Ayn's Multiple World

Working through the day - a lot cleaning closet :)

Good morning this is me and its already about 7:45 am. I guess I woke up late … plus there was some working through of the numbers on the spreadsheets for the fitness records. We’re still up very high, but we lost a pound and that seems to help. My vital statistics are all down and we’re starting the timer at a better time. So that’s all good though we only have officially 8 steps on the odometer *sigh* It’ll be ok, we’re going to walk some today. Yesterday we had had 2683 steps or 9.25 steps per minute, which came out to .84 miles for the day. Sure like to hit 1 mile. I think we’ll have to go to the zoo a little earlier, because yesterday we stopped before we needed to because it was closing. I need to remember to bring the map too, because I’m not sure where we were going. This is where we went :)



As you can see there is a lot of zoo, we’re not getting to yet, but we’re trying.
Looking at the map now, I’m glad we turned where we did or we’d really be out in never never land. Im pretty sure we’re going back today as long as it doesn’t rain. I wonder if you can go in the buildings with wheel chairs. That would make sense right? I’d like to go into the Australia House and maybe the pachyderm house, but minimally, at least around those two areas, then maybe even through the butterfly place? Then I could stop or if I was doing REAL good I could go up the walk by the carousel and around the fountain and then back. Maybe though I shouldn’t try going in the buildings? Maybe that would take too much time … I’d like to know for sure if I could take the chair with me. Hmm, maybe better that I try not to go back to the butterfly and just go from the pachyderm to around the fountain. We’ll try going around the outer fountain though with the option for going around the simple inner circle.

Pswhoo that’s a whole lot of hard thinking! We’re glad we didn’t have any money yesterday, or we’re pretty sure we would have stopped. They have that nice area over by the camels that’s like an eating court. Lot’s of people stop there to munch down hehehe. AHA! It’s got a name “North Gate Snacks” and then there are “guest relations,” and “zoofari shop.” Pswhoo … you could lose some serious bucks there … and the safari train stops there too. They really get you at the south gate … there’s more gift stores a couple of eating lodges, a trading post, and another snack area. That whole thing is get out free? Nooo way. I’ll present this one item as proof … It’s in the stores and is called, “Hug an ape puppet.” Man – these people playing on our passions!

Mental cruelty I’m sure … Damn they make it so that he’s crying too. Man-o-man…

AHA! They offer a field guide … wonder if we could get around to seeing each of the animals. Maybe if we start a collection. So far we’ve got two. They don’t list all the animals of course, like they don’t even list the buffalo, but of the two we saw that they did list … here’s the “Stuff.” Now, we expect everyone to read all this … everyone should be going for zoo literate!

BACTRIAN CAMEL
Camelus bactrianus



Region: Gobi Desert (Mongolia and China)

Conservation Status: Endangered

Extreme Camels

There’s No Mistaking a Camel...

Nothing looks quite like a camel. Three meters tall, with long legs, knobby knees, broad feet, a curved neck, massive head, and a hump or two, camels cut a distinctive profile on the desert landscape. Bactrian camels walk in a distinctive way, with a swinging stride in which the front and hind legs on each side of their body move in unison. Although they move slowly most of the time, they can run up to 65 kph (40 mph) when they have to.

Desert Ready

Camels have many adaptations for life in a harsh, desert environment. Their broad feet keep them atop the sand when they walk. An elastic layer of connective tissue spreads out their foot pads and keeps them from sinking into the sand. Camels have heavy eyelashes, their ears are small and hairy, and their nostrils are slit-like and closeable. All these adaptations keep out sand and dust. In the summer they shed their long fur to keep cool. It comes off in big clumps and gives them a temporarily ragged appearance.

A Cold Desert?

Bactrian camels can tolerate extreme temperature changes and harsh weather. They are found in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, where temperatures get down to -30 C (22 F) in the winter and heat up to 50 C (122 F) in the summer! Camels have many special adaptations that allow them to survive in such an extreme environment. In the winter, they grow dense hair that keeps them warm. The hair is extra long on their humps, forelegs, head, neck, and the tip of the tail. Extremities like these get cold quicker than the rest of the camel's body, which is less densely furred but is able to retain heat because it’s so big.

One Hump, or Two?

Bactrian camels have two humps. Their close relatives, dromedary camels, have one hump. (You can remember this because the letter "B" has two humps---and the letter "D" has one hump. Two humps---Bactrian. One hump---Dromedary!) Some people think that camels' humps are filled with water, but really the humps store fat. When food is scarce, camels can live off the fat in their humps for a long time. The fat helps them survive the tough times of the Gobi Desert, whether it's the heat or the cold. The humps are also an indicator of the camel's health. As the stored fat is used up, the humps become floppy and lean to one side. When camels have recently eaten, the humps are erect and plump.

A Few in the Wild

An estimated 1,000 Bactrian camels live in their native range in Mongolia, so they're considered an endangered species. Towns are beginning to spread in the once wild areas of the Gobi Deserts. With an expanding human population comes habitat loss, and wild camels are losing the waterholes upon which they depend for survival. Camels also have to compete for food and water with domestic herds of animals, including other camels.

Bactrian Breeding Habits

Bactrian camels sometimes live alone, and sometimes in groups of up to 30. Although little is known about Bactrian camels' social behavior in the wild, scientists believe they live in family groups consisting of one male, several females, and their offspring.

When male camels become sexually mature, at about five or six years of age, they're driven from the family group and live alone or in bachelor groups. Female Bactrian camels become sexually mature at about three or four years of age. Females usually give birth to a single offspring every other year, in March or April, after a gestation period of 12 to 14 months. Bactrian camels live up to 40 years.

Just the Facts

Height: 3 meters (10 feet)

Weight: 700 kilograms (1,575 pounds)

Distribution:

Wild: Mongolia and China
Domestic: Throughout Asia

Habitat: Arid areas, including desert, grassland, valleys, and canyons in mountainous areas

Wild diet: Grass, leaves, shrubs, thorns, saltbush

BZ diet: Hay, carrots, herbivore grain

Bactrian Camels at Brookfield Zoo

You can see Bactrian camels in their exhibit along the northern part of the zoo, across from Australia House.

RETICULATED GIRAFFE
camelopardalis reticulata



Region: Northeast Kenya in Africa

Conservation Status: Lower Risk Conservation Dependent

Tallest of All

Just browsing, thank you

Giraffes are the tallest animals in the world. Some individuals top the tape measure at more than seventeen feet. With their high-rise lifestyle, giraffes are able to eat food unavailable to most other ground-dwelling mammals. Giraffes are "browsers," which are animals that eat primarily leaves of trees and shrubs (as opposed to grazers, who eat grasses). As the best of the browsers, taller male giraffes are able to eat leaves from the lower leaf crowns of trees. Females are slightly shorter than the males, and usually browse on shrubs and smaller trees.

Necks, legs, and tongues

What makes a giraffe tall? First of all, there’s its neck, which comprises almost half the animal’s height. Even though it is so long, a giraffe has the same number of neck bones as a human being--seven. Its neck bones are just MUCH bigger than a human’s. A giraffe also has very elastic blood vessels and valves to compensate for the sudden change in blood pressure when it lowers its head to drink. Helping with the height are the giraffe’s legs, which are longer than an average man is tall. The giraffe has only two gaits--a slow, ambling walk and a gallop. It walks by swinging the two legs on the same side of the body forward at the same time. When galloping, the hind legs are brought forward and ahead of the front legs. It can gallop at speeds up to 35 mph. A giraffe’s front legs are longer than its rear legs--an extra advantage when stretching for leaves. For those leaves that seem just out of reach, a giraffe bridges the gap with a strong, flexible, gray, seventeen-inch-long tongue that is able to grasp leaves from even the thorniest branches.

What makes a reticulated giraffe reticulated?

Reticulated giraffes are the most distinctively patterned of the eight subspecies of giraffe. Their coat has brown, regular, box-like patterns (called a reticulated pattern). White spaces between the patches form narrow lines. This elaborate pattern is good camouflage in dense, dry vegetation.

Coming and going

Giraffes live in herds of from two to forty individuals. The herds are loosely structured with no lasting bonds, and animals come and go constantly. Although giraffe herds have no particular territories to defend, there is a hierarchy of dominance. Males compete for dominance with ritualized neck sparring—they bash each other with their neck and head (injuries are rare). The older male giraffes are usually the most dominant.

Reticulated giraffes inhabit dry savannahs and open woodlands in northeastern Kenya. Although somewhat common in the wild, their numbers have decreased due to land-use competition.

The big drop

Mother giraffes give birth while standing up. So, a giraffe calf’s first experience in the world is to fall five feet to the ground! But when you’re nearly six feet tall at birth, a five-foot drop isn’t so bad. Within an hour of being born, the calf is up and ready to go, although it spends most of the first week hiding with its mother. Calves stay with mom for 12 to 16 months, at which time they are old enough to live on their own.

Just the facts

Height: 13 to 18 feet

Shoulder height: 8 to 12 feet

Weight: Up to 2,600 pounds

Distribution: Northeast Kenya

Habitat: Dry savannahs and open woodlands

Wild diet: Leaves, shoots, and vines found in treetops

Brookfield Zoo diet: Alfalfa hay, grain, chopped carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, and bread

Reticulated giraffes at Brookfield Zoo

Brookfield Zoo’s herd of reticulated giraffes live in Habitat Africa! The Savannah. In warm weather they can be seen outside in their spacious yard. In winter, you can see them up close inside the kopje exhibit.

Wow, that’s some pretty cool stuff. There will be more later. It seems like the zoo gives information on the births of giraffes, but it is going to take some time getting to know all of them. I think though there was a baby giraffe born just 9 months ago. We’ll get to that part later, but I saw him yesterday … People are pretty excited about him. One thing I might learn to do is just hang out by the animals and listen to all the things the people are saying about them. It’s quite an interesting study all to itself. The ones that are the funniest are the moms that come with kids and say “… sweetie … that’s a camel. Yes, he needs a hair cut, ok let’s go on the buffalo is next.” This happens in 30-60 seconds and they are on their speedy way. Kid probably goes home and confuses camels with two humped rabbits!

AHA! Our Sweetie Pie just called. We had been in the other room taking our medicine and getting coffee. It was only about a four minute conversation, but it was nice. He sounds in a much better mood like he got caught up on some sleep. He’s going to go watch his daughter run in a 5 k race. I guess her basketball team is going to be there too. And, then she has to work and so he’s going to work with her and then put together a bed frame for her. We don’t know what they are going to do afterward for dinner. Work should be fun enough. She’s a manager of a Starbucks in her spare time from being a gym teacher. This all seems pretty interesting to me. Gotta love gym teacher coach types. I think he’s planning on talking to her for some of the time, but being the nature of a Starbucks maybe he’ll just pull up a chair and work on something on his computer. Isn’t that what you do at those places? Be pretty hard to imagine our baby sitting in anyone place for that long though. I think she really is enjoying showing off her dad and I think that they have gotten some time to talk alone. One mistake that I made though was it wasn’t a friend’s birthday it was his daughters. Woo HOOO. I’m thinking he’s pretty happy that he caught it. I was glad that he seemed today more pleased than worried. He’s such a Dad.

So, what’s next? He suggested something about school. I’m afraid to look over in that direction, but maybe I better. Oh Lordy ok the shock is over … not too bad. There wasn’t any mail that’s the most frightening. It looks as if my old room is up so I might want to contact the teacher … Then on this course discussion, I am backed up one paper and about 3 labs, and a project toward final paper. Pshwoo … that’s the worst of it. It looks lie almost everyone has done the 3rd unit and they are about half done with the 4th unit and 25% done with the last – the one due today. I really have to get going on it. I think I am going to reserve the reading though for another time. I’ve read all the chapters, and am going to stick closely to the ones concerned in my direct assignment. So next, I have to do Hmm, what. I could do some papers, or I could go for the lab and special assignment. Which route?

Ok, first thing first … I checked the lab experiment and found the teacher had asked me to resubmit one using references and such. So, I turned in this.

Start first Lab experiment here …

The data from my results supports the idea that brain asymmetry was found because my shape left reaction time was smaller than shape right reaction time (564.9 to 615.125), and because my word left reaction time was bigger than my word right reaction time (1016.85 to 1003.525) (Francis, Neath, MacKewn & Goldthwaite, 2004, pp 21). The material implies, if a split-brain patient were to do this demonstration, the results would be different. If a patient were to have split-brain he would not be able to say the words flashed on the left screen though he could have picked up an item with his left side because the right side was seeing visually a spatially appropriate item.

As a side note, I am unsure whether my experiment was valid, because I found myself looking toward one side or another, which might go to show results from either side was really being seen by both sides of the brain simultaneously, which goes to show possibly why the reaction time was fairly similar - sort of an averaging out. I had also taken this test and written down the results during another session of this course, and that test had shown a lack of brain asymmetry, so in that case I could claim possibly because I was a multiple my brain was askew.

According to one research study, it was postulated “that each hemisphere has a unique and comprehensive response system characterizing its cognitive, emotional, and physiological functioning” (Wittling, 1997, p. 313). So according to this information it would seem that asymmetry could be a result or condtion of how I was thinking and feeling and my physiological status at the time being. This study also states that asymmetries are characterized by a principal that the right hemisphere controls sympathetic activity (constricts blood vessels) and the left hemisphere controls parasympathetic activity (dilates blood vessels) (p. 323). The activity one way or another would then be a condition related to the way the heart works.

In another study, they found that people with Post-traumatic stress disorder showed differences in brain asymmetry when exposed to trauma-related material (Rabe, Beauducel, Zollner, Maercker, & Karl, 2006, p. 687). So it would seem that a person’s asymmetry could depend on mental state and that could in turn affect the physiological functioning. In general then, brain asymmetry can be caught as a snapshot through reaction time, but asymmetry changes due to circumstances. In pictures sometimes one is smiling and at others not, but either picture does not dismiss the potential of being at both places. Asymmetry seems to relate to other variables such as material presented and an underlying psychological and psychological state.

References

Francis, G., Neath, I., MacKewn, A., & Goldthwaite, D. (2004). Coglab on a CD. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Rabe, S., Beauducel, A., Zollner T., Maercker, A., Karl, A. (2006). Regional brain electrical activity in posttraumatic stress dirsorder after motor vehicle accident. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115(4), 687-298. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from PsycARTICLES data base.

Wittling, W. (1997, December). Brain asymmetry and autonomic control of the heart. European Psychologist, 2(4), 313-327. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from PsycARTICLES data base.

End first Lab experiment here …

Ok, that wasn’t real bad. It’s now almost 10:30 am and the first thing is done … when I had started, I didn’t even know if I’d participated in this experiment. It seems that I should continue and knock out a few more experiments. I should also plan on going to the zoo at about 3 pm. That will give me a little more time to be doing what needs to be done. I’m feeling ok, but a little upended in that my stress level seems to have climbed. Hmm, maybe I could check blood pressure? Hmm, 102/59 with a pulse rate of 64. How does that compare with earlier? Hmm, not too bad. I’m up at sys being 5 higher, and dia being only 1 higher. AND pulse rate is actually down 8. Ok, what could we assert here then. Maybe doing homework actually helps the heart run more efficiently. Going back to previous theory it could theoretically open blood vessels, which allow more blood to be pumping through the heart. I think I like that … but there is then still at this marking 5/1 over in the blood pressure. We’ll have to study the numbers, and maybe interest the parts that can do the fitness with parts that can do the school work and general post writing. Well, that be a theory at least.

Let’s see … what is our next lab experiment … damn there’s two experiments. The first is the stroop effect and the second is called the Muller-Lyer Illusion. I’ve done both before just have to remember now what they are. *Sigh* Ok, ok … we read the experiment. Maybe we better save this document and give it a try.

Ok, here are our results.



Hmm, this seems to be a good thing … my lab shows that my reaction time to name and font being the same IS smaller than if it were different. In actuality, it is about 25% more efficient. What does that mean now? Better look up the questions. I am supposed to answer this …

1) Identify the independent and dependent variables in the Stroop effect demonstration.
2) Do you think that it might be possible to reduce the strength of the Stroop effect with some sort of practice?
3) If yes, what sort?

Let’s see common sense would suggest that the independent variable would be same or different name and font? Hmm, it would seem the automatized response would be name and font being same and we are looking at the conflict with the desired behavior which would relate to name and font being different. The experiment was predicting and was found true in that the name of the word seems to interfere with my ability to report the color of the ink. This is because reporting the color names is automatized, where reporting the colors is not, so it is slower. The automatic process interferes with the reporting of the ink color. Shoot now I gotta remember what the independent and dependent variables are … This is always a hard mind-trick for us. Corsini says that the independent variable is the one that is manipulated by the experiment in an experiment. So the dependent variable is measured to see if its value is systematically affected by the value of the independent variable. More succinctly the dependent variable is the response predicted to change as a result of manipulation of the independent variable. SOOOOO the reaction time of name and font being the same is predicted to change when the name and font is different … that being the case dependent would be the name and font same, and independent would be name and font being different. Let me check that out now. Ok, that seems good for me.

Begin second Lab experiment here …

The independent variable in the Stroop experiment (Francis, Neath, MacKewn, and Goldthwaite, 2004, pp. 10-11) is the name and font being different and the dependent variable would be the name and font being the same. The independent variable is the one being manipulated by the experiment (Corsini, 2002, p. 480). The dependent variable is measured to see if it is changed by the independent variable, or in other terms, the dependent variable is the one predicated to change because of the manipulation of the other (p. 264).

One research project (Shor, Hatch, Hudson, Landrigan, & Shaffer, 1972, p. 168), looked at this question specifically with the result supporting they “hypothesis of greater performance times with arrow-word mismatches, greater performance times for arrow naming than word reading, continued improvement beyond the initial trials with greater improvements in arrow naming than word reading, and a stable rank order among performance times despite the differential improvements.” The mismatches in arrows and word mismatches was that the arrow symbolized a direction, but that the word on the arrow would indicate another direction. These authors conclude that the difficulty of reading and naming speeds is due to physiological differences rather than the practice theories (p. 171). Basically, what they saw then was that proportionately with practice the times came down with both arrows and words (arrows being the more difficult), but the results maintained the linear relationship so the performance time decreased for both without a change where the opposite variable succeeded the other. Also, the experiment showed that practice seemed to show improvement only in the first 5 days (of 30 days) and that after that the performances showed no significant change.

In direct response to the question, practice would reduce the effect of the Stroop test, but the result would be short-term. The end result was that physiological differences were predominant over the effect of practice.

References

Corsini, R. (2002). The dictionary of psychology. NY: Brunner-Routledge.

Francis, G., Neath, I., MacKewn, A., & Goldthwaite, D. (2004). Coglab on a CD. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Shor, R. E., Hatch, R. P., Hudson, L. J., Landrigan, D. T., & Shaffer, H. J. (1972). Effect of practice on a Stroop-like spatial directions task. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 94(2), 168-172. Retrieved May 6, 2007, from PsycARTICLES data base.

End second Lab experiment here …

Ok, that one didn’t seem to hurt too much. I worry about the research being so old – 1972), but as far as the results of the test … the concept should hold of their being parallel effects and that the changes according to practice even out about 18% into the experiment.

1. Does your data confirm the Muller-Lyer illusion?
2. What is constant in the method of constant stimuli for the Muller-Lyer illusion demonstration?

This will be the questions in the next experiment in perception the last was an experiment in attention. I’d like to hold off a minute though before continuing. I’m thinking spatially, I’m a little off-base. I think we’re going to have lunch. It’s noon … so, that would be good timing. Hmm, ok, maybe a little longer for the break. I know none of this stuff is too hard … just takes a minute to gather myself. I don’t like the theory of lunch taking less than 8 minutes and then we got to use our brain right away. Maybe I could talk about something fun for a minute? Hmm, let’s be thinking of Sweetie Pie. Woo HOOO!!

I’m worried about that I haven’t done something special for him in a bit. I think one nice thing would be to pick up here a bit. But, I don’t expect that to take too long. Maybe if I had a box, I could empty out the last two drawers in his bedroom.

Maybe I would need to get a box from looking at something in the closet. If I remember there were going to be about 14 boxes left or some other such terrible number. That’s the kind of thing that could slow a person down. I think before I do that I have to make the space more efficient in the back room. That would mean doing something with the extra chairs, but that would mean the box in the back would have to get thrown away to accommodate the two broken chairs that need to get thrown away. Pswhoo. Isn’t that a mess. I’m just in a short-term holding crisis. How could I get by with that? I could put one broken chair on top of the other that would help, hmm, need to clear up one more space. I suppose we could crowd one more space in front of the broken chair … in a sense the good chair being placed in the island corner, and then stacked two broken chairs in front of that … and then we could do the good chair in the closet to the space at Rich’s bedroom desk, which would begin to clear space in the back bedroom closet. I think there is a small corner shelf in there too … and the laundry basket … that could go where we take out the broken chair? Let me go in and take another look.

Ok, trying not to be shook … that was pretty hard. I removed one broken chair from the room, but it didn’t sit on top the other chair so well, because well, they were both broken. I found a long box in the closet that could house electrical, and then I had to clear up the upper shelf in left closet to hold such a big long box. To do that I had to move some pillows and a blanket that wasn’t too bad. The space just isn’t being used well. There is a printer not working on the top of the shelve that could be thrown away too. We’ll have to see. It would be nice to use it for dishes on Rich’s shelve, but that would take some help moving cuz there are so many of them. Lot’s of back and forth. Sheesh. Just a lot of moving. It’s really the same for the boxes in the master bedroom. I could do one every 15-20 minutes or so. Hmm. About 5 hours worth of work then. Maybe that is doable, but not right now if I plan to get ready for the zoo. And during CARF and School crisis. It will wait until after.

Next move not into the thick of it would be to continue clearing space in the back closet. I think there is a big suitcase back there that could be moved in front of the middle section where there are shelf boards. And, there is that chair that will move to Rich’s room. I think I can do that to the side of his long room. It will encourage him to move that other chair for his suitcase. Then I found there is more blanket stacking places over behind the long dresser in the back room. Then there should be just a few small things to be doing in the closet. I really would like to get those boxes out of Rich’s closet. I’m thinking that some of the longer things hanging up might need to go over to the left closet, because the boxes will have to be four across and three high. Hopefully, that will work if I can throw a couple. Then it would all fit … I would like to clear up the computer box on the floor in front of the left shelves so it fits better too. I’m not sure, but it might fit on the lower shelf in there that wouldn’t be as convenient, but not as messy … unless I had put that on the top shelve. Hmm, have to look again next time. It’s hard to do the left back closet, because the back door doesn’t open cleanly because of the short files I have in part blocking its’ opening. That’s just a mess back there.

Pswhoo … I think I gotta good plan … I’ve cleaned out the problem on the floor to the left closet … and I cleared a good box for the electrical from the last two drawers. Then what I decided is that we can move the clothes to the back left closet. They are in the back right closet now. That would allow more room for movement, because we’re not competing in space for the treadmill. The big difference though is that there is more room for the long dresses in front of shelves, than there would be if we moved the storage boxes under them. It will mean that I have a better place for shoes and better room for the laundry basket. There is one box in that space, but I can move it with its matchers to the right side.

I’m feeling pretty good about that. There are still those clothes in the middle of Rich’s two closets, but I think they are fine there now … Just for propriety sake they are probable able to fit on top of the boxes. I’m not as worried about them not hanging straight. The big deal is to clear my space from Rich’s space. I know … doesn’t have to be done in this one weekend. Just be a nice surprise for Rich to gain more bedroom space. I can imagine him standing in front of the closets/desks now … he takes very good care of the limited space given to him. I feel good about having given him the bigger room. He really uses it for more than storage. Hmm, maybe now I could almost do some more school work? Be a good idea to try.

Ok, a few minutes … I know … arms still tired. Go ahead and use the washroom, but we’re going to be sitting right here when you get back! I think we’re going to make an executive decision to complete closet project today rather than going to the zoo. Just because it would be such a nice project to have done and a good surprise for Sweetie Pie. That was the whole idea of going back to this area, right?


Ok, who snuck back to the bedroom? Hmm? Man … you don’t want to give it a rest?

I know, I know … want to complete the project. We cleaned out the two drawers.

There wasn’t as much in there as we had thought. But, that means the whole dresser is his, except the bear … hmm, maybe that stuffed thing too in the corner. A few clothes started moving over to the new closet. Shouldn’t be too much effort to get the rest over. We decided for the time being to leave extra hangers on the right side. That won’t bother those boxes, but thinking now more of bringing over those extra clothes in the middle of Rich’s closet. I don’t know how many more clothes he would like to bring over. I wonder … No, he should save his mother’s bedroom set for the new place. Like to see it all in Michigan. I’m thinking that if his mother left the house, he could even bring her there. It might take awhile learning to get around though. It’s ok, that’s why one get’s a vacation house. Better keep the furniture … if he should choose to move out someday, we’re going to still be needing it.

Hmm, where are we. It’s 1:30 pm. I can just see our aching muscles after moving all those boxes. It’s only 20 feet or so, but there is some maneuvering to be done. One thing at a time. Next time … move the balance of the clothes and pick-up the few things that have fallen to the bed? Mostly just putting away a few of Thom’s clothes in the front closet that had been left on the floor. Maybe a couple more shirts for Joe. He can use all the extra.

Hehehe WooHooo I just called Joe. He says that the interviews went well. There were about 120 people there and about 80 will be accepted. He said the group looked like clean cut American guys. He also said that they would know in a about a week and a half – by mail if they were accepted or not. Then there would be a two month wait and then they’d go to school for half a year. Oh man … Joe said if he could wait, I could wait. 2/3rds make it … Joe’s gotta be in that group. I bet that his karate will help out too. Especially, because he’s trained on so many weapons.

He’s very direct in his responses. That should help too. He didn’t seem to want to stay on the phone … I think he’s probably trying to stay away from worrying. I think he’ll keep it under control. I’d like to figure out a way of giving him two to four hundred over the summer to help out on the living situation. That is unless he were to get a part-time summer job. That would help with cash flow, but it would place him in doing something he didn’t want to do, or maybe if he were to do that game shop job then he could enjoy himself and not feel as bad about the time he was giving up. Thinking about what would make him the sharpest by the time he got to school. I like that he has been doing gymnastics – that should help too, because he’s in really good shape. And, he’s been doing the karate … I think that’s got to be the most important … It be good for him to start the academe IF accepted as a black belt. I think if Rich were to give me 2-3 hundred … then I could do it?

Aha! Talked to Joe again … he said June 24th would be the time the school started, but that it might change … not sure on that … big coordination dates don’t usually switch too much. I told Joe that rather than worry about work that he should be spending his time in karate … I think the sensai had thought at first Mid-July, but they might work to move that up some. Especially, if Joe weren’t doing the gymnastics. He said at least one guy, maybe a couple more will probably make State gymnastics, but I think that’s all through now. He didn’t want to chance hurting himself then, but he said he should be working twice as hard in karate. I think the school would be in about 7 weeks … then. When I asked him, he said that he spends about 1-200 a month. So, that could be arranged with Rich then. I’d be so proud to be contributing. This is a good investment. The other good thing was that Joe was starting to run. I don’t think he’s ever had to do too much of that. He said he ran about 2 ½ - 11 minute miles. I told him 7 minute miles are better. This part of the test was completed in January, so obviously he passed, but boot camp would be running everyday probably … so it is a good thing to get going now. I’d like to get Joe a pedometer like ours Hmm, wonder …

Hmm. Better not … There is $9 in the account after rent and car go through. They’d taken money out for the gym dues and $24 for the Friday night thing we did. It wouldn’t have been enough … The pedometer is going to cost $34 plus shipping. I think that I don’t have Joe’s address, but I could ask Maury if I had more money in the account. It might mean waiting for the 15th. Hmm … 9 more days … I guess that would correspond with his knowing for sure. So, that’s a good plan … If he gets accepted, we’ll call Maury, get his Dad’s address and have a pedometer sent to Joe.

It does the aerobic part too so if you run more than 60 steps in a minute or 10 minutes straight that part will kick in. This must be the silliest of Moms. She is down to $9 and wondering how she’s going to get a couple hundred and a pedometer to her son. I sure as hell hope that his father doesn’t start charging rent before the training! Wouldn’t doubt he charge him rent for leaving his things there.

Hmm, it’s some time later … about 3 pm. Time is slipping away. We spent time doing something … I’m not sure … think we were at the computer. And, it seems that we’ve been back to the closets project too. We moved 3 more boxes and the rest of the clothes to the back left closet. There weren’t very many. Better save some time for cleaning too. But, for now I want to work on moving boxes. We’re giving ourselves another 12 minutes and then more boxes. I am going to get four across … there’s a little more space, but not enough for a full box. That should help with the coats I have in the middle. There sure were a lot of hangers though. I know I had thrown out a box … now it seems there is another box full. We could fill up a box even after saving a dozen. It’s just silly. There are quite a few boxes that have never been open since the last move. We are choosing to let them remain a motivating mystery.

Maybe I should let the next up trip be though to fill the dishwasher and get it started … that seems like it would be a good idea. Much more rewarding seeing the clean counters back there than the messy. That’s a good idea.

Then it would be over about dinner time. We just had the last orange so we should be ok for a couple more hours. I don’t think we have enough dollars to get more … think I’d need at least $6 to make it worthwhile. I DON’T want to go back into Rich’s stash. Yes, he tells me where it is hidden, BUT I don’t want to think of it as something I should be using even for food. He’ll be back soon.

Still worrying about getting Joe set-up … I hope his father is going to let him keep his bedroom. Joe might have time off … I’m not sure though … I think Boot camp is pretty solid. Don’t know if you get vacation from it. Pretty sure they are not going to let Joe have a computer though. It’s going to mean a hard break from it.

Shoot, I’ve seen people go into boot camp and come out completely different people. That’s what is going to happen to Joe. I would have never dreamed this career for him. Putting buggy in front of horse? Shoot, I know I know … he might not get in, but at this point he’s looking like a strong candidate. 2/3rds make it. Maybe they’re going to see his soft heart and thing he’s not up to the mustard. Man-o-man … this is going to be a long week.

Hmm, ok, we’re doing it … dishwasher is filled and running, water bottles filled, and counter wiped down. I also cleared off the kitchen table and filled the platter for the kitties wet food pouches. I moved one box too, but that was probably a little too much. It had helped because I could sit down when doing the table and pouches. I think the kitties did something in there because I can smell something I shouldn’t. I’m going to move the bags out of there with dirty towels. I think that’s the problem. Should make getting to the closet easier too. I have to decide where the blankets are going to go, because there isn’t a lot of room for them.

They might go with the stack of pillows … One blanket I can take out of there, but the other is the big quilt and that should stay there. Then the only real projects is take out shoes from under dresser, move the clothes in the middle AND get the dishes out of there from the top shelf. I could probably use my laundry basket. I think I could rearrange things on the top of the shelf … maybe get some of those sheets in there, move the plastic containers and then put up the glass. They are filthy … so there is that temptation of running them through the dishwasher. Hmm, I bet it has a soft cycle. I could do that. Then there’d be more encouragement using them? I’m not sure. I like that our closets and Rich’s are becoming more efficient.

I remember going to my mother’s place and Sandy’s place and there was stuff everywhere so you could never unpack your things … I don’t like living out of a suitcase. They’d even have stuff on top so you couldn’t put your things out.

Maybe I should make sure there’s nothing left on Rich’s lower dresser. I can move the stuffed bear. I want him to be able to take over the room. Hehehe … it’s funny on the tall dresser just as you go in, there is a space to the side and back of the TV and that’s his corner for taking stuff out of his pockets. He sorts through it fairly frequently, so the pile changes around. He uses space on top of the television too. I think that’s his banking area. He’s so funny. I want him to feel this space is his too.

Hmm, we haven’t talked about that yet today. The part of us thinking that he could get the vacation property. I think he has to get through the divorce first. He is going to need knowing where his money is and make sure things don’t get put into her name. I hope he learns to understand the value of getting a place big enough to invite the families. I know that Joe and Maury would come given the time. Though, we can’t be sure of where Joe would be stationed. Ok, shhh. Shhh. Ok, good … we’ve done a little more … some slight things being put away … like the blankets and things on top the pillows. It’s going to be hard getting all the boxes … one set four high are falling away from the open door, and there seems to be little things getting in the way of reaching them. Hmm, let’s give that another 12 minutes. We found a bag of old papers, we probably meant to throw away … it was the research stuff from my senior year of college. There was also a few letters written to people … one was from exactly 20 years ago. That seems like a very old unreal time in my life. I buried them under an old raggedy blanket and through the bag away.

The stuff in the middle of the closet is tangled by old curtain rods that the building didn’t want us to throw just in case. I don’t mind keeping them, but I wish they could be made more tidy. In the middle of the back closet is that shelving material, so I can’t move the set back even if I wanted to. Rich will have to adapt to that part.

There is more cleaning to do in this place. The kitchen cupboards should be done over and made more efficient. But, we’re not ready for that yet. Let’s get through the bedrooms first. I keep thinking what happened Rich wanted to bring over his kids. What would they think. I know at least I held an opinion of my parents place when we went back to visit. I think that we should think about getting a maid! Ok, ok … just kidding. Don’t want to interfere with the going to a house money.

Please, please let Rich fall this direction. All those years thinking of Rich retiring with his wife. And, me being placed in a nursing home. Maybe that doesn’t have to be that way. Maybe Rich and us can really grow old together? Would mean that we’d have to do our best to make this space nice. Maybe it will take a year or two, but it sure be nice to start an early retirement. I think gradually St. Rose Center is going to need to know about Rich being divorced and then about us being together, but we’ll let that REALLY slide at this point. Don’t want anything to jeopardize that and that’s Rich’s security for now. But, it would take a tremendous strain off our back to think we could retire.

I should think for a moment of the alternative that Rich had originally proposed … Getting a place that was small enough for the two of us. It would feel terrible though getting another place the kids couldn’t come to. It’s going to be a long time before any of them can go somewhere to get away. The boys love Michigan. Ok, ok … we can’t do it just for the boys. But, truth of the matter is that West Michigan seems like a good place for us too. I love being by the water. The life is slower and more relaxed.

Oh man that was a slower one … We moved three boxes. I don’t know how we made it.

It’s almost 5 pm. Pshwoo. Set it for another 15 minutes. I’d like to get Rich to take off the back and arms of that other chair while he’s got the drill set warmed up. He had said that it worked well for getting Jill’s furniture together. I hate how it sits there looking broken. Seems a shame too, in that this chair is broken BECAUSE it doesn’t have the arms, BUT there is hope for it because it has a back.

I’m thinking I’d like a lime colored sand bucket. I should have a little area to keep the beach furniture.  And, we should be keeping that washing machine running every day. Clean towels, clean sheets, the works! Nice big kitchen table and a comfy family room. NO TV!!! Hmm it’s kind of Rich’s place … could I get by with that? Maybe we could put it in a back room … thinking a tiny $100 TV for emergencies. Hmm, maybe one of those little ones mounted in the kitchen under a cupboard. Just something to keep for emergencies or for sweetie to listen to as he’s working at the kitchen table. NOTHING though for people to really sit around and watch. People have to go out and do something with their evenings, or sit around talk, and play cards, or old fashioned reading. Hmm, should have a couple of very cozy reading chairs. And, just a small bookshelf with current novels. Hehehe … That make me go loony! We’d have to plan that when I retire at least one room be able to house my books. That is IF he decides to keep me!

Did I tell you, we found the boxes of stuffed animals. I wanted to almost hide it when we saw it. I think there is enough room in there for the green stuffed rhinomonster. We can’t bear to throw it away. There are quite a few boxes that have old small clothes in it … I don’t want to throw them either. I hope when I get skinny we can afford new clothes, but I know those are the clothes that are pretty much loved, and I would love the opportunity to step back into them at sometime.

Ok, sure if we are crowded for space, I will make the decision to toss after one more peek, but for now I am satisfied with having made space in my set of closets.

SO, they stay! I decided that I would give Joe the jump rope and I will keep the racket and racket balls until they fall apart. If Rich and I did get skinny, I would want to take him on. Hehehe ok, ok maybe we’re better off inside our own room again, but shoot … sure like to run and play racket ball again. I hope I get skinny before getting too old and we find that my back hurts less when I am actively playing sports. Well, at least I can dream.

I wonder how Hunny Bunny is doing. I’m thinking now whoops timer…
Oh man that one was hard. I only got two and a half boxes moved. I had to put down the last one on the mid-way kitchen counter. The last two boxes were heavy books … Mostly more spiral notebooks and binders. We’re not taking the time right now to go through them. We’re going to set the timer for 20 minutes this time. Hopefully we’ll go up to bedtime and almost be done moving boxes. We’re saving the stack of four to the left until last because it should be the light stuffed animals. I think we have 3-4 left otherwise. But, they are the ones harder to reach because they are on the far side, or on the floor. I’m thinking that the closet in the master room is just a little longer from the way the boxes are tucked to the right in the master closet.

It should be fine though. I’ve enough room to build a proper tower of boxes in the back closet. Hehehe at worst, we’ll be ready to move already! Another project I would like is to take down some of the clutter on the bookshelves so that if I wanted to I could dust proper. Thinking if honey was doing the floors, that it would be fair … I mean how much does a feather duster weigh anyway? I would for the record like to get first Flyladies special purple ostrich feather dusters. They come in a tall that would help me reach the cobwebs in the corners, and then the regular. I would feel pretty special to have Flyladies much discussed dusters!

Ok, ok … now we’re getting ahead of ourselves. But, we could almost present the thought to Rich. This is something he might be able to support! And, then with our place decluttered, dusted and floors done, we could have guests! WooHOOO!! I’d like his son especially to be able to drop over. I would like Joe and Thom and Maury to come over too. I think we would have to put up the cords on the computer table for Isa, but she’s getting into a better age where you can steer her away from that kind of stuff. I don’t know … maybe we could get one of those collapsible cages for the area like the one Maury has by his stairs. You just don’t know when more Grandchildren are going to come along. Just don’t want it to be an excuse for being messy. When we get that … we should also get a new litter box … some special design must be for cleaning litter daily. Hmm, how does Maury keep Isa out of theres? Ok, ok … let’s not get too excited. Might be a long time before Rich will stay put and invite people over. I hope I’m not going to need moving my little friends in front of the computer. Going to need a better system for this little stack of paperwork too. Hmm, maybe I have something small enough … hold on.

AHA! Perfect! Or, pretty much so. Hmm, added 5 more minutes on the timer, because we finished moving that heavy box. I have this nifty accordion thing for the 1/3 page paper like is to be folded in an envelope. It is marked by month, but maybe we could adapt. Hmm, last time used November 3, 2003 … I guess that’s enough sitting time.

Hmm, ok, we got things set up again and we moved another box, but I think that we have to consider dinner now because of the time. Better put a frozen in. K that’s done and we rolled the dishwasher back too. If we were right on top of it … when the micro rings, we’d go empty the dishes. Wouldn’t that be a good idea? Then after dinner … back to the closets … BUT, we don’t have to finish it today, we still have tomorrow too. Just we’d like to get it done before bunny comes back tomorrow late night. He says about midnight. I say that’s a terrible time! I would have wished he stopped at Jon’s and got some sleep … maybe go out to breakfast with the kid. *Sigh*

Now I got to adjust to the new desk arrangement. Going from left to right is the first tall speaker, hand sanitizer, bill pouch with stuffed kitty on top of it, glucose tester, blood pressure cup, tooth floss pouch, and 3x5 card box with pen.

Those are all most to half way tucked under the monitor, and then in front of those on the open-spaced table is the 3 way timer, Rich’s pedometer, my cell phone, the stopwatch, and the camera. Then there is another divider between closely matched screens in the form of the second speaker, then woven between that and the third speaker on the other side of the monitor are my 8 small stuffed critters from Rich.

Then, I still have my camera cord in the gizmo and wedged in back of speaker and regular phone is Rich’s special calendar on it with his fishy friends. And last, is the calculator and in front of that the mouse and mouse pad. Hmm, should include too that there is my keyboard and towel resting in front of that with my coffee cup to the left balancing the mouse to the right. A little cluttered, but to my liking for the time being. Oh, one more set of things. On top of the screen is a small light, the camera and to the right there are two of fishy friends cups holding colored pencils and markers. HMMM … THAT’s PRETTY COOL! Almost my entire life hehehe.

Whoops dinner! 6 pm!

Good, good … almost forgot – I got some mail in the back in the carrying bag. Rich will be proud of us, cuz we stopped by the mail box downstairs Friday night.

Whew … that was a lot! This one had ham and vegetables and gravy, but we put in a little spaghetti sauce and ketchup and made in thick tomato soup like, and chased that down with a little lemonade. As you might imagine, we’re probably about the time where we look for our Deb-friend! I see her coming off and on the computer all day and can mostly not worry about it too much. Today was a little harder, I wanted to write earlier, but I didn’t want to break the better routine of talking toward the end of the day. I want to make sure both of us have plenty of time during the regular day for work and family stuff, and then cut-out early enough 8:30 pm or so, so that she can get in good quality time with her hubby. I guess I consider ourselves an around-dinner time friend … big silly grin. I never know when she’s eating though because she’s an hour behind and sometimes the family eats late working around Amanda’s schedule. She’s got a yellow note pad up, but we’ll leave her a note for when she’s not busy. Should probably to another round of work too.

We were going to work through the night, remember?

Ahh, emptied the dishwasher, and then tried to lift a box and it was like noooo way. It is another heavy box with binders and such. I remember now that there were three of them and they contained stuff from the desk in the apartment bedroom, two places back – old stuff year books and what not. I got it raised off the floor to be sitting on another box, but I’m going to need more of me to get it up. I think that’s enough for this 15 minutes. Starting to feel a throbbing pain in my left back hip. Not major, but could be a problem if I kept pushing it. Ok, time to take stock.

About 7 more boxes, 3 heavy and 4 light, clothes in the middle, and dishes from up top. Most should be reachable from standing up, we checked. It would be a good time now that the dishwasher is empty. I feel at this moment if it isn’t hearty enough to go through light rinse on dishwasher … I probably don’t want it. I think I can put the humidifier on the other side of the closet up top. And, I can stack better the plastic dishes and center them toward the middle. I’m afraid now though that the shelve is not as long, and the way it seems the dishes need to some extent be spread out because they don’t stack well. I’ll have to check that. That won’t happen until tomorrow though pretty sure of that. I’d be satisfied just to finish the boxes over … we can do the clothes and dishes tomorrow. I would like to get at least a load of clothes washed too. I don’t know if I could take the time for two loads and still get done with this other and work on school. Maybe really focus on getting to bed at 8:30 pm. That’s two more hours. I’m glad it seemed like a big dinner, because there’s no after dinner grapefruit …  Should remember to take our medicine too.

That’s important. I’m a little worried about the boxes being stacked so high … I might have to consider the other clothes? NOOOO, we don’t want them left in Rich’s closet. Better to get them over and do the best we can with the boxes.

So, medicine and those other bills. Let’s go … test that back hip problem. Hmm, thinking that was enough on it that I don’t want to try that again. We’re going to let our medicine work. So, with that we look toward the Flylady and her mention of the bedtime routine that starts after dinner. This are mostly her priorities:

1. Lay out my clothes for tomorrow
2. Gather the dirty clothes
3. Check calendar for tomorrow’s events
4. Spend 2 minutes clearing off hot spots
5. Shine my sink
6. Wash my face, moisturize it, brush my teeth and floss
7. Fix numbers
8. Call Deb
9. Go to bed at a decent hour

Well, I may have added one or two things. Let’s start with clearing up a few hot spots. I left some clothes on both beds and in the bathroom. Not a lot, but looks messy. Hmm, actually then the first thing is to gather dirty clothes and then put the rest back. Ok, this is doable … the time is almost 7 pm … here we go.

Ok, very good on one time up, we cleared both beds and bathroom, bagged the dirty clothes, shined the kitchen sink, and set out our clothes for tomorrow. Hmm, take a few moments for self. Maybe this means go sit on the couch with kitties? Tomorrow is clothes first thing when we wake up – one load, write and do homework. Hmm, forgot about doing the closets already … better insert that back in. Just once an hour though … need to focus more. I was looking at Flyladies Monday routines, but I don’t think we’re ready for that yet. When we do do them, they will include light vacuum and dusting, mopping, and cleaning glass and mirrors. We don’t have real magazines to throw, and it will be up to Sweetie to do the floors, so really the extra chores are to dust and clean glass, monitors, and mirrors. I think we could do this … Maybe even do them over the weekend? Like the idea of doing it Saturday while Sweeties doing games, and then after dusting, he could do the floors that makes more sense.

Better to do concentrating on school during the day. Emptying trash should be happening all the time, but for the moment, we should schedule it to go down in the morning when we do laundry. Just gotta make sure we throw the right bag. Better get to the face stuff … Maybe, we could do numbers in the morning?

Hmm, competing with Deb time IF she is available.

I’m going to leave her a message and maybe she’ll see it … gives me maybe 10 or 15 minutes to do the face stuff. And, then if she doesn’t sign in, we could look at the numbers. That seems like a real good plan, right? Ok, you … now go!



There we go. Looking pretty accomplished.

posted by Ann Marie @ 5/07/2007 05:53:00 AM Comments: 0