does this happen. If you were to come up to me and say "I live in Alaska," I wouldn't immediately go "A-L-A-S-K-A, Alaska." Maybe I just talk to weird people. But I get the state spelled at me a lot. More than my fair share anyway....

Other than that I live near a HUGE Casino in Philadelphia, MS. I love telling people I live near Philly just to confuse them. It gives me no end of pleasure to pull this when I go visit my parents (who happen to actually live near Philly-the real one).

We leave for Miami Wednesday morning EARLY which is perfect that is just when I am going to sleep these days. (All those vampire books I have been reading). I have a new suit to wear to my presentation!

I am getting the rest of my discussion questions for comps to study in the next 2 weeks. That gives me 2 solid months to study.

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. Thomas Edison

Started working at 1 PM today. It is now 5 until 12 O'clock. an 11 hour day nice. :) put that in again tomorrow and Tuesday as well if I intend to go out of town and enjoy myself this week.
I am getting my new dining room furniture tomorrow. :)
The table top is Marble so it should be roughly as heavy as a car. I love the leather Parson's chairs as well. Can not wait for my new lovely dining room furniture.

I love getting new furniture, and I have waited long enough for my dining room set.
P.S. Class was canceled Saturday so I got to experience a weekend spending time with my best friend.

He is doing his training for his physical exam for the FBI. Today he did 71 push ups. That is a perfect score. Go my hottie hubby!

No studying today. Too busy working. However my classes are going well!

Rush headlong and hard at life Or just sit at home and wait. All things good and all the wrong Will come right to you: it's fate. Dean Koontz

Ugh. This past year I have been battling illness. Serious illness. Radiation, chemotherapy, the whole catastrophe. When I was first diagnosed my husband got on the phone with my mother in tears he told her he was here for the long haul. We had only been married a little over a year at the time. Here we are having been married 3 years (almost), he has stuck by me as promised. My mother relayed that story to me,and how those words he gave her were a treasure she felt. Obviously with my illness weighing heavy on my parents hearts they were pleased that I had such a wonderful mate that made the vows "In sickness and in health" and obviously lives them.

No one expects to get this ill at 29. No one expects that their body would fail them in such an infuriating way. I had so many goals dreams and aspirations. However miracle like a phoenix from the ashes I have stayed in school.

I am an independent woman. I take care of myself. I work hard. I play hard. I travel with friends. I take care of myself. Being sick taught me that I had to rely on someone but myself. I could not even drive for six weeks. I am a long way from my original energy level, but I am getting closer. I couldn't have stayed in school, and kept accomplishing my goals with out the help of my spouse.

Reflecting back on this past year has helped me see what a perfect spouse God has provided for me. Isn't it amazing that the day you get married you think that you love your spouse the most you will ever love him on the day you marry him? But it grows with each passing day.

Reflecting back via the school year it is amazing I am on the cusp of taking my comps. I will be a closer to my expected graduation date. I have started work on one of my comp questions. I plan to work steadily on my questions as I get my study guides. I also expect to be able to have my answers reviewed so that I will be able to go in knowing I am ready to pass this test.

So far I am studying 2 hours a day. I expect to raise my study rate to 4 hours in February. By March I will be studying 5-6 hours per day.

"Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in." -Mark Twain

The quotes as titles are new. I decided it was a way to express myself. I have always enjoyed quotations a great deal. Mark Twain is one of my favorites, Edison, and Emerson must be tied for second.

I am supposed to have class tomorrow but we are experiencing as Winter Weather advisory. We rarely get those so I am hoping my class will be canceled. That would be WONDERFUL. I do not want to sit in class all day tomorrow. I can't seem to get my head around being back in school. Call it a severe case of senioritis.

Because of the winter storm Hubby got to come home at 2 PM. He took the FBI test yesterday so I have been able to spend copious amounts of time with him. This has been like a nice vacation of quality time together. Leaving for Miami on Wednesday, we will have a bit of a romantic vacation to kick the year off!

As a couple we are on the same page. I can typically finish his thoughts and sentences. We also just see eye to eye on almost every issue. It was awesome when he got off today he and I both had the idea for how to spend our extra time together. Since we were going to be stuck at home we made our favorite dinner and had an old fashioned movie night snuggling on the couch. And the best part of all he let me pick all the scary movies I wanted to see.

Le français va bien. J'espère ce temps prochain nous allons à Paris que je pourrai le mettre au bon usage. Nous planifions aussi une vacances de famille à costa Rica. Tout mon voyage met mon espagnol au bon usage, mais j'ai besoin de visiter Canada, ou France si je peux pratiquer vraiment mon français !

Au revoir

“Just as iron rusts from disuse, even so does inaction spoil the intellect.” Leonardo da Vinci

In the immortal words of Stevie Ray Vaughan:

Hello there, my old friend,
not so long ago it was 'till the end
We played outside in the pouring rain,
on our way up the road we started over again

Up and down that road in our worn out shoes,
talkin' 'bout good things and signin' the blues
You went your way, I stayed behind

We both knew it was just a matter of time

In case you are wondering I am singing to my insomnia. Also in case your wondering...I really need to go to bed, but have roughly 4 or 5 hours worth of work left to do! Hip Hip Hooray. It isn't easy being a baller. (Snark).

Anyway, hubby did AWESOME on his FBI test. Go honey! I am proud proud proud of him. I also found out they were going to start their background investigation soon. Get this it costs 35k for one of those suckers and takes AT LEAST SIX MONTHS WOW~!

That is all I have for you today.

Fear grows in darkness; if you think there's a bogeyman around, turn on the light. Dorothy Thompson

I have been reading too many scary novels. Specifically novels that involve viruses that turns the world on its ear such as "I am Legend" or "Risen"

Anyway, I have also been obsessed with watching movies of that gore, such as Hostel II, and the Resident Evil Series, and I am Legend. Anyway, it has caused me to be a scardey cat. My HH is out of town he is testing for the FBI tomorrow. Normally I would have gone with him, but I had too much work. Unfortunately all those spooky stories are making me scared. :( The world is definitely going to end, and I am going to have to hole up here in my house with my vicious (snark) cocker spaniel, tons of water, our AR-15 and the case of MREs we have in the attic. Luckily Starkville is not a very populated area (these viruses always start in NYC or LA). When my Hubby just called I made him talk to make sure his vocal cords were not deteriorating like a zombie's would although if he is a vampire I would imagine his voice would sound the same. I wonder if I should get a bath in before the world ends and I can't run water for fear of attracting monsters. Ha!

“May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human enough hope to make you happy.”

Wow. Today was a tough day. I am hovering on a count down until my dog has been dead for 6 months. My husband and I were going through our home. Cleaning as it were.

The place is SPOTLESS. While all this cleaning was going on I found some pictures of my puppy. When he was just a tiny squirt.

I also went and did some shopping not working which means I will be working all night not sleeping Welcome back insomnia. I had trouble eating today. It just was such a melancholy day. For those of you that know me in real life. When I am sad, I don't eat. It is just how I operate. I am not unbelievably sad. I just have a lot on my plate, and sadness naturally occurs to me in the winter. I am solar powered so when it rains all day...my mood drops.

I got a new cell phone. It acts as a modem for my laptop. Which is necessary in my line of work. So that was exciting. I can work around the clock now. YEAH! Overall I am ready for this day to end. I am ready to face tomorrow. Perhaps it will be cheerier.

Someone send me something snarky. I deserve it.
:)

Be good and you will be lonely. Mark Twain

In case you are wondering this is my dad's trophy mule deer. This is such a nice trophy that the hunting outfitters showcased his picture via their website. I have more pics of my dad hunting in Africa...I should put them up as well. Anyway I was proud of him so I wanted to upload his pic.

My dad has invited handsome hubby to go big horn sheep hunting this fall. That is exciting. I know HH is dying to go. Soon my office will be filled with heads like my mom's. She actually also has a bear rug and a zebra rug in residence. Also in case you are wondering my family eats quite a bit of venison.

I am letting the time get away from me. Or I fear that I am letting the time get away. It seems like it is slipping through my fingers. (Believe me I am not complaining...it is just that there seems to be so much to do.)

Today we decided we would try to start trying to have a baby in June. June is perfect. I should be done with my comps and working on my dissertation. Hopefully I will be able to write and make a baby at the same time. Hubby worries that if he gets into the FBI I will be pregnant with out him. He doesn't want to miss a second of it. He claims it will also be hard on me to be alone. Perhaps. However I want to be Dr. X prior to having any children. So it can't be prior to June. So June.....

"You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas" Davy Crockett

It is Saturday night. I am still awake. My insomnia hasn't let up. It refuses. Why? I have no idea. Typically I don't have these kinds of repeated problems. However insomnia is one of my nearest and dearest friends. Uninvited, unliked, but consistent nevertheless.

I went to get a pedicure on Friday. As you may or may not know I have been having health problems. I am mostly out of the woods health wise. But my toenails have been falling out as part of my illness. Well I hadn't had a toenail fall out in several months so I thought I would try to get a pedicure. No dice. I sat down, and the nail person had barely began when TWO toenails fell off. So I guess my toenails are not ready. I got two fake ones to replace the ones that fell off.

I get to spend this whole weekend with my hubby. He is off on Monday so I get non-stop time with my delicious mate. We spent today together and I just don't know where the day went.

We are hosting a Super Bowl Party again this year. Last year we had over 40 people at our humble home. This year I intend to scale it back a bit. Just a smidge. I want it to be fun with out it being so busy I don't get to talk to everyone that is in my home.

What are you picks for the Super Bowl? I want it to be Packers and Pats. I want the Packers to win because I don't think I can stomach the cheating Pats winning. Ah and I would like to check out those 2 cute quarter backs!

This is where I live

Lot's happened today. But I feel like being pithy. BTW I did not take these pictures a friend did them for me. Isn't his work amazing?

So tada! Pictures of the lovely Starkville!

MSU Campus Water Tower

Alumni Center

Reflecting Pool

These are the duckys that live in the lake behind our house.


This is the view from our lovely home.

Guard Dog

This is a pic I snapped with a phone. My darling HH fell asleep while waiting on his leading lady to finish up work. I had promised to watch a movie with him. Guess he and our puppy decided to snag some zzz's while I wrapped up work.

I love you, honey. I am so happy to see you content.





So last night some of our friends bought us dinner. We were coming home. Key in lock. Our little dog Shug peeks through the curtains. I have this amazing fur coat. (Before I get a barrage of emails about how fur is bad let me explain. My mink coat was made in 1960. I bought it on Ebay. The minks were dead nearly 20 years before I was born. No minks died so that I could enjoy my coat. I am recycling.) Anyway, I was kind of flipping the coat around and the dog saw it...needless to say it scared her.

The key is in the lock, and HH opens the door. Our ferocious animal is barking but running towards the back bedroom. She stops, barks, looks behind her, runs a little more. I know exactly where she is heading. She is heading to hide under my bed. I call that place the bat cave because it is where my dog hides. What an awesome guard dog! Aren't you scared?

Burglars beware. The Shuggy is watching.

Pontification

I want to talk about my job a bit here. While I think online courses are neither harder nor easier than on ground course I believe they are different.

I do not believe that online teaching is for everyone. For one it takes dedication and dogmatism to merely get the job. Not everyone can handle the amount of work it takes to just get that first online position. I also think that getting the first position helps the candidate to be prepared as to what it is like having the job.

Second it involves some level of uncertainty. For example one's courses might not make. Or a new dean might be hired, and you have to build relationships via the phone and email once again. Or the school might change the policy on number of courses allowed by adjuncts each year. So in essence an online faculty member must be able to absorb that risk.

Third teaching online requires discipline that some people lack. I have tons of friends that would "love" to teach online. They talk about shopping during the day, and teaching from all over the world. True you could do those things. That is definitely one of the perks. However you also have to remember that it is work. And highly competitive. If you shop all day you may have to work all night. If you are not a self starter you are in trouble. If you are not self disciplined enough to force yourself to work when it has to be done then online teaching is not for you. If you procrastinate you just make more work for yourself.

Forth...it is a lonely business. I have tons of online friends. But I get up and work from 7 AM until 6 PM when my husband comes in. The only person I see all day long is my dog. Granted I could go to lunch and spend time with friends, but then I would have to work at night when my husband is home. Trust me it is lonely. I also have no peer group. I am not a mother so I do not really hang with the single moms. Most women that are 30 have jobs or kids.

Fifth you are never off work except the end of December. Pretend you work for 5 schools. The breaks and holidays will never coincide. So you will work 5 to 7 days a week for 11 months of the year.

Sixth...it is highly competitive out there. There are constantly people that are willing to do your job. So if you fall down on the job it is going to be to your detriment because the college administration can find your replacement.

Seventh...you need to be extremely organized. You have to keep track of paperwork, calendars, time zones, students, grade due dates, schedules etc for each school you are working for and for each class.

Eighth you don't get to call in sick. If you are teaching a class you can't drop your ball. You might be able to get someone to substitute for you. You might be able to get a leave of absence. But if you have the flu you will be at your computer doing work.

Ninth you have to keep in constant contact with some schools. Some schools are outstanding about hiring you. You get your regular schedule each term like clock work. Some schools you have to chase down and talk to every single term. You will feel like a sales person networking for your classes.

Tenth for the most part no benefits. You will have to come up with a plan for health insurance, life insurance, and retirement. There are full time online positions that will give you these, but they are limited.

Now I know I sound like a grumpy gus. I don't mean it that way. I just wanted to point out and to share this with anyone that hadn't thought about the other side.

To close on a Positive note the top 10 things I like about teaching online.

1.) I got married in Belize in 2005 and didn't have to take any time off. I just taught my classes during my wedding and my honeymoon. It was great! Wifi is your friend.
2.)You have an excuse to buy new technical gadgets because you need them to do your job! And they are a business expense so you take them off on your taxes.
3.) How much you earn is up to you! You have the potential to earn as much as you would like. It just takes some hard work and dedication.
4.) Your students will surprise and captivate you. You get to meet people from all over the world in all walks of life.
5.) You get all kinds of free training. You get to learn all new things from the schools you work for.
6.) You can teach online and work on your education. You won't take out a dime in student loans. You can just pay as you go. ;)
7.) As you work you can pursue other interests such as writing a book. As long as you get your work done...you are free to do that.
8.)If you have terrible insomnia like me you can work at 4 am. Or 2 am or 1 pm. As long as your work is done by when it must be complete.
9.) You get free textbooks all the time. I love books. I love reading them and going over all the new things! I love picking books for classes.
10.) You get to invest and save for retirement using Self Employeed 401ks and other type of investment that are not available if you have a corporate job.

Forgot Forgot

How could I forget? How how?
Hubby has another round of testing for the FBI.
His test is on January 24th or maybe 25th. I am proud of him.

Go GMAN! He is so excited, and I am so happy for him.
Ok I am sending up a prayer. I don't want to be sent up North if he gets in to the FBI. I want to stay down south.

:)

Hunting Season...Back to work

Hunting season is almost over. My HH went hunting on Sunday, but there were no deer out there. I feel terrible that he didn't get his deer.

I am back at work and in full force in school. I registered for 7 dissertation hours. I will be working on that little paper this semester. I also registered for my comprehensive exams today. I got my program of study signed. It is awesome that I am getting class to graduation. On Thursday at 3 PM I will be meeting with my adviser about my comps. I plan to study exceedingly hard for my comps. I can expect to start in full force by the end of the month.

Once I have passed my comps I really will be in charge of my own destiny as far as finishing this degree is concerned. I have officially been in school 2.5 years. I am READY to finish. I know that isn't long for a doctorate, but I am ready to be done!

I won't say this out loud

I refuse to repeat this. I also need to knock on wood before typing this. Everything in my life is perfect right now. I am knocking again. As soon as I say something like that I will end up pregnant or something. NOT that being pregnant is a bad thing for people that want to be. But right now I don't want to be.

Watching movies with my Handsome Hubby, I realize how happy I am. I am lucky poor Hubby and I were discussing how wonderful it is to be best friends with the person we married. But I don't feel this blessed merely because of my marriage.

My stepdaughter is doing well in school. She has made straight A's several terms in a row! I am really proud of her. We were all so worried about the phase she went through last year. But now she is showing off how awesome she can do in school.

I can see light at the end of the tunnel with school. That feels great as well. The planets have all aligned :).

I know my husband is ready to have a baby. I know that we are going to have to make some decisions like those now or never. But I still have some time.

Winter Blues Not So Much

Today I was doing my schedule.
When you work from home and have started taking a majority of courses online you end up with a weird schedule. It doesn't require you to leave th house much, but can still be hectic if that makes sense.

I am traveling a lot at the first of the year. I will be in Miami January 30- February 3 giving a paper. I am going to have to suffer through staying at the Hyatt. Hubby will be joining me, and we will be hanging with some of our dear friends in Miami. If I can find their pics I will post them.

I get back on February 3 and leave on the 5th for San Diego where I will be teaching a course in a small beach town in Mexico. (Poor me). I will be there until the 9th. I liked the thought of East Coast West Coast travel right at the first of the year. I get to say hello to both the Pacific and Atlantic coast! Yeah!

I go back to Mexico at the end of March to wrap up the course. If this course goes well I will be able to teach courses in Mexico, China, Europe, and Canada like this. Let's all cross our fingers. While I am interested in those places I really want to finish my tour of South America. My sister took a fabulous pic of she, my mom and me in Uruguay. I will have to put that up as well.

At any rate I am happy to be traveling at the beginning of the year. Hubby is a bit traveled out and would like a break I believe. He hates when I am out of town though. So that is a bit of a draw back.

The way I see it a trip to Miami and San Diego will help keep my winter cheery. Hubby has promised to take me to Thailand or China when I finish the dissertation. (Well I will be taking us, but really it doesn't matter what is mine is his and what not). So I am scraping together all my Frequent Flyer miles, but I have worked hard! I am ready to finish this PhD and go to Thailand or Hong Kong. Viva la traveling bug!

Resolutions

Ok so it is a week late. I had to go back to work, and I am starting back to school this week.
So here are my 2008 resolutions:

1. To help Hubby lose weight so he can pass his PT test for the FBI.
2. To finish my Ph D in 2008.
3. To organize my study and get those books under control.
4. To get at least 3 publications this year.
5. To be a better daughter, wife, stepmom because family is important and it is not all about school and work.
   
6. To be a better friend and call everyone back rather than make them hunt me down because I am too busy to talk.
   
7. To not cook the same things over and over again, but explore new recipes.
8. To work on the book and stop putting it off.

There they are! I am well on my way to a few of them.
I will keep you all posted.