Monday, March 30, 2009

SLEEP!!

Tired… time to go to sleep. It sounds like such an easy thing, but is it always? The steps taken before sleep happens are somewhat time consuming and should make one tired in themselves. It is not as easy as laying my head on the pillow and dropping off into dreamland. Three little steps are involved to get there. I have to be ready, the house needs to be ready, and so does the bed.

First, there is the bathroom ritual. Teeth need to be brushed, can’t go to bed with bad breath. What if I have a heart attack in the night and need mouth to mouth resuscitation? That is followed by a shower; I can not climb into a clean bed without being clean myself. Talk about a good way to ruin a night’s sleep. Next comes lotion, it may prevent me from waking up to dry skin itch (usually not this time of year though). Now, I can brush my hair so it does not resemble a home for unidentified wildlife in the morning. Lastly, it’s time to pee. I’m hoping if I pee now, it will buy me another hour of sleep on the other end. I’m ready for sleep, but what about my house?

But, before I can lay my clean but tired little head down, the house needs to be put in order. Dirty dishes in the sink need to be washed and left to dry, so they can be put away in the morning. Breakfast is set out for the ready, in case I miss the alarm. Laundry goes in the washer, so it can be dried in the morning. If I don’t do this now, how will I fold and put them away tomorrow afternoon when I get home? Lights are checked, and turned off or down. Heat is turned back or windows closed depending on the season. One last check of the door is made and I can’t forget to set the ever dreadful alarm. Okay, the house is tucked in for the night; it’s time for that sweet reward. SLEEP! (Wait, need to pee again, just in case.)

Ahh…the final step. Blankets are thrown back and I am in bed. Wait though, the pillows aren’t quite right. One needs to be folded, and the other punched a little to get the right shape. The pillows are fitted to my head now, but the rest of me is not comfortable. So now I change from my side to my belly. I do it every night; one would think I would learn. That feels better, but the pillows are wrong again. A little more pillow rearranging and all is good. Now, I can just lay here and wait for blissful slumber. Damn, on the move from my side to my stomach, the blankets got rearranged. Now, I have to wiggle a little to get the blankets in the right place, and you guessed it, the pillows are wrong again. Once last pillow punch, and all is well. Sleep, here I come!

Sleep should be one of the easiest things I accomplish in a day. I inevitably make it a complicated process every night. One of these years, my resolution, is going to be to get in bed, fall asleep, and to hell with the rest of it. (Except the peeing.)
My experience with research is extremely limited. I have written 2 research papers in my college career; one revolving around a patient case study and one involving a medication. I have been out of high school so long I can't even remember if I wrote one there. I am sure I did as I took the college prep course of study as it was called then.

The first paper I wrote involved following a patient through her illness. There was not a lot of technical research involved in this. Most of my information came directly from the patients' hospital records. There was not a lot of hunting for materials, as the instructor wanted it mostly patient specific. My patient had a lower GI bleed and I did research the pathophysiology of this illness in two reference books.

The second research paper was on a medication. We had to choose a medication from a predetermined list and write about it. This was also fairly uncomplicated. We had to write about things such as indications, contraindications, mechanisms of actions, etc.. This paper was a little more involved as there was a requirement to see if it was viable to be used prehospitally. I used journal articles in addition to standard text for this paper.

I have tried to self teach myself on how to write a research paper without much luck. For the last couple of years I have wanted to write an article for an EMS journal, but have been afraid to venture there. I am not afraid of doing the research or writing the paper, it is the footnoting and bibliography that terrify me. Yes, terrify is the right word as I can't imagine doing it incorrectly and being accuse of plagiarizing. Joe Biden was a reminder of how long something like that can be remembered.

I have never done a research paper with online referencing, so this will certainly be a challenge for me. I am sure I will see more than one comment on how to properly notate references and the like. I am looking forward to it though, as it will be a start to hopefully having an EMS artivcle published someday.
Here are my three bibliography sources. I will probably need a lot of guidance, as I have very limited experience with true internet research.

1. Scrapjazz.com—The scrap booking megasite, MSN, March 21, 2009, http://www.scrapjazz.com
This site had numerous articles ranging for the beginning scrap booker including ideas on layouts and themes. They also offered an online scrap booking class.

2. About.com—Scrap booking, MSN, March 23, 2009, http://scrapbooking.about.com
This site had a lot of information on heritage albums, of which making one of these is an en goal of my research.

3. Scrap booking—Sandi Genovese shares scrap booking ideas, MSN, March 24, 2009 http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/_scb
This site offered information on getting organized and even had a video.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

I-Search What

What I already know about scrap booking is pretty nominal. To get started, I will need at a minimum, to buy supplies. I suspect this can be as inexpensive or as costly as I wish to make it. I know there are classes available to take, and given my lack of artistic ability, foresee this as a must for me. There is a lot to be said for learning from someone who knows what they are doing already. Trying to teach myself could become quite frustrating, given my lack of patience. Researching other peoples’ successes and failures will hopefully help me make this decision. Space is where I may run into a true problem. My apartment does not afford me a good sized well lit place to lay everything out and leave it. My house does, but I don’t get there often enough to be able to put any meaningful time into this. Not being able to have a workspace dedicated to this, means I will have to pack and unpack every time I want to make a new page. For me, this will be a deterrent. Through my research, I am hoping to find an alternative to the space issue that exists.

Design options can be overwhelming from what I’ve already seen. The question for me will be, do I choose the topic, then the design, or do I look at designs, and hope they lead me to the flow of the topic. That ties in with the individual pages; can I plan a page at a time or should the whole book be thought out ahead? I know I can have different books working at the same time, but will working on one interfere with the topic or design of the other. I am in hopes that through my research I will find direction in the best route to choose.

Preservation of the scrapbooks is very important to me. I do not want to put all the time and effort into a product that is not going to endure. I have seen different materials advertised with varying longevity factors. This is probably going to require a lot of research, as I have no knowledge in this area at all. I have no idea about paper quality, adhesive materials, or any of the other staple items required to build a scrapbook. I anticipate that research can help m answer these questions.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

A STUDY IN CONTRAST


If you ever wanted to see a study in contrast, come spend a day with Lois and I.
Physically, we are very similar in stature, hair color, and even some features. Spend ten minutes with us and you will see that is where the similarities end. Some of our differences are superficial, I wouldn’t be caught dead in clothes that don’t match, and she on the other hand has no concept that black and blue only look good together in a bruise. The differences that are no superficial are just as obvious, our approach to life in general is exactly opposite. I’m the queen of organization; she is the dictionary definition of chaos.

When I get up in the morning, there is a very definite order to things. A shower, followed by blow dryer, then lotion, then makeup, then clothes that have been well thought out and ironed. The finishing touches include jewelry and a curling iron. Lois’s morning consists of a shower and clothes pulled from a pile in chair that she has mistaken for a bureau for the last ten years. Needless to say, she spends a lot of time impatiently waiting for me to be ready.

I am NOT a morning person. My idea of an early morning is being awake before 8:30 am. I love to lounge in the morning. If I’m not working, being ready for the day at 10:00 am is fine by me. Lois LOVES mornings. Trying to convince her that 10:00 am is still part of the morning has become a fruitless effort. She is up with the birds, feeding them. She has the paper from the box, breakfast cooked, the paper read, and all of her morning activities done by 7:00 am. I guess that’s okay on workdays, but that is a seven day a week routine for her.

Well, we are finally ready for the day and off we go. I enjoy taking my time to each our final destination. Little detours are the best part of the trip for me. If I see a place or a shop that looks interesting I am ready to stop. As long as we get where we are going on time I could make 20 stops per trip. She finds my little detours amazing; given my sense of organization they drive her crazy. She can’t relax until we are at our final destination. If we are headed to Boston, she would be happy with potty stops only. A six o’clock check in means we drive straight there, even if it means we arrive at one-thirty. I find that quite humorous, as she is the most chaotic and unorganized person I know.

One would think how does this work? They must drive each other crazy! For all the differences we have, and I have really only listed a few, we have one important similarity, tolerance. We are at an age, that we have come to understand, being different is okay. She lets me sleep in the morning, and I in turn will check in at one-thirty, before making any unscheduled stops. Contrast in personalities is not always a bad thing, if both sides are willing to make sacrifices. Ten years later, we are making those sacrifices willingly, because we understand the magnitude of what we have.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

A STUDY IN CONTRAST


If you ever wanted to see a study in contrast, come spend a day with Lois and I.
Physically, we are very similar in stature, hair color, and even some features. Spend ten minutes with us and you will see that is where the similarities end. Our differences are superficial, I wouldn’t be caught dead in clothes that don’t match, and she on the other hand has no concept that black and blue only look good together in a bruise. In addition to the superficial differences, our approach to life in general is exactly opposite. I’m the queen of organization; she is the dictionary definition of chaos.

When I get up in the morning, there is a very definite order to things. A shower, followed by blow dryer, then lotion, then makeup, then clothes that have been well thought out and ironed. The finishing touches include jewelry and a curling iron. Lois’s morning consists of a shower and clothes pulled from a pile in chair that she has mistaken for a bureau for the last ten years. Needless to say, she spends a lot of time impatiently waiting for me to be ready.

Lois loves mornings. She is up with the birds, feeding them. She has the paper from the box, breakfast cooked, the paper read, and all of her morning activities done by 7:00 am. I guess that’s okay on workdays, but that is a seven day a week routine for her. I am NOT a morning person. My idea of an early morning is being awake before 8:30 am. I love to lounge in the morning. If I’m not working, being ready for the day at 10:00 am is fine by me. Trying to convince her that 10:00 am is still part of the morning has become a fruitless effort.

Well, we are finally ready for the day and off we go. If we have specific plans, Lois has to get that all accomplished before she can enjoy her day. I, on the other hand, like to take little detours from the schedule. It drives her crazy. She can’t relax until all the scheduled items have been accomplished. I find that quite humorous, as she is the most chaotic and unorganized person I know. She finds my little detours amazing, given my sense of organization.

One would think how does this work? They must drive each other crazy! For all the differences we have, and I have really only listed a few, we have one important similarity, tolerance. We are at an age, that we have come to understand, being different is okay. She lets me sleep in the morning, and I in turn will let her accomplish what we have planned before making any side trips. Contrast in personalities is not always a bad thing, if both sides are willing to make sacrifices. Ten years later, we are making those sacrifices willingly, because we understand the magnitude of what we have.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Lois, Cheri, Gabby, one a lover, one a friend, one an acquaintance, and all somehow involved with my life on a nearly daily basis. Lois is the lover, the person I want to share everything with and wish I had more time to spend with. Cheri is the friend, we share similar interests and have fun when we spend time together. Gabby is an acquaintance, someone I know, but if circumstances were different, not a person I would go out of my way to spend time with. Each has an individual impact on my life in their unique way.

When I spend time with Lois, I treasure every minute of it. Our time together is limited by geographical locations and various other committments. Conversation with her is easy, we can be funny, intimate or serious. We can also be silent and have that be as satisfying as conversation. Spending time with Cheri, can be fun but is not always easy. We have a lot of common interests,professional and personal, so find a lot to talk about. Cheri is a high maintenance friend, though. Our conversations tend to revolve a lot around the drama that is her life, which at times is not that interesting to me. I tend to engage in the conversation because I enjoy her friendship outside the drama and deem it a fair trade off. I am usually forced into spending time with Gabby, as she occasionally works with me, and is also my roomates' current girlfriend. Most conversations Gabby and I have are as stimulating as a slug race. Gabby needs to talk to fill the dead space, which I find exhausting.

On occasion, the four of us end up at the same social event. Lois is the person I went with and the person I want to share the experience with. We are usually are there for a token appearance, as neither of us are fond of big social gatherings. Inevitably, if Cheri is at the event, she will end up with Lois and I. Cheri is fun to be out with, but is looking for more from the event than I am. Lois and I are content people watching from the sidelines, Cheri wants to be in the middle of it all. Her enthusiasm is contagious and I am dragged from my people watching post, to being with the people. Then along cames Gabby, generally not knowing many people, begging without words, to be entertained. Once again, the relationship with Gabby, who I have the least invested in, becomes the harder than that of Lois who sits quietly aside letting the events play out or Cheri who has moved on to another place by now.

Finally, my all time favorite, running into one of these three unexpectedly. Running into Lois unexpectedly is a treat. An fortuitous encounter with her can change an ordinary day into a fabulous day. Running into Cheri can give us a chance to catch up or gossip if we haven't seen each other for a while. If I'm too busy to chat or visit, she's cool with that. No harm no foul. An out of the blue encounter with Gabby is fraught with challenges. If I don't stop to talk, she thinks I'm being rude, with no concept that I am just too busy for her dead space conversation.

Lois, Cheri, Gabby, three very different relationships for me with their own set of guidelines. Lois, the lover, at first thought would seem to be the hardest, but in comparison is often the easiest relationship. Cheri, the friend, can be difficult at times, but is mostly a comfortable realtionship. Gabby, the acquaintance, should be the easiest relationship, but in actuality is the hardest of the three.
I really am at a point in my life where I want all the memorabila I've saved put in to a format where I can share it with people. The collection is quite impressive and even if no one else ever wants to look at it, I want it in a form where I can pick it up and look at easily. It is also important to my sense of fashion and design that it be visually pleasing. Scrapbooks seem to be the solution to this.


The questions I would like answered by doing research on a scrapbook are:


1. How to get started?

A. Will I need to take classes or can I teach myself?
B. What will I need to buy to start?
C. Logistically, what will I need for space?
D. How do I make a page for the scrapbook?

2. How to make a scrapbook personal?


A. What are design options based on topics?
B. What are design options based on a specific person?
C. How do I put individual pages in an order that makes sense?
D. How do keep continuity in the scrapbook that is going to be built
over time?


3. Once the scrapbook is built, how do I best preserve it?


A. What types of materials are the best for longevity?
B. Are there any special ways to store a scrapbook, based on the
materials used in it?
C. Are there advantages to different ways of building a scrapbook
that will contribute to its' longevity?
If you ever wanted to see a study in contrast, come spend a day with Lois and I. All the cliche sayings, "the difference between night and day", 'as much alike as black and white", etc... etc.. apply to us. Physically, we are very similar in stature, hair color, and even some features. Spend 10 minutes with us and you will see, that is where the similarity ends. Every morning starts for me with a shower, and then close to an hour buffing and puffing in a perfectly organized dressing room. Mornings start for Lois with a shower and then into the first two articles of clothing pulled out of a pile in a chair she has mistaken for a bureau for the last 10 years.
To see Lois and I walking down the street together, one might mistake us for sisters. We are both about 5 feet tall, brunette, and tend to be on the heavy side (me more so than her). That is where the similarites end. After spending time with us, one usually walks away shaking their head wondering what the common bond is that unites us. We often laugh about it ourselves. Our differences are superficial, I wouldn't be caught dead in clothes that don't match, she on the other hand has no concept that black and blue only look good together in a bruise. In addition to the superficial differences, our approach to life in general is exactly opposite. I'm the queen of organization, and she is a text book picture of chaos.
For my entire adult life I have saved momentos from any occasion I thought was special. It didn't have to be a huge life altering event, I saved any and everything I thought was special. Some are from big moments, such as my daughters' perfect attendance award in the 4th grade to her graduation from high school and all the events in between. The majority of these saved items though, came from seemingly insignificant events to anyone but me. A swizzle stick from a bar where I had so much fun I laughed till I peed myself, the movie ticket stub from the first time I went to the movies alone, or a picture of two eagles in the nest across form my house. No one else might care about these things but I do. In 30 plus years, I have accumulated quite a collection, you might imagine. Suitcases and boxes are home to this collection that represents my life.

A few years ago I decided I wanted to make this collection more presentable, something I could share with others, especially my grandchildren. Initially, I bought a few photo albums and tried putting some of the things in that, but it was tacky looking. About that same time, the scrap booking craze began. I kept thinking, I should buy a magazine, take a class, or do something to learn to scrapbook. But life kept getting in the way and more things got added to the suitcase. Then one of my friends had a scrapbooking party and I saw what could really be accomplished. Some of them were beautiful and they can be made uniquely for any person or occasion. I could make a page or two at a time, then leave it and come back to it whenever. My determination to learn to scrap book became even stronger after attending that party.
Lover, friend, acquaintance; all people interacted with on a daily basis, but on different levels. Lover, the person you share all with, friend, the person you may lament to about your lover, and acquantaince, the person you discuss the miserable winter we are having with. Conversations with acquaintances should be the easiest, but that is doesn't always seem the case. There is not the easiness that exists with a lover or a friend. Conversations with an acquaintance sometimes are nothing more than filling dead space, which can be exhausting. With a friend, conversation is easier, because the need to sound intelligent is not always as important as the conversation itself. With a lover, silence can say it all, which is extremely comforting in itself.

How about the havoc social events can cause with these three differnt relationships? The lover is the person you wish to spend time with and enjoy, but there is also the friend who is fun to be with. Then along comes the acquaintance needing to be entertained, because you are the only face in the room they recognize. Once again, the acquaintance seems to be a much harder relationship, than that of the lover who stands quietly aside, letting the events play out or the friend who has moved on to another place by now. Some more exhausting dead space conversation anyone?

Oh, and gift giving certainly presents its' own set of challenges in these different relationships. Acquaintances would seem to be the easiest, but once again, not always the case. A lovers' gift may involve a brain racking pull out your hair type of decision, but the final outcome is worth it. A friends' gift also involves a thought process to get that just right gift, but if it isn't perfect they'll understand. They are a friend after all. Now, comes time for the acquaintance gift. Do I buy for this one or that one, and if I do how much should I spend? What if I buy for them and they feel obligated to give in return? Or worse yet, they buy for me when I had no intention of giving them a gift. If I don't return the gift giving will they think I'm cheap or shallow and if I do, will they now assume we are friends? Again, the acquaintance seems to be the most exhausting of the three.

Finally, my all time favorite, running into one of these three unexpectedly. Running into my lover unexpectedly, for me, is a treat. An unexpected encounter with a lover can be the highlight of a day, a few unplanned minutes to spend together. Running into a friend unexpectedly can give us a chance to to catch up if we haven't seen each other in a while. If I'm too busy to chat or visit with the friend, they will understand, no harm no foul. Running into the acquaintance unexpectedly presents challenges. Will they think I'm rude if I don't stop and chat? Do they really believe I'm too busy to stop what I'm doing for a dead space conversation? Did they see me before I slipped into the next aisle? Guess who the last of these three different groups I least like to run into without warning?

Lover, friend, acquaintance; very different relationships, but each with it's own set of "guidelines." Lover at first thought would seem the hardest, but in comparison is often the easiest. Being with a lover or a friend can be much more comfortable than spending time with an acquaintance. Doesn't seem like it should be that way, but it is. A lover appreciates all of you good or bad. Friends are willing to accept you the way you are. Acquaintances, however, seem to require a certain facade so the best foot is always put forward.
Lover, friends, acquaintances very different relationships, but each with it's own set of challenges. Lover at first thought would seem the hardest, but in comparison to acquaintances, is often times easier. Being with a lover or a friend can be much more comfortable than spending time with an acquaintance. Doesn't seem like it should be that way, but it is. A lover appreciates all of you, good and bad, friends are willing to accept you the way you are, but acquaintances seem to require a certain facade so the est foot is always put forward.
Lover, friends, acquaintances, all people interacted with on a daily basis, but on different levels. Lover, the person you share the good and bad with, friends the people you may lament to about your lover, and acquaintances those you discuss the miserable winter with. Conversations with acquaintances should be easier, but that is not always the case. There is not the easiness that exists with a lover or a friend. Conversations with acquaintances sometimes are nothing more than filling dead space, wheras with a friend or a lover silence can say all that needs to be said. It would seem that maintaining a relationship with an acuaintance would be easier, but that is not always the case.
Acquaintance, friend, and lover; all people in my life but with different meaning and expectations. Acquaintances would seem to be the easiest type of relationship as opposed to friend or lover, but that is not always the case. Take gift giving for example, friends get certain types of presents with some thought process involved, but not the brain racking, pull your hair out type of decision required for a lovers' gift. Acquaintances for me however can be the most difficult, do I buy for this one or that one and if I do, how much should I spend? I expect presents in return from friends and my loved one, but what about the acquaintance who bought me something and I have nothing in return. Oh the guilt, do I run and buy something or do I say the hell with it? If I don't reciprocate will they think I'm shallow or cheap, and if I do will they now think we are friends? Such a dilemna over three different types of relationships.