My personal goal of earning a bachelors degree is very important to me because I failed to complete an associate’s degree ten years ago. I know that Interior Design it is going to be a fantastic adventure to experience working with various elements such as fabrics, furniture, and lighting which will open up a whole new world to design and explore.
I feel that it is imperative to always have a goal and to stay committed and focused no matter how long or turbulent the road is to achieve it. I know that I am a great example of personal strength and perseverance. I will complete my bachelor’s degree online in seven years from now which may be a long road for some, but well worth the struggle.
April 2008 - Posts
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Session I of spring is almost over. Next I have English composition which I hope is pretty easy for me. Tomorrow I will do a search for the textbooks to get a jump start and hopefully find a good deal online. Last night was a rough one for me, the weather pressure changed so I have not felt good with a migraine headache all day. I made it through work, and was surprised to learn that four of my co-workers were suffering as much as I was. It was refreshing in a way to find out that I am not the only one with sinus issues, my head is like a barometer, I know when a storm is coming about twenty four hours in advance.
My supervisor made me a little po’d today with an unnecessary comment, I am guessing that her work is what I was making corrections to on my own on the live website, and today was her little stab to get back at me. I am one of the lucky people to have a supervisor that always has to be right about everything and is always gathering material, as excuses to reflect any thing that comes her way. In other words, she places blame on other people for not doing her job and making her deadlines.
I am also nervously waiting for our loan approval certificate to come through, which we anticipated getting on Friday, but supposedly, the underwriters are behind due to month end (like they are accountants or something) . Hopefully we will get the ok, we should get the ok, I have jumped through enough hoops for those people to go above and beyond their requirements to get their approval.
My husband and I am contemplating getting rid of our dog who sheds and has “accidents” whenever we come home. It seems like ever since I started my new job and don’t come home every day for lunch, she has turned on me and has been showing aggression to all three of us in addition to our neighbor’s pets. In addition, I am allergic to pet dander and don’t want to move with the dog. I quit smoking in our home three years ago to create a healthier environment for my family; it frustrates me that they won’t do the same in return for me.
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Last night for an assignment I had to draw sketches of furniture and fixtures to preplan a barrier-free kitchen and bathroom. The second step to my assignment was to draw different furniture plans, three of different configuration bathrooms and three different configured kitchens. Tonight, I have to draw two walls of one of the kitchen furniture plans to demonstrate sound space planning in terms of function and ergonomics. In this plan I have to construct an elevation of each wall, include all architectural elements and furniture depicted in the view. I have to be detailed with all the heights so that they are scaled correctly for exactness in the view. I also have to add all critical clearance dimensions on the elevations. Tonight’s homework I have to draw in ¼” scale, which I prefer over 1/8”, you can include more details. I find that using the 1/8” scale on the architect ruler is difficult because it works left to right instead of the reverse. Today we were able to make some progress on the house chores. We finally finished the paint in the kitchen, we painted a section with semi gloss instead of flat, and we also got the primer up in our bathroom and bedroom so we can wrap up those rooms.
Monday, I start week five of Space Planning class, and looking ahead, I have seven assignments due. Thank god this class is almost over. I am really ready to have this session behind me, I have not enjoyed it, nor have I been able to concentrate on the coursework. I have to honestly say that I gave all of the time that I could. My grade is currently down to an A-, and I am going to really try to give my best through the end and work to get my points up to an A. I know that next week will be torturous with homework, but I have to put my best work forward. My hands have not been as steady as they usually are, probably because I am being pulled in so many directions. I come home from this new job exhausted every day, I fight to stay awake at night to put time into class. Last night I felt like crying because I did not want to go into my office to do my assignment, I hope that I can overcome these feelings.
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Today was very slow for me and it gave me the opportunity to get an assignment completed, I actually have a total of two due today. I am trying to be more proactive with my assignments and have them done earlier instead of waiting until the last minute and keeping myself up late at night. The focus of class this week is the physically challenged which have differing anthropometrical measurements and ergonomic needs to function comfortably within the built environment. I will learn to create designs of the minimal variations actually needed and how to implement innovative and high-tech design features now available for maximizing the functions within the space.
Last night, I did a bag design for a client last night that kept me up until 1:30 am, but they loved it and they are excited and possibly want me to do three different variations and also create a custom design for each client order. It was so hard for me to get up this morning and go to work, but that is not negotiable. I really need to force myself to get out of bed every day and keep things going with a steady paycheck, no matter how late I am up working, I just have to grin and bear it.
I also made a good contact with a prospective new client that brought the news of a few magazine layouts next month. Over the weekend, I also had a long conversation about a few different design and print orders, May is already lining up to be a very busy but productive month. I just hope that I can keep focused enough with my day job to keep juggling everything. My family is pretty understanding at the moment, because of the monetary gains for us, I just wish my husband would get off the couch and find a way to make a little extra money on the side. It really bugs me sometimes that I solely hold this household together and take care of the financial matters. Did he see dollar signs flashing on my forehead when he married me? I wonder sometimes.
My daughter came home last week with a letter from the National Honor Society, they want to induct her as a member, I am so proud. She makes the effort on her own to earn her grades, no pressure from us. I am so happy and proud that she has made her own goals and is working hard to achieve them.
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Today, I have spent most of my time working on the house that we currently rent. My landlord told me this past week that he is putting the house up for sale, so I have been trying to tackle projects that I have started, but haven’t been able to complete due to one thing or another with school or work. As I go from room to room, I am picking up and cleaning which, come to my surprise, my family hasn’t kept up on very well while I have been doing homework all of these weeks. I focus on one area at a time, straightening and touch up painting, minimizing as much junk as possible to make things easier when it comes time to move into our own home.
Today I logged into class and did my required comments on my classmates work for the week, I always try to log in and make sure that I didn’t miss anything like feedback. I also check the grade book to make sure that I am on track with the objectives of the week and look ahead to the due dates and list of reading. I can’t believe that I am half way through this class already; I hope I can survive the rest of the week. I have really wanted to throw in the towel quite a few times over this past week; I just have too much going on – life.
I tried to take some me time today and took a nice relaxing bubble bath while my daughter and husband were out fishing; I was hoping that it would help me rejuvenate a bit so I can get back to work later tonight. It seems like whenever I have quite a to-do list of projects, everyone disappears or suddenly doesn’t feel good. God, I wish I could complain to my boss or instructor and tell them that I don’t feel like working. Am I the only one with objectives and work hard towards their goals???
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Every day this week, I came home exhausted from work and late nights of homework. I had quite a few projects given to me by a supervisor; I think to keep me very busy while she was on a vacation. I was able to accomplish all of the projects and felt very positive in regards to my accomplishments. School kept me up until three in the morning on Wednesday and Thursday night. I was so exhausted on Thursday night, that I was only able to complete one drawing out of the three required. I started getting dizzy and shaky when I was sitting at my drafting table; I couldn’t focus at all and went straight to bed. I wrote an apology to my instructor for my lack of completion. I was really disappointed in myself, because I have never in two years, not completed or submitted an assignment on time. I had two huge print orders (my freelance work) that came in that I had to take care of also. I couldn’t pass up print orders that had a profit equivalent to a month of my salary over homework. Something had to give, and it was the homework on Thursday night.
My husband asked me recently if I had known ahead of time, when I decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree, that it would be so much work would I still choose to start school, I replied with a no. I have accomplished two years of school, and I don’t know if I will be able to keep this pace up for another six years. I am already losing my interest and drive in the subject of interior design, it’s like I am losing my passion. Three weeks down now out of five and a half. I don’t think I get a break from school until Christmas now.
This stupid house that we are building is taking so much of our time with contract after contract; I never imagined the experience to be so draining on me. Of course all of the responsibilities of the correspondence and contracts fall on me. To be honest, at this point, if I had to choose to do this again, I probably wouldn’t unless I designed the house myself and did all of the specifications for it, then it might be worth it.
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Tonight for homework, I had to put a lot of time into a huge class project for Space Planning. I had to start work on a project “for a client” and complete three steps of the process. The first step was to create a criteria matrix, which is basically a chart listing all of the rooms, determine the adjacency factors, lighting, plumbing and any special design needs. The second step was to create three different bubble diagrams showing room sizes, adjacencies, plumbing, and any special needs for each area. The third step was to create three different block diagrams to represent all of the various areas. After I put four hours into this assignment, as I was scanning all of the pages to create a pdf, my scanner decided to die on me. What horrible timing! I had to go into my daughter’s room at one o’clock in the morning to yank her multipurpose printer and install it on my computer to get everything scanned and posted in time for the deadline.
Things still have not calmed down at all for me. Tomorrow is the final appointment for all of the studio selections for the house like the carpet, cabinets, electrical, etc. Since I just started a new job, I don’t want to take any time off to drive three hours round trip to take care of the paperwork. The designer and I worked it out that I will be available via email in case he has any questions. I still do not have an office phone, and I don’t own a cell phone for anyone to get a hold of me during the day. It is so frustrating not to have my daughter call me at work every day when she gets home from school so that I know she is safe. It is so frustrating to not have the convenience of a phone, it has really made me consider getting a cell phone, but with our finances being scrutinized right now, we can’t apply for any credit, I might just have to bite the bullet and by a pay as you go phone, I don’t know what an alternative solution would be.
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Sunday, I was so proud of myself, I laided around in my pajamas all day and did nothing at all. It was the most wonderful experience of my life. I watched TV and took a nap and did absolutely no work or homework, I wish that it never came to an end. At times I did not know what to do with myself and actually felt a bit guilty that I wasn’t sitting in front of the computer. Today I feel that I am so behind on things such as my readings, but I will try to wake up early tomorrow to find some quiet time and get it done. When I did this last week, it seemed to really help me get back on track and gave me a bit more time to drink coffee, relax, and wake up. I had a rough start this morning, I didn’t want to get out of bed and my daughter forgot to set her alarm, which was of course my fault.
Today, I was really busy at work, finding out about projects that never got done by the person in my position before and a few IT support issues popped up today. I also learned that my new office won’t be ready anytime soon and I have to remain in my temporary office that has quite a bit of traffic since all of the large format printers and a plate machine are next to me. I can’t wait to get my own office.
I am on week three for my current class of Space Planning. Where does time go? I only have three and a half weeks left, then onto the next class. I feel that I am back to being crazy busy again with my new full time position, school and a lot of side work. When it rains, it pours when it comes to freelance. When you need the side work, it’s hard to find. When you don’t want the work to have time to focus on school or family is when it all comes in. The extra money is definitely a huge plus, especially with the house.
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Today has been a long day thus far, and will extend into the early morning. Starting at 9:00 am, I started making copies of all of the documents requested from the finance company for the house. I also received a huge packet of preliminary contracts that I had to read through and sign. The entire home buying process has been very stressful and I can’t imagine why people call buying a home “The great American Dream”, it is hard to get through. The toughest part of the gathering of supporting documentation was providing proof that my student loans will be deferred for at least twelve months after closing. Thank god I discovered that you can go to Salliemae.com and print off individual letters for each loan disbursement that clearly indicates the repayment date.
Tonight I have to draft three complete inked drawings of three different rooms with measurement callouts and a furniture schedule. I have never inked a plan before, so I have to be very conscious of my work and keep my hand steady to keep things neat and clean. Tonight’s homework is my second assignment of week two, my instructor waived assignment three for this week so we can better focus on completing this current assignment, which has two parts and two different submission dates.
I am still amazed at how much easier this class is than my colleague said she experienced, probably because it is a different instructor. She told me that she was really sleep deprived from the homework requirements, but I don’t understand why, maybe it gets much more demanding towards the end.
Tomorrow, it is my goal to relax and enjoy some time with my family. I do have to work a little bit by logging in and taking care of some computer maintenance for a client, maybe a little research for another, but nothing that really has to be done. If I have the energy tonight, or this morning, perhaps I will take care of it so that tomorrow is completely free for me. I really need to relax; this past week dealing with starting a new job and the hoops with the house has really taken a toll on me.
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I made it through day three on the new job; I am keeping a positive attitude to be a good example for everyone else as they are experiencing the stress of acquisition. I feel that I can really set the pace for my coworkers considering that I am an expert in this kind of emotional strain.
School is going well. I am back on track with my assigned reading, getting up early yesterday before my husband and daughter got up and having the house quiet really gave me the “dedicated” time that I needed to focus with no distractions. My first week consisted of four assignments, and I received all A’s on my submissions. This week I have only three assignments due, the first one was due on Monday and it was discussion questions, I got to choose two out of three to answer. They basically consisted of simple logic such as, what equipment or modifications would I need to make if I was a telecommuter for my job, and the second was how I would market myself, or present myself as an interior designer to a telecommuter.
My second assignment is due tonight, and it consists of composing three different furniture layouts of three different rooms, a living room, family room and a study. So I have a total of nine different renderings to draw. I have six of the nine completed thus far. The instructor for this class does not seem so tough on the requirements and time that is invested, and has consistently given us short cuts to work more efficiently. She suggested inking our room dimensions, then using another sheet to overlay simply for the furniture layout, then putting them together to scan. For any kind of layout or blueprinting, we typically use a vellum or tracing paper which is very thin and transparent, so it is very easy to combine the various sheets and scan together. All of the layers scan together beautifully and legibly. Tonight the requirement is just to do quick sketches of our various ideas, and then Friday after we receive feedback from our peers, we have to submit our final renderings. This class is very surprisingly not as difficult as I had anticipated.
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Today was an emotional rollercoaster. First of all, I was nervous about starting, but who wouldn’t be? The bulk of my morning consisted of completing paperwork and going around and meeting the entire staff, but I really couldn’t remember any ones name. Also this morning, my supervisor and I had a little heart to heart and he informed me that recently the company didn’t have a silent financial partner buy in, but they actually purchased seventy percent of the ownership so they are going through growing pains along with transition with the new company. He basically told me that if I had another job offer, that I should pack my things now and run. How scary to be told that right off the bat at a new job.
The rest of my day consisted of a meeting and sitting around looking busy and reviewing the website with my new boss. I got to get outside quite a bit since this new boss smokes every hour on the hour. He is really laid back and seems pretty young and irresponsible. He was actually surprised that I returned to work after lunch, I guess it is a pretty common thing that people don’t return.
Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary and we should also find out about the financing for the house. I also have two assignments due for class and haven’t even started my reading for this week; I will try to get going on it tonight, get a few chapters in, and then get up a little early tomorrow to try to get it done. I still feel pretty guilty for not being able to find the time to devote to my class with everything going on. I hate this feeling of running behind, always trying to get caught up.
I got an email from my new academic advisor for school today, just basically introducing himself and letting me know that he is there to help with any questions or support that I may need, not that I ever do. Tomorrow will be a long stressful day, so I am going to try to get to bed early to get a jump start on my reading and the hopefully good news.
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Tomorrow is my first day on the new job, and god am I nervous! Getting to know everyone and learning all the new names and environment will take some getting used to. I always hate starting at a new job; it’s been two years for me since I was at this starting point, its nerve racking walking into a new place for the first time and joining their family. You always wonder if you are going to fit in with everyone, how you should dress, what is the right thing or the wrong things to say… I hope I do ok. I need to focus on empowering myself and find the strength to believe in myself, and not doubt myself or my talents.
Tuesday is also going to be a big day. Not only is it my third anniversary, but we also find out about the final approval amount for our loan. We have run into a few obstacles and I hope that the underwriters will make a decision in our favor. I hope that we don’t have to jump through too many hoops for them and we get the news that we have been waiting painstakingly for and that we can move forward on the construction. What a great way to celebrate a wedding anniversary!
My daughter returns to school tomorrow from her spring break, and I am excited about that. She needs to be on a schedule and have a structure to her day. She has been so bored and besides herself all week at home. She did have the opportunity to go to a birthday slumber party on Friday, and had a great time. She has always had a struggle with fitting in with her peers; I feel that she has the ugly duckling syndrome.
Well, I made it through my first week of class. The instructor has not posted any grades yet, I hope that I did ok with my work. I still feel very guilty about still not getting to my assigned reading for the first week, hopefully tomorrow I can read a bit during my lunch break and after work to get back on track. I really need to get my act together; the start to the semester has been rocky for me. Wish me luck tomorrow!
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Today, I get to let my shoulders down a bit; my daughter fortunately is at a sleepover birthday party so I have a break from her. Yesterday, I had to get dressed up and go down to the new job to take care of a few issues, and then had to take my daughter shopping for a new swimsuit and a new outfit for her party. After I dropped her off, I had to go to a friend’s house and set up their son’s new laptop that was a birthday present. It was nice to get together with a few friends for a BBQ.
Today, I have to log into class and make my comment for the week, I feel so behind with school and I am only in the first week. I had four assignments due in the first week – discussion questions, a bibliography with a sketch of my furniture placement of my living room, two prototypes of how to do a layout for a blue print drawing, and an form where I had to give the primary and secondary functions of six rooms, along with Anthropometrical Measurements, furniture needed in the room, spatial requirements, and human factors to consider, it was much harder than I anticipated.
In a few hours, I have to leave to make the long drive to Orlando for our second studio appointment with KB home studio. I am so discouraged with the entire process to build our house. The financing is a huge pain in the butt and of everything of course is extra money. I am so frustrated with it, that I want to cancel the process and get my money back and continue renting a home. Our mortgage is a little less than what we currently pay in rent, but once you add on insurance, taxes and the home owners association, it is another 380 dollars a month.
Later tonight I have to take care of transferring a domain to a different registrar for a client, and set up emails and her website. I also have a few things to take care of for another client and their network; thank god I can do those tasks remotely.
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This week has been so crazy. Monday interview, Tuesday Orlando, Wednesday I set up a wireless network for a client, and today I ran around and took care of a few errands and business licensing. Tomorrow I have to go into my new job and complete the usual paperwork, take my first drug test, then take my daughter shopping for a birthday gift for a party on Saturday. After I drop her off on Saturday, I have to drive back to Orlando for another studio session with KB homes. As I said earlier, I went out to Orlando on Tuesday during the day, so my husband was unable to be with me, but he will be for this trip.
Since I have been so overwhelmed with the home buying process and new job details, I haven’t been able to dedicate the time to my new class Space Planning as I typically do. I haven’t even had the chance to read the assigned text for this week and had two assignments due on Tuesday. Today, I have two more assignments that are due and really would like to blow them off and get some sleep, I am so deprived. I have been so moody and have unfortunately yelled at my daughter a few times for stupid stuff over the week, so today I am trying to be much calmer and loving with her today since I am home for the rest of the day.
I am at my limit and wish that I could have had at least one day to chill this week, but no such luck. With my daughter being home for spring break and bored, it has been tougher for me to deal with her needs. My husband thank god is so understanding of all of the pressure that is on me right now. I guess with everything going on, it makes you feel alive. My life always seems to be so busy with work, school and the freelance work; I always wish that life could be easy for just one day. It is a dream of mine to just veg out all day on the couch in my pajamas and not have to take care of anything, its always good to have dreams, maybe someday it will come true.
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