thinkPhD

I’ve had a bit of a break from my studies during the month of June.  My Marketing class technically begins July 1st. After getting all the way through MGT5012 with its difficult and time consuming assignments, I really needed a little break. I have started reading the chapters in the text but have not begun to write. I will not have an opportunity to start this weekend either - Son is flying in from Atlanta for a visit! I am very excited to see him and get some big hugs! We are ready to see him - it seems like it has been a long time…but it really hasn’t. I saw the children in May when Son graduated from college. But as a mother I never get enough hugs and kisses from my babies!

We enjoyed our Saturday by making a visit to the Goochland Farmer’s Market. The market supports sustainability of the rural culture of Goochland County. The Center for Rural Culture  organizes the market.

The market features local produce and hand made items. We visited the market several times last year but yesterday was our first visit this year. It was a very hot day hovering near 100 degrees but it was great to see so many neighbors out supporting the community. We purchased some vegetables and some goat cheese. Husband bought a buffalo steak and enjoyed talking with the buffalo farmer about hides. I bought some blue sodalite earrings and a rutile cabachon dug and polished by the craftsman, the Virginia Naturalist.

After visiting the market, Husband and I went to several yard sales and we each found some treasures. He bought some old tools and I bought some carnival glass. We were very hot by the time we got home. It was great to get out with my best friend!

Last weekend we planted our little bucket garden with tomatoes and peppers. A bucket garden is like a raised garden, but uses buckets - the big paint buckets you can get at Lowe’s. The tomatoes are really growing well; the Bonnie Plant Farm ones are growing the best. Bonnie Plant Farm is from back home in Union Springs, Alabama. They came in the new peat pots which were very easy to use. The other non-branded tomatoes we bought do not look as good. It felt good to put in a garden using something from back home.

This weekend we planted two climbing roses on the new fence. Last summer we put in a fence around the yard and it needs softening up. These are pink “Climbing Queen Elizabeth” roses that I purchased at Wal-Mart for $6.00. They look very strong and one has buds on it.

Yesterday we also worked on adding lattice to part of our pool porch. The pool porch is lower than the main back porch and the 4′ vertical space between them was an issue with dropping things off the back of the porch and there was also the potential for falling. We added a wood lattice and framed it with 2″x4″s. When we set up the boards for sawing I saw the stamp on the lumber: Dudley. Could this lumber be from back home? Dudley Lumber is located in Salem, Alabama, and planes softwood lumber for decking and pallets. I have decided that yes, the lumber is from Dudley. It makes me feel better using lumber from pine trees back home in Alabama.

It snowed today and Husband took some photos:

Richmond Snow 01-17-08

Books are a huge part of my life. We have thousands of books and seem to add more every week. We have book shelves and book stacks in every room. Husband is a book lover, too, although he has different reading preferences than I do.

A book is a wonderful gift for any reader. Books open worlds and open minds. Invariably, when we go shopping we end up at a book store. Not too far from here is a used book store with many bargains that I cannot resist.

I have added a thinkPhD Book Store to the blog. Perhaps you are a book lover, too? Be sure to check out my recommendations. Enjoy!

I elfed my family and had some fun when I did it !!!

I finally got back my graded Assignment #4 and I am very pleased with my grade. Dr. S. made some comments on the paper that were encouraging. I have been outlining Assignment #5, and so far it is not much more than a skeleton! I am writing about my company and the change processes that we are working through. One topic that I will explore is the plateau or stagnation during a change initiative. I have been through several “transformations” and there always seems to be a leveling out - lots of progress at the beginning and then we hit a wall. That is where we are at work. Almost everyone got on the bus to go, then the bus broke down! How do we avoid a breakdown?

Tonight Husband and I put together three metal shelves that I bought at Target and put them in the utility room. I have a lot of canning equipment and mason jars and we are using one shelf for these. On another, I will put Christmas decorations. In this house we don’t have a usable attic because of the vaulted ceilings. In the other house we had an attic with a floor.  It feels *Good* to take a step toward getting organized!

Tomorrow evening is reserved for grading papers.

Tonight I put together a new wood file cabinet that I purchased at Staples. It is a cherry color and very pretty. This new office is not yet arranged how I want it and so I am working to become organized. I feel un-organized right now because we still have boxes from the move. This house does not have an attic so I cannot “hide” files and papers upstairs. Tomorrow, I plan to buy another file cabinet and have two matching ones.

This is a catch up post because I have neglected thinkPhD! I finished up the last course with an “A” and have completed three assignments out of five for MGT5016, Managing Change, with Dr. Arthur “Lee” Smith. This is my fourth class at Northcentral which leaves about 13 more. Today I am working on Assignment 4 and frankly, delaying the inevitable….writing!

Work has been going fairly well but some things that have made the adjustment difficult. Employees in the corporate office tend to be just that - employees. A number of them have little or no engagement in the business. After coming from a mill setting where everyone had personal buy-in, this has been difficult for me. There are a bunch of little fiefdoms all around the office with conflicting goals for each group. For example, one group wants me to do something (that will increase numbers on my side) that will decrease numbers on theirs. They don’t even want to entertain thinking about what would be best for the company as a whole. They are so afraid of not meeting imposed metrics. Indeed, there have been a number of firings and leavings ….enough to make anyone worried. It is sad that there is so much division and competition among the groups.

Mom and Dad have decided not to move to our City, but to remain in Alabama. Daughter is adjusting to her teaching work schedule and Son is adjusting to his Senior Year at the University. Daughter’s Boyfriend has gotten a job new near their new home in NC and is enjoying the work. Step-Daughter has a new job as a Police Dispatcher and she is doing great. I am very proud of all of them.  

This month we started on a path to remove debt from our lives. Dave Ramsey’s website is a great resource and I highly recommend it. My Sister-in-Law recommended that I check out the resources there, and we used September to create a budget. October we will start cash-basis only with no credit.

This week, I started teaching a GEN300 with the University of Phoenix here. I have been working for them in our previous town for several years. It has taken a few months to get in on the rotation. With all of my other responsibilities (work, Northcentral PhD, home, etc.) I am going to go slow and only teach one or two classes at a time.

I suppose I need to get started on the next paper….

Well we are almost all packed up. The moving company sent four strong men to load us up. Today was the second day. They think they will be all finished tomorrow. We are going to get the Christmas decorations down from the attic tomorrow morning. Hopefully, we will be all loaded up in the afternoon and we will start out our trip to our new house on Friday morning. Look out Richmond, here we come!!