12.20.2010 Monday

Full eclipse of the moon tonight, but it is snowing too much to see anything.  Made great progress on the paper and let Holly and Kristen be proofreaders for me.  They added good insights and hopefully I'll be able to send it off in the morning.  Kenzer got to spend the night and we all had a nice time holed up in the media room.  She got to bed late, hopefully she'll sleep in in the morning so I can finish up.  James/Holly came for fajitas for dinner.  Nice evening.  Most grades are coming in as acceptable.  I finished with a C+ in the research and I'm thankful for it.  Taking the course again wouldn't have been the end of the world, it would have just impeded the progress toward graduation.  My last entry for Fall 2010.  Tomorrow will become Winter 2010 and so will this blog! 

12.19.2010 Sunday

What a range of emotions today.  Started the writing of my last paper last evening.  Had a musical late church service this morning during which I found out that we missed the gift opening fury on Gilbert Street.  Then had a great time at Songer's for a huge carry in and Colts game.  Finally went to Gilbert Street to join the festivities already in progress and a late dinner.  Stayed way too late to get the paper completed, which was the goal for today....BUT had a good time with friends and family and took the disappointments in stride. 

My grade in qualitative research hangs in the balance.  I thought I needed a B because it's in my major area, but found out (another good thing today) from a reply from an advisor that a C still counts if it doesn't lower the overall GPA too much.  So, I have made the commitment to not stress over it and if God has a plan for me to take the course over (for whatever may be His reason) then that's what's going to happen and that's what I will do.  So to bed, I went with the paper on the horizon for tomorrow. 

12.18.2010 Saturday

Den and I went to breakfast and then he dropped me off to attend the fall semester graduation in Worthen Arena.  Since it is projected that this type of ceremony is when my degree will be awarded I wanted to get a lay of the land to see if it is worth postponing for the large spring, possibly outdoor gala.  It was nice enough, though it reminded me more of a high school ceremony in that the crowd got loud at the end of the names.  I went from the ceremony to a practically empty library.  I found a copy of Educating Rita from 1983.  It had a reserve placed on it, so I watched it in the viewing rooms in the basement.  Poor quality recording but the story was compelling.  Finished the afternoon in my carrel and searching the stacks for quilting and storytelling texts.  Found so many that I commandeered a library cart.  The crew on today were cordial and didn't seem to mind. 

Royal Oakers watched Grown Ups, The Emperior's Club and Letters to Juliet in the media room.  I have a skeletal outline of the last paper and my fate on passing/failing the research class hangs in the balance.  I said that was a challenging course and I meant it!  Did pull out the creativity course, so we'll see what other "lessons" I am to learn this semester.

12.17.2010 Friday

Made the most of the day.  Turned in the majority of the final report by 5:00pm and the rest was emailed by 8:00.  What a volume of work.  That's the most I've ever produced at one time, but it was good practice for what lies ahead.  One more paper to go and then this semester is in the books.  Kristen and I hit the video store and took advantage of our 30 day half off special. Royal Oakers met at Pizza King for a time of reflection.  Kristen's semester was a challenge as well and she was docked for the times she missed class due to medical emergencies and funerals (not fair, but a learning experience for her to nail those down the next time)  Her final project in class did not go well either, but she made some good friends and enhanced some others of classmates.  She also learned that she didn't get the Red Gold internship, so she accepted the Ball Hospital non-paid one and will continue at the Bursar's office through spring.  Dennis and Kristen went to the new Narnia movie at 4:30.  They watched The Sorcerer's Apprentice, but after watching the opening scenes, I decided that it was not what I had in mind for the evening, so I read some of bell hook's book that I just bought and went to bed early.  I'm exhausted.

12.16.2010 Thursday

I am consumed with the research project.  Kristen called late in the afternoon to say that there was a fund raiser at Texas Road House for a little boy with leukemia, Jacxson.  We all decided that this would be a good way to contribute to a rendezvous was arranged.  James and Holly went ahead.  They were starving and Holly has her biggest final in the morning.  Kelly and Aaron bowed out in that they have made a pact never to eat at Texas Road House again, because there is always something wrong with their food and professionally they do not approve.  Kelly said that she would donate in some other fashion.  The Royal Oakers were getting packed up and ready to go when J/H called to say that the place was packed and it was at least an hour wait.  They were opting for Red Lobster, across the street.  Royal Oakers joined them at a near by table and we all had seafood instead of steak.  We'll all need to donate alternatively.  Kristen and I both had tummy troubles after our dinner out, so I think I'm going to need to follow the Gnap edict and never eat at Red Lobster again.  My stomach upsets have happened too many times for it to be an isolated case.  So I bid a fond adieu to seafood that I love because it's not worth the evening of agony!

12.15.2010 Wednesday

I have got to do these posts everyday, if this is going to remain a daily blog, because after I sleep it's really hard to reconstruct even a few days ago.  It's finals week and I should be finished, but due to the concentration of this semester's challenges early on and continuing through I am still playing catch up with assignments.  The wonderful presentations of the Qualitative Research Class members last night has given me a new inspiration and determination to plow through the final report and portfolio for that class.  That is by far my biggest challenge as it constitutes my newest and most comprehensive base of knowledge gained this semester.  Many of the theories and concepts are challenging to grasp.  I did finally understand them, but haven't committed them to memory so the research task to be sure I have everything in order is time consuming.  I also finally started an annotated bibliography that I should have started a year ago, so that should be a major aid in the rest of the writing that I will need to produce in the next two years and beyond.

Bryan, my office mate, turned in his last project yesterday, so he's free at last.  Kristen has a critique in glass tonight and one more final on Friday.  She also interviews for an internship at Red Gold Tomato on Thursday.  She's got a big week.  Holly's last final is Friday.  I haven't heard anything about Pat's knee so I'm going to assume that no-news-is-good-news.

Did manage to self-publish my first book today via Snapfish at Meijer.  "Scamper Comes to River Road" isn't the stellar, polished piece I have in my head (after all, I begged everyone I know to illustrate it and when no one would step up I was forced to do the illustrations myself!).  But it is done and debuted at the Bed and Breakfast among classmates.  Shelly's mom (an artist herself) said that the illustrations matched the audience and that they were good. (I think she was being very kind.)  Anyway, now I'm looking for an economical way to produce the volumes I need for Christmas gift giving.  Only found one typo!  That's pretty amazing for me. 

12.14.2010 Tuesday

Ok....I have got to chill out!  I have freaked myself so totally out about this report that it's like coming full circle and looking at it from the other direction.  It cannot possibly be as hard as I'm making it.  Other people write this kind of stuff all the time.  So with that in mind, I donned my stack of multicolored post it notes and did what I do best and that is to make a whole out of little bits.  I took all of the coded words and sentences and put them on coded colored post it and put them into their appropriate holding area on a large piece of paper on the table in the dining room.  At first that was just what they were, colored papers stuck onto a bigger piece of paper, but when I looked back at it again, I started to see patterns forming and it was starting to look like a 9 patch quilt.  So I lined the post it up a little more carefully and got the tape to permanently adhere them to the backing and waaalaa!  I could see the most important points of this paper by the biggest or most colorful blocks.  (more colors meant that a particular comment was applicable in one than one area.)  I could proceed with the writing now knowing what to write about.  Man I am such a visual learner...it's ridiculous! 

So I don't think my presentation tonight will be stellar, but at least I'll have an artifact to view and some direction of what topic to feature.  This is just a tad too close to the last minute.  I think I'm going to invent an adrenaline girdle that you can put on and apply external stress (though artificial) to stimulate the feeling of the adrenaline rush that I now must have to get work completed and completed well.  I do enjoy the feeling when the adrenaline is evaporating because that means that the task has been completed. 

The presentations tonight were really really good.  Many of my co-learners had chosen very interesting and stimulating topics to research and they did a great job of reporting.  The instructor actually had to cut us off when the time was running out.  Surprisingly my sloppy paper qualitative quilt was well received and several people gave me suggestions to where to present it and what to do from here.  Interesting.....again, I would have thought that this too simple or non-rigorous, but that was not the case.  I need to just trust my instincts.

The video interview that I recorded with Austin Hostetter about Quilted Memoirs is viewable at
http://vimeo.com/17647752   It's pretty painful to watch because we did this in one take so there about a billion um's, but my idea is recorded with a date and I also sent myself the outline through the mail so I need to see about getting the idea for eQuilts or eQuiltedMemoirs copyrighted or patented or something.  I don't want to let Ronco or As Seen On TV grab this idea before I get it to the market!!! 

12.13.2010 Jack Cole's Birthday • Pat Cole's Knee's Birthday

Pat is having his knee replaced in Fort Wayne on this cold and snowy morning.  We're all hoping that the outcome is great and that the pain is bearable.  New knees seem to be in vogue in my circle of acquaintances and family.  This one makes 3 in a week's time.  Dad's 79th birthday was kind of lost in the shuffle from this county.  I don't know if there were festivities the weekend prior (which would be my guess) I am buried in schoolwork for at least the next ten days.  I'm making progress on my qualitative research.  I feel that I have all the ingredients but instead of being a classically set 6 course meal, it's a stew pot with the various items chucked in there and swirling about with now order or priority.  Stew is great, but this table doesn't have bowls, so I 'm going to have to get things sorted out soon.  The banquet is Tuesday evening.

Pat did have an uneventful surgery and was able to chat, briefly, on the phone by 3:30pm.  Still toughing it through the pain though as the meds are missing the mark.  Here's hoping he can have a decent evening/night.

12.12.2010 Sunday

This started weird and finished in kind.  "Taught" Sunday School but really it was just trying to keep the peace amount a cohort of class members who wanted to make their voices heard and heard they would be.  Had intended to leave the building and get some worktime in before a premier dance recital, but that didn't happen as help was needed in the kitchen and the dishes were calling my name. 

We did make it to a packed house at The Cornerstone for the Arts and M/K did an excellent job of performing to "Boots" from Dora the Explorer.  I dashed home just as snow was starting to fall.  The Londt's had requested a Christmas portrait earlier in the week, so it was promised to be done today and be done today it will be.  Got one good outside shot and one good inside shot.  They were happy.  Delivery won't be until next week.

I ate an early supper and then was invited to Gilbert Street for a feast.  I had to turn it down due to the writing assignments looming large in front of me.  A Huntertown Skype delayed the start somewhat but it was good, very good to make that connection.  The rest of the evening was an attempt to build up momentum.  Receiving my co-learner's work has been instrumental in giving me guidance in the construction of this project.

12.11.2010 Saturday

Breakfast with Batting and Fiber met for the annual Oatmeal and gift exchange in Alexandria.  The chatter was friendly and the gifts appropriate.  Discussion of the Paducah Quilt Show was the highlight of the morning.  I'm not hopeful that I will be able to attend with 12 graduate credit hours.  I'll probably give up my bed to someone with less to do this year.  AQS is starting to capitalize on the gold mine they have in Quilt Show devotees and now have 4 shows in different locations throughout the year.  Paducah may be the original but it is not the by-all-and-be-all.  Even if I don't go to the show, a trip to Hancock's of Paducah would be well worth the drive down there for some weekend. 

Arrived back in Muncie and completed tasks that seemed necessary when in reality I was in dire need to start writing for my first research paper. (bonafide even though it is a pilot study completed only for a class).  For some reason this type of writing is intimidating.  Perhaps it's because there are hard and fast rules for one person or class, but those rules change in other situations (like person, some profs want first person and some want third).  I'm ok with ambiguity as long as it is my own.  I can't keep up when the parameters are changing or fluid.  I'm not good with leaky instructions.  The diversion resulted in a cleaned up back yard and front of the Cottage.  Something that's been bugging me for a long time.  Pine Tree Farm delivered a quarter of beef and that resulted in a pleasant chat. 

Ended the night with a workable work station thanks to a Londt Co Skype request.  Moving to the dining room for the next two weeks should help with the research output tremendously.

12.10.2010 Friday

Department carry in.  Baked rolls and made honey butter and they were well received. Worked in the afternoon and planned to work in the evening, but didn't get it accomplished.  Just need a night to detox for the weekend and week ahead.  Den and I were alone most of the evening and he actually stayed awake during the movies I had selected.  Amazing!  I'm glad this week is in the books and that this semester is just about history.  Nothing like living in the moment.

12.09.2010 Thursday

The James' transport service couldn't quite make the scheduled stop on time with Kendall for preschool.  They wondered about the building trying to find her class and then gave up and came home.  All ended well with Granny's call, calling off the A.W.O.L truancy squad.  I hope they all had a nice morning at home.

To continue with the plan from last night...
1) Scheduled appointment with research instructor
2) Emailed TCOM instructor to renegotiate contract....he was agreeable and even generous with the terms.
3) Research instructor also agreeable and required less make up work than I expected.
4) Monkeys on the loose in Muncie as they have been released from my back, making me actually walk
    straighter and able to process workload at a somewhat normal pace.  (Monkey's must have also had a
    tourniquet on my head)
5)  Was able to work the entire day on workstuff
6)  Arrived home at 8:00 and the house filled with NFL spectators, so refreshment was needed.
7) Succesfully duplicated the "Loose Meat" sandwich recipe of Greenfield, OH
8) Had a great family time during the football game.
9) Went to bed but got back up to go on an ink run for the printing of Kristen's portfolio.  I was mad at her for waiting so long and mad at myself for letting the inventory dip too low.
10)  Bed at 2:15 with rolls rising in anticipation of tomorrow.

12.08.2010 Wednesday

Total freak out day!  Just too many things to accomplish in too little time.  Definitely at the apex, teetering and not sure which way the load will shift.  The afternoon class ended well.  My last time with this cohort of individuals.  I wouldn't say that I made major inroads into this group, but I don't feel totally shunned, just on the periphery.  Turned in my last assignment.  One class done!

Evening class was a great learning experience about the other presenter's topics.  My first Prezi was adequate though not stellar.  Presenting to educators is akin to doing your first tonsillectomy in the surgery theatre at John Hopkins.....a little intimidating.  At lease only one other person in attendance knew anything about Prezi, so I was showing them something new. 

Went to the library after class to try to make a dent in the remaining stuff.  Turned in a paper, so the only thing left in a second class is a reflection.  PC still not working well.  Made a loader full of texts to take home and left by 11:00pm.  Gave up and went to bed with the plan to contact my educators and lay at their feet the evidence of my inadequacies and ask first for forgiveness and then for a plan to complete this all in a reasonable fashion.  Let's hope that cool heads prevail!!

12.06.2010 Monday

Bitter cold!  Feels more like the dead of February than early December.  My PC at work has a bad fan so now I'm working exclusively on a laptop.  This is fine, but it might be better to take the laptop and move to a little warmer climate.  Our office temperature registered at a frosty 54 when I got there this morning.  I hope our two space heaters enjoy running, because that is exactly what they do all day long.

Interesting presentation on Internet Security today in class.  Ironically one of the servers with most of the presentation housed on it was "down."  The blog RethinkSecurity@tumbler is where the dialogue is kept.  Something to think seriously about.  Some of the security settings on Facebook are so ambiguous that I can't tell whether to enable or disable will do the most damage.  That is some very circular vernacular. 

Speaking of internet security all of Comcast when "down" this evening.  That was very frustrating, so Kristen and I trekked back to campus at 11:30 to utilize a computer lab.  She applied to two internships, so it was definitely worth the effort.  Just a late, drawn out night.

12.05.2010 Sunday

Kind of a disjointed day. Attended our church and decided to try out another one only to arrive too late, so we just ended up taking a long drive in the country.  The internet being unavailable tonight was a definite pain.  So is the beginnings of a sore throat.  I thought I was going to make it through the semester...maybe I still will.  Started chugging the vitamins.  Worked on two more projects.  This coming week will be a doozie, but when it's over, I'm pretty much home free.  Here's to pushing the grindstone some more and not falling under it.  I need to figure out how to add graphics to this site.  I'm getting bored with just text, so I'm assuming that anyone who may happen to read this is even more bored (if that's possible).  Here's to surviving this week. 

12.04.2010 Saturday

I definitely needed a day off and that's what today turned into.  Snow, big fluffy white snow covering the ground but not so much to require shoveling.  Ran errands, ate out, talked to kids in person, via cell phone.  No huge crisis today as has been the norm this semester.  Great to not have fires to put out.  Nice to actually relax and turn my mind off for a few hours.  The Red Green Show has produced a movie, Duct Tape Forever.  Even that gave me some ideas of competition pieces for the coming year.

12.03.2010 Friday

Started at 4:00am and ended at 8:15pm glued to the same laptop screen, writing, writing, writing.  I came home spent but happy that several jobs are moved along the route.  Gathered more qualitative research tonight that contributed to much more data and information...yippee!

12.2.2010 Thursday

Extra work still making up hours from the first of the semester. Finally finding some references that make sense for the journal article. The time taken to compose a relatively short article is considerable. It would much easier to work on an article on which I have some basic knowledge. This has definitely been the most learning-filled semester of my life which is amazing considering the number of years that I have been a student.
First research paper close to being completed. There should be some stray monkeys scampering about the streets as they loose themselves from my back! James and Holly moved back into their apartment tonight. I'm sure they will be glad to have a space to themselves though Sonny will probably be lonely without her pet friends on Royal Oak.

I have also learned that I cannot work without sleep anymore. My days of an all nighter (or two) are over. I have to have at least 4 hours of sleep, but I am able to wake up and get right to work, so that is a vast improvement over the layers of sleep that must usually be climbed out of on a normal morning.

Grandpa Pyle's obituary appeared in the local weekly newspaper today. It was an honor to have taken the portrait that was selected by the family for his last image. It was taken four years ago to the day from his death. I'm so glad that that photo shoot was set up and completed even with the protests of several of the family.

12.1.2010 Wednesday

First actual snow (the last frozen precipitation was more of the freezing rain genre).  Cold and slippery.  December has made it's presence known in January or February fashion.  I hope this is not a sign of this winter's design. 

Dennis is stockpiling food.  Just about every day he comes home with a flat of Mushroom Soup or 5 pounds of sugar or buttery crackers.  Is the preparedness or the start of Alzheimer's.  This inventory would be wonderful if we owned a pantry or larder...but we don't so I have the challenge of Tetris(ing) these staples onto shelves that are mostly full.  Because Dennis' shopping is like the outdoor cat who proudly drags in the various rodent and places it on the kitchen counter for all to admire.  He has to display his treasures and I'm left to try to free another horizontal surface held captive on Royal Oak Drive....another favorite hobby of his. Maybe this winter break is the time to build a storage unit that I have in my head for the corner of the kitchen with doors and not a counter-type plane to welcome any old load of stuff that is going by.  Ahhh to come home to the habitat that is in my head rather than the one that is actual.  It could happen.

The semester is winding down and the projects/papers are getting checked off.  Nothing like a good TO DO list with lots o' check marks.  Though breaking into a new academic department was terrifying, I am glad for the opportunity.  My fellow co-learners are all exceptional and willing to share their particular area of interest with gusto.  Since I am definitely (and will probably remain) an outlier, it is great to be exposed to all of the nooks and crannies of digital communications without the need to master them all.  Could it be that I am actually learning to say "No" and that it is adequate to just be exposed to something new without feeling the need to master it and become expert in the area?  A milestone...yeah tho I dare say... a marker....

11.30.2010 Tuesday

The last day of a month that evaporated.  The only good thing about this is that the semester is just about over and this has been one for the record books.  I found out in tonight's class that most of the progress I made yesterday was actually back peddling or redundancy due to my lack of appropriate documentation.  Arggghhh. This is good to discover though with two weeks left, not two weeks after the semester is over.


Found out this valuable information during a Peer Review session.  I always, always, ALWAYS learn so much for other students.  Why any instructor does not incorporate learner centered knowledge into the class time is beyond me.  One way delivery is so flat and hard to endure...and speaking of falling flat....
I must keep the momentum going to finish strong....ok, maybe just to finish.  Either way, it will be over soon.  "This too shall pass" seems appropriate for tonight. 

Got to pitch hit at child care this morning.  I'm glad I'm close enough to help out.  I have a feeling that their childhoods will evaporate as quickly as this month's!  Good night...