time for a break

A sedentary life can shorten your lifespan. Our ancestors moved a lot more than we did. They didn't need special exercises to remain active. Very few people had jobs that required them to sit at a desk for 8 hours or more at a time.

Years ago, most people who worked in offices usually found some reason or another to get up from their desks from time to time. One might need some coffee, or to make a copy. Or maybe one needed to deliver a memo in the days before email and instant messaging. Do they people in Mad Men ever sit and just work? Many people now work from home and can do most tasks with barely stretching an arm. Those at home don't have the water cooler to walk to and chat for a few minutes. Instead of small glasses that need to be refilled every hour or two, we get insulated cups which hold 20, 32 or more ounces. Except for bathroom breaks, we can sit in our $800 designer chairs for hours. Chairs that are too comfortable that we never need to move.

The way we watch television is also a factor. We used to watch live broadcasting and use the commercial breaks to get up go to the bathroom, or get a snack. Now we can sit and watch endless episodes without commercial breaks. Bathroom break? We only need to pause. But what happens if you have everything you need? You sit and watch, and sit and watch. We can continue watching and sitting for a long time. Too long. We used to have one phone attached to wall. Now we have then in our pockets.

Research suggests that we get up from out desks every twenty minutes. We only need to to stand up, stretch our muscles and we are good to go for another twenty minutes. 

What happens when you are in *the zone?* You aren't watching the clock and time has no meaning. You can set and alarm in our smart phone, or a stop watch if you are old school. Or you can get an app made just for this purpose. 

I purchased BreakTime for my desktop computer. It is easy to use. The default is set at 20 minutes with a two minute break. The sliders made it easy to change. The menu bar icon is a clock face that fills as the allotted time goes by. When there is less than 10 seconds left, a notification box shows up near the menu bar. When the allotted time is up, your screen darkens a bit and a dialogue box appears. You can choose to "snooze" and ask for a minute or two or click OK and begin your break. You cannot do anything on your computer until you make a choice to move or stay.

A timer begins while you are on break with a countdown to when you should return to work. A low beep sounds if you fail to return to work. I can imagine that employers might like this feature. 

You get back to work and begin the cycle over again.

BreakTime is available in the Mac App Store for $4.99 but there is a free trial available at the developer's site. BreakTime is available for iOS. I have it installed though I haven't tried it yet.

I like that this reminds me to move. And I like knowing I have just two minutes to stretch, take a break or do a quick task. Being at home most of the day, I have loads of little tasks that can be done in less than two minutes. Putting away a book may seem trivial but I am moving, and working to clear the clutter. 

iPhone photos and storage

What do you do with the photos on your iPhone?

We all take photos with our iPhones. I use mine a lot more than I thought I would. It's great for those quick shots you want to share or just keep for reference. What do you do with the photos once you have shared them? Do they accumulate on your phone until your phone is full? Do you back them up?

Photo Stream is a great first step to saving those photos you want to keep. But it is not prefect. First off, you need to make sure you an an iCloud account. iCloud is free but needs to be set up on your devices and computers. Next, you need to know that Photo Stream only keeps the last 1000 photos that you have taken. If you rely on Photo Stream to keep all your photos, you will be losing them as you take more photos.

There are many ways to back up and store your photos. iMore just posted some iPhone storage options and compared them. Read the article and take your pick. Whatever you choose, be sure to maintain it. You can put a repeating task on your to-do list or set a reminder.

Once a month, I open iPhoto and import my Photo Stream photos. Because I use the same iCloud account on my iPhone, my dad's iPhone, and my boys' iPods, all of their photos are in the stream. (They stay in the stream unless they are specifically deleted.) At this point, I could label and add keywords to photos. Perhaps delete the truly bad photos. However, I only use iPhoto as an easy way to back up my Photo Stream. I use Adobe Lightroom to store and maintain my photos. I am working on a post about my Lightroom workflow.

One problem with Lightroom is that it does not import png files. Screenshots you take with your iPhone are saved in png format. In the past, I have opened these files in Snapseed  and saved them which converts them to jpg format. Another way is to use Image Capture which is a native MacOS app. You can choose where the images will go and delete them from your device with just one click.

I try not to keep many photos in my iPhone Camera Roll. Currently there are 48 which is too many for me. I do not like to scroll through to find what I am looking for. I prefer to take the time to set up albums. You can do this on the phone but is time consuming. An easier way is to set up folders on your computer. I have a folder called iPad photos. You can name this anything you want. I know these photos have been saved at 1024x1024 which is optimum viewing on my iPad 1. Then I set up folders for whatever I want to reference on my devices. I have family photos I love, some digital cards and layouts I have created, my recent Lego photos. Then I go to iTunes and, click on my device then over to Photos. I click the box Sync Photos from and Choose Folder and browse for iPad Photos. Then I can choose which albums on want on each device. I save my scrapbook layouts to my iPad since they are easy to view there. I save less on my iPhone since I have less room for storage. My photos are organized and I can easily find and share them.

However you do it, remember to backup and your iPhone photos.

now what?

I read a comic which asked the question, "What would you want to do if money were not an issue?" It is a great question. And I wish I was asked this before I made any career choices.

I want to make art. 

What kind of art? I like photography and graphic design and lettering.

I have always liked art and drawing. When I was younger and thinking of careers, I knew art would be a struggle to make a living. I thought architecture would be a good compromise. 

I was wrong. Very few architects get to make anything resembling art. Architects are problem solvers. I am good at problem solver. Though I do not like the methods and bureaucracy involved with architecture. 

I made the decision to become an architect when I was 10 years old. It has taken me 38 years to realize it might not have been the right decision. I don't regret becoming an architect, I have had some great experiences and learned some valuable things. I wonder what life would have been like if I had followed a more artistic path.

Now I wonder if it is too late?

I know it is never too late but I feel like I wasted many years and resources I had looking for a hobby.

Where do I go from here?

tangerine keeps me walking

A friend told me about potionfactory years ago. It wasn't something I needed then. I decided to try it out last summer when I found listening to podcasts while walking wasn't working out.

I like listening to podcasts but it doesn't help with my pace. It does help if the podcast is funny and I laugh while I walk. I get the walk and an ab workout at the same time. Never mind any funny looks I get from laughing by myself.

One of my favorite podcasts is All Songs Considered. The podcast is only weekly and I like listening to music while I walk. I find myself walking to the beat. If the song has a fast tempo, this is good. If the song has a slow tempo, it is not so good.

I downloaded the trial of Tangerine and got to work making a playlist. Some songs were too fast and some were too slow. I adjusted the requirements and found a list that made me walk faster but not too fast. There are several training samples such as interval training to help you get out of a rut and improve.

I like that I can add more rules to allow for only the songs I rated 3 stars or greater, and songs that haven't been played lately. When I come back from a walk, I move the songs that work the best for walking into another playlist called walkings faves.

I was falling behind in my podcasts so I went back to listening to them. There are some podcasts which offend my dad. But when I found myself slowing down again and I decided to try it again.

I have been using Tangerine again for a few weeks now. I have find that my average pace has increased. This is mostly because of intervals. One morning my playlist started with a fast song. I wasn't quite ready for it but found the pace and stuck with it. I know that the body prefers to be at stasis. Especially mine. Walking at the same pace will get easier and results will wane. Intervals make the body react and do more work and improve.

Listening to music lets my mind wander and I find myself thinking of the eclectic selection of songs. I use shuffle so I never know what song will be next. Some of these songs, I don't remember ever hearing let alone buying.

Say You Love Me Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits
Crystalised The xx Crystalised
C'mon Guster Ganging Up On the Sun Rock
Mercy Matt Nathanson Modern Love
Taste the Summer Duran Duran Astronaut
Paperback Head Tegan and Sara Sainthood
Water In The Well Spirit Of The West Save This House
Postage Stamp World Rogue Wave Out of the Shadow

I don't know who Matt Nathanson is. Was this a free song I never listened to? Taste the Summer is something that I usually skip but the beat works well for walking. Paperback Head is a little difficult to find the right rhythm. Artists make sone for interest, not for walking. Water in the Well? I have 3 albums from Spirit of the West that I got in the 1990's. I don't think I have listened to them since I ripped the CDs into iTunes.

Love Song Sara Bareilles Love Song
Rollin' And Tumblin' Eric Clapton Unplugged
Perfectly Good Guitar John Hiatt Perfectly Good Guitar
Summer Sunshine The Corrs Borrowed Heaven
Wouldn't It Be Nice (Stereo Mix) The Beach Boys Pet Sounds
You Will Pay Tomorrow Terence Trent D'Arby Neither Fish Nor Flesh
Outrageous Paul Simon Surprise
Let's Stick Together Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music Street Life

Tangerine is really working for me this time. My walks are getting better and I am listening to more of my music.

picky eaters & other quirks

My boys are picky eaters. This is typical with kids with autism. It is one of those things that you learn to work around. The boys were good eaters until the toddler years. All kids go through that. My kids never stopped. In some ways they have gotten worse. 

I understand some of their issues. I am a picky eater too. I do not like steak but I love hamburgers. It is a texture thing. I love tomatoes but hate ketchup. I don't dip fries into ketchup. My boys never learned to dip.  But I know when I have to give in. I once at ate chicken livers when I was in Poland. We hadn't had a decent meal in a couple of days and were out of options. Kids with autism will not give in. They will starve before they give in. 

Some of their food routines... 

Breakfast

Last year, I used to fix Lenders Cinnamon Raisin bagels. I toasted 4 bagels. Andy ate them all. Maybe once a month, Ryan ate 1/2 bagel. On school days, Andy didn't eat much before he left. But he would eat the leftovers when he gets home. They were cold and stale and he would eat them. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I fixed the leftover sausage from Sunday. I used to fix biscuits but Andy stopped eating them so then I just toasted a couple of bagels to go along with the sausage. Andy would eat the sausage but skip the bagels until he got home. 

Then Andy started high school. School starts at 7:30. He has to get up at 6 and catch the bus at 6:50. Andy is not a morning person. He would eat his sausage on Tuesdays and Thursdays but nothing the other days. Andy's lunch doesn't begin until 12:10. It is a long time to go without food. I asked Andy if he would eat sausage if I made every week day. He was excited with that idea. Monday and Tuesday, Andy eats the leftovers from Sundays. I cook up a fresh batch on Wednesday and Andy eats that the next three days. On Saturdays, Andy eats 4 toasted bagels. It takes him all morning the way he grazes. 

On Sundays, we have waffles and sausage. Andy eats 2 waffles and 5 sausages. It is routine. He cannot deviate, unless he is sick.

Ryan usually eats cookies or donut holes. And chocolate milk. Lots of chocolate milk. Ryan will nibble the edges of the cold, plain waffles but nothing else. 

Lunch

At home I fix grilled cheese. Only Andy will eat this. Years ago, when Ryan ate as well, he used to leave the crust. Andy picked up this habit and won't stop. 

When we go out to eat, we do drive thru through two different places. Andy prefers Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets and fries. Ryan will only eat fries from McDonald's. We stop at McDonald's first where Ryan gets medium fries and Andy gets small fries. Then we go to Chick-Fil-A. For years, Ryan's preference was Wendy's until they switched their fries. And there was a time when Ryan preferred Arby's home style fries until they stopped carrying them. Chick-Fil-A is closed on Sundays so Andy used to hot dogs until he got tired of them. He started eating McDonald's chicken selects until they stopped making the Chicken Selects. I make grilled cheese for Andy. One Sunday, I stopped at Target and got a Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pizza for Andy. He really liked that. But I cannot stop there each week. I told him I will get him pizza every other week. He is OK with that. 

Lunch at School

For Andy's lunch: 1/2 cup Multi-Grain Cheerios, 5 club crackers, 1 cup Whole Grain Goldfish crackers. He usually eats the Goldfish and the cereal, the Club crackers are eaten last. He drinks a thermos os Juicy Juice.

For Ryan's lunch: 1/2 cup Chocolate Cheerios, 5 Club Crackers. He always eats the crackers and about 1/3 of the Cheerios. Ryan drink Capri Sun. It is the only time he will drink juice.

Dinner

Andy eats Tyson Southern Style Chicken Nuggets. Every night. Nothing else. Sometimes Ryan will eat one nugget. Most days, Andy eats the whole box. We rarely eat out for dinner.

Snacks

Ryan eats his cookies and donut holes and chocolate milk. Ryan does not differentiate from snack and meal. Ryan is my chocolate boy. He used to eat plain Hershey Kisses. I had gotten a bag of Dark Chocolate Kisses for me. I noticed the bag on the floor, empty. He ate the whole thing and did not get sick! We moved to caramel kisses and kept them in the refrigerator. I used to keep them on a high shelf then Ryan got tall and smart. I cannot find these locally anymore. I have to go to another Target.  

Andy will eat Entenmann's Pop'Ems if he is hungry between meals. Or Club Crackers. 

Special Meals

Andy likes pizza. He prefers Papa John's thin crust with cheese only. Andy will eat half of a large pizza. He will not eat leftover pizza. Ryan has not eaten pizza since he was 5 years old. 

Foods they used to eat

Chips: Ryan used to bring home snack bags of chips. He got them from his teacher for being good. He used to eat them. He preferred the rippled kind. Then he stopped eating them. Andy used to love Pringles in his lunch but he stopped eating them. 

Cookies: Ryan has always been my sweet eater. And he would try different cookies. Especially if he picked them out at the grocery store. He loved Oreo Uh-ohs. He liked chocolate chip cookies. He even tried Keebler Fudge Stripe cookies. He won't eat any of these anymore.

Candy: Andy has never liked candy. His teacher used to use it for rewards. Some kids used to try to sneak it. She started putting it by Andy because he wouldn't eat it not would he let the other kids eat it. Ryan used to use m&m's. He is the only kid who got messy eating them.

Packaging

The boys don't like change. 

Manufacturers love to change the design of the packages. This was always a problem. I had to show the kids it was the same and they were OK. Mostly. Then Keebler changed the cookie! Andy used to eat EL Fudge cookies. The front of the cookie is the front of the elf. The back of the cookie, was the back of the elf. Then they changed the back to some words. Andy would not eat them anymore.

Other Quirks

Ryan does not like to sit inside restaurants. The exception is  McDonald's at DisneyWorld where they show old Disney cartoons. Andy likes to eat inside. We eat inside when Ryan is not with us. 

tools

I think the thing that really got me to start writing in my journals again is listening to podcasts and reading blogs about pens and paper. I love pens and paper. I have always been drawn to stationary stores and even their small sections in larger stores. I would go to the neighborhood drug store not to buy snacks or comic books but to gaze at the pens, pencils and other tools available on the 6 foot length of aisle. My first shoplifting was a 6" ruler. Who steals a ruler?

I know that tools don't matter. I have heard the arguments of photographers and their cameras. It is how you wield the weapon is what results you can expect. But I still listen to the Pen Addict Podcast and look at what new pen or journal they are talking about. Many pen aficionados talk about fountain pens. I had one once. I bought it because I liked the design of the pen. It was from Shaeffer and had a jungle scene with a lion and a rainbow. I was a tween, of course I love rainbows. This pen used disposable cartridges of ink. I don't remember anything about the writing experience.

I understand that using a fountain pen can be a wonderful experience. But I also know they need to be maintained. I grumble when I have to change the refill on my roller ball pen, I do not want to think about ink, eye droppers and cleaning nibs. My years in architecture have taught me that cleaning pens is a hassle and not worth the effort. Yes, I know cleaning fountain pens is much easier than cleaning drafting pens with their minuscule needles, but I just want to get the writing done with minimal effort. I use mechanical pencils so I don't have to stop and sharpen them.

Regarding paper, my first journals were purchased because of the cloth covers. I just liked the way they looked. The paper didn't matter to me. When I moved to a digital planner, I no longer had extra pages for journaling and I jumped on the Moleskine bandwagon. I like the look of the books and the paper is once to write on. I have purchased a number of Field Notes but am not a collector. I am not a [Field Addict] (http://www.70decibels.com/thepenaddict/2013/4/23/episode-51-the-things-that-people-love-the-most-are-wrong.html). They are good to have when you need to write something quickly and don't take up a lot of space in your bag. I had purchased a Rhodia notebook back in 2011. I started using it again and love the dotted grid. If Moleskine had a dotted grid, I would not switch. The Rhodia covers feel like buttery smooth leather and the paper is a dream to write on. They are not ubiquitous like Moleskine so they are not as cheap.

Will a better pen or a better notebook make me a better writer? No, but I might enjoy the process more and therefore write more. Like some bloggers prefer a clicky keyboard, I love the feel of smooth paper and pens that glide without effort. Only writing a lot will make me a better writer.

computer less. the last day

I was getting pretty antsy to get back to my computer. I thought about cleaning my desk but never got around to it. I did vacuum to large dust bunnies last week. Even with the computer to distract me, there is plenty for me to do other than what I should do.

I was waiting all day for the call. Dinner came and went. I got an email after 6 telling me that my computer was ready. An email? Sure, OK.

I asked Ryan if I should go since he is almost as anxious for me to get the computer back. “What time will you get home?” I thought I should be back by 7:30. He said OK and I left. I had to wait about 5 minutes for someone to help. They are always busy at the apple store. I was back home at 7:37.

I loaded up my extra ram and booted the iMac. I was expecting a generic computer but they managed to put almost everything on the new drive. I quickly connected all my hard drives and started syncing my iPad. I got a message that I needed to authorize iTunes, so I entered in my password. Only to have another dialogue box say that this computer is already authorized. Silly computer.

I backed and synced the devices and some other maintenance. SuperDuper! is running its backup. And CrashPlan is figuring out what is different as well. Happy.

computer less day 6

I didn't miss my computer much today. I don't use it too much on Sundays. Once my POTD is posted, I rarely go back until eyeing when I plug in my devices.

The stuff I will need to do is piling up. But without a job I will have plenty of time to get it done.

computer less day 5

Ryan was upset that we still don't have the computer back. "I'll never be allowed to sync.” I offered to set up iTunes on his computer using my back up drives. “But that will take too long.” Actually, it won't take long if I just use my boot drive. But he doesn't want me to use his computer. Today he is learning patience. Next we will work on compromise and sharing.

catch up

Saturday is the day I catch up on some computer tasks. I download Year of Icons for the week. I add the week’s worth of photo of the day to the monthly layout. I make a digital card to add to be printed folder.

web transactions

One of my domains was due for renewal. It is registered at NameCheap. I went to 1Password to renew it. I logged in OK but each time I click to renew, I got sent back to login. I went to Safari and logged in. It worked this time and I got to the checkout screen. I chose PayPal knowing it would be less fields to fill in.

blogging

The same problems occur with the SquareSpace app. The iPhone app does not have the option to flip to Markdown. I wanted to try to fix it using the web app but cannot login using cut and paste. I will not enter the long password manually. My bank is the same way. Why do these sites make it more difficult to use safer passwords?

computer less day 4

I did not have missed my computer too much today. I went to the high school to help celebrate Andy's birthday. I was supposed to have his IEP meeting today but his teacher had to postpone.

But I did miss my computer when I tried to post to my blog. SquareSpace app is rough. It crashes on my iPad 1 when I try to save or post to the website or refresh the post list. And adding a photo will only put it at the end no matter if you add it before the text. I ended up using both iPad and iPhone apps to get a short post posted.

I got a phone call from Apple while I was on my way to the school. But it was only a tease. They were calling to let me know it would not be finished today. Oh well, I didn't expect it even though the email said 3-5 days.

The rest of the day went well and I easily used my iPad and iPhone. Well, except for when my iPhone got stuck in Camera mode and I couldn't reset it. I realized I couldn't even restore without my computer. But I got home and took my time and got it to Hard Reset. All was well.

computer less day 3

I am finding it easier to be without a computer only because I know I will have mine back in a few days.

Because I knew I couldn't upload my photo of the day, I didn't even take the shot until 5 pm.

Today I miss being able to order online easily. I use 1Password and it is simple to fill in logins, passwords and credit card information when using a computer. 1Password is available on the iPhone and iPad, but it is not as easy to fill in some of the information. I went to JetPens and found that password field would not accept a copy and paste. My passwords are not easy to remember which is the point of 1Password and I sure didn't want to try to remember that 12 hexadecimal password. Or better yet, write it down so I could type it again into the password field. But I found that if I used the link to JetPens from 1Password, it filled in the information when it got to the page. But how will it work with credit card information?

computer less day 2

There are so many little ways I miss my computer.

music playlists

While I walk, I listen to songs which Tangerine chose for my pace. Tangerine isn't perfect so I rate songs that work well for walking and those that don't. Some don't work at all and I skip them. When I get back home, I look at my walking playlist and remove those with low ratings or skips. While walking this morning, a song came up on shuffle and I didn't like it for walking. I skipped it to go to the next song. I realized that I would not be able to take that out of my walking playlist. Well, I could remove it from my iPhone but what happens when I sync?

tv episodes

I watch TV episodes on my iPad. I purchase episodes through iTunes on my computer and download them there then sync to my iPad. I only keep current seasons that I am watching. On my iPad, I only keep the latest unwatched episode. Two of my current favorite shows are Bones and Castle which air on Mondays. I wasn't able to get the new shows before the computer problems. I decided to try to download to my iPad using wifi. It is a slow process and my iPad 1 tends to crash while in iTunes app.

rss

I use Reeder on my computer and iPad and sometimes on my iPhone. I subscribe to too many feeds. In the morning, the unread count is high and I can go through a lot of feeds quicker on my computer using keyboard shortcuts. Using the iPad is OK but slower.

tumblr

I love to look through tumblr and if I have away for a while, it is best to use the computer. Again, keyboard shortcuts are key. The tumblr app is OK but I miss being able to click on link in another tab. If I go out to safari, then go back to tumblr, it takes me back to the top of the dashboard. It is annoying having the scroll through all the read posts. Tumblr app on my iPad 1 will crash if I try to move it along too quickly.

watching Internet videos

Some videos are just not compatible with iOS. And some are too long or are slow to load. With those I save them to Instapaper to view on my computer. I will have a bunch to view next week. And many will no longer be timely.

computer less

Every evening before I go to bed, I connect my devices to their chargers for the night. I do this at my computer so they can sync at the same time and so that I do not use them in bed.

Monday night, I noticed that SuperDuper! failed to back up my hard drive. I set it to try to copy again but didn't wait to see if it worked. Backing up my hard drive to a boot drive takes a while, about 20 minutes. I wasn't too concerned since I back up nightly and I also have a Time Machine backup. I went to bed.

I got up the next morning to a gray screen. My first thought it is that it was stuck between awake and sleep and needed a nudge. I tried the track pad and tried the mouse. Nothing worked. I had to force shut down my machine. I restarted the iMac and it took forever to boot up. Then it seemed stuck in one of the login items. Force quit was not working so I had to force shut down again. This time I opened in safe mode. It took a while but did get me to the login screen. I tried my account and had the same hang ups. Repeat. This time I logged into my Test account. It seemed to work a little faster since I don't have any start up items. I clicked on safari and it took forever! Force quite took minutes to show up, minutes to allow me to click on anything.

More restarts resulted in the same thing. I tried using Disk Warrior but it ejected the disk when I tried to reboot. I tried resetting PRaM. Finally I took out the added ram and made an appointment with the Apple Genius.

I got my iMac in early 2010 but it is a model introduced in late 2009. A few months ago, there was a recall on those iMacs to replace the hard drive. I did not take it in because I wasn't having any problems. I didn't want to be without a computer for a few days. And the iMac is heavy to haul somewhere. It is only 21.5" and after taking it in Tuesday, I was glad I didn't get the 24". Jonathan was my Apple Store genius. He tried to boot up the computer and then ran diagnostics. He said that the hard drive was covered under the recall and that they would replace it then test to make sure everything worked. He asked if I had a back up. I have two. The bad news is that it would 4-5 days for the repair. Ugh.

The boys noticed right away when they got home from school. They weren't too concerned since their computers work and so does the wifi. Then Ryan remembered that he syncs his iPod on Wednesday mornings. He backs up his iPod and then chooses his music for the week. In typical Ryan fashion, he said he would never be allowed to sync again. I told him that would could sync if I set up iTunes through his computer. He thought about it but didn't want me using his computer. I understand his reluctance and I am doing my best not to need to use his computer. Ryan said he would OK for a week with not syncing.

I miss my computer but am OK with my iPad and iPhone. There are a few things I miss and cannot do on my devices. I cannot use Lightroom nor Photoshop so POTD, Project Life, scrapbooking and cards will have to wait for a few days.

pink eye

Health wise, we have been pretty lucky. The boys have had their share of colds and flu but we haven’t needed the doctor in years. During spring break, Andy woke up with a red and swollen eye. There didn’t appear to be any injury and I took a wait-and-see approach. The eye continued to be red and puffy through the day and the next. It starting weeping the next day. Again, I wasn’t too concerned. I have had my own problems with allergies affecting my eyes. Perhaps Andy was developing and allergy? I told Andy not to touch his eye but to use a tissue to wipe it.

When the drainage became thicker, I should have called the doctor. I knew Andy would not want to go. I didn’t want to go. I thought we could try some over-the-counter eye drops. Due to Easter holiday, that took a few days to get done. By the time I got eyes drops, Andy’s eye was red and gross.

I showed Andy that getting the drops wouldn’t be difficult by putting a drop in my own eye. I had him lie on the bed and look the other way. It wasn’t easy but we got it done. I was hoping we would see improvement by the end of the day.

The next day, Andy’s eye was not quite improved but not worse either. We continued with the drops. By the end of the day, it did seemed improved. The drainage had lessened.

Andy was supposed to got to school Tuesday morning. But his eye was still bad. He had had only 2 days with the drops and maybe a third would be the trick. I let him stay home. He spent the morning in his room.

On Wednesday morning, there was no improvement and Andy wanted to stay home. Again he spent the morning in his room. When he came out for lunch, I saw that his eye was worse. I called the doctor.

We got in right away. Dr LaCross was pleasant and patient with Andy. She said it was conjunctivitis and that he would need eye drops. She tried to look in his ears. Andy is blessed with heavy ear wax and she couldn’t see in his right ear. She said that there is sometimes ear infections on the same side as the eye. It was Andy’s right eye that was infected. She offered to clear the ear but I knew that wasn’t going to go well. I said I could do it at home and she agreed. She also gave us some sample eye drops so we wouldn’t have to pay for a prescription.

We went home and I put in an eye drop. This stuff in concentrated so 1 drop, twice a day is all that is needed. The thicker drops are harder to get out of the tiny bottle.

Andy wanted to go to school on Thursday. He wanted to go 2 days, not just one. I let him go even though he should have stayed home the 24 hours after the first dose. The clinic called right away and told me Andy’s eye was bothering him. I asked Andy if he wanted to go home but he did not. I said he could call if he wanted to come home later. The clinic called at 10:30. I figured this coincided with Andy’s work time at school.

We went through drive-thru at Chick-Fil-A and went home. Andy stayed in his room until Ryan came home. Andy’s eye continued to improve but he wanted an exact time when his eye would be better.

On Friday morning, Andy wanted to stay home. I didn’t argue with him. I felt guilty enough for ignoring the problem in the first place and let him stay home. He stayed in his room during the morning but came out in the afternoon bouncing to music. His eye is still a little red but the drainage is gone and it doesn’t seem to bother him at all.

doodling tools

After starting my Doodle365 project on dot grid paper, I am sold on the format. Dot grid is a great compromise between ruled and grid papers. I can use the grid when I need it, but it doesn't have the vertical lines to get in the way of writing. Dot grid is not very popular yet. Moleskine does not have any products with dot grid. The Field Notes Day Game books I was using are not a standard option. I remembered that I had purchased a small Rhodia notebook with dot grid. But the pocket size notebooks are too small for my doodles.

Looking online, there are few options for dot grid notebooks. Rhodia makes the most options but they are not cheap. JetPens has the best price if you buy 2 books at a time. I ordered two A5 Webnotebook with the orange cover. I like the orange cover. The color is great and doesn't look like just another Moleskine.

My love for Moleskine grows dim. After using the Rhodia Webnotebooks, Moleskine paper just doesn't feel as good. And the covers have not been holding up.

I did try a Leuchtturm1917 Medium Notebook. They are available in ruled, squared, dotted and plain papers. They are also available in a variety of colors but I have only seen black. The pages are numbered and there is an index in the front for keeping track of what your write. I think this might be a good option for my journaling so I do not need to thumb through the book to find a specific entry. The books are not quite as nice as the Rhodia Webnotebooks. I am going to use the Leuchhturm1917 Notebook for journaling rather than doodling. 

One issue I have with doodling is taking a photo after I am done to post on the web. Most notebooks do not lie flat. I decided to try a Rhodia Dot Pad. It is less expensive that the Webnotebooks and has perforated pages. The paper is a bit thinner but seems to be working out OK. I have not yet removed any pages to photograph them. I like having all my doodles together. I have removed a couple of pages that I messed up.

Pens.

I had some Sakura Pigma Micron pens from my scrapbooking days. They seem to work well for doodling. I got a second set to keep in my bag but I find I don't doodle often when I am out. I read about drawing pens and decided to try the Staedtler Pigment Liners. I find I like them better. They seem to write a bit smoother and last longer than the Sakura pens. They are not as easy to find as the Sakura pens. I have only found the Staedtler pens locally in sets.

journaling

I started keeping a journal in 1990 when things were beyond my control and I needed a place to vent and daily phone calls to my mom were expensive. It may have been those cute pocket size journals with cloth plaid covers that made me want to write. Eventually I switched to larger journals. When I started carrying a planner, I used extra pages in there. Even though I started using a Palm Pilot in 2002, I didn't go digital with my journal until 2011. I have several Moleskine journals filled with my thoughts and rants.

Some people say a blog can be an online journal. Not for me. Journal writing is something else. Mostly just bits of facts from my day or sometimes I random thought I should explore later. 

I started journaling when I was miserable. I used it to vent my frustration with my life. When I tried blogging this stuff and got yelled at by my sister. She didn't think it should be online and that I was wrong. 

I journaled less as I became friends with B. She called daily and I got most of those thoughts out into the world. Blogging wasn't as important anymore. 

As I get older, I have less to kvetch about. But I feel the need the need to share my thoughts. Maybe not share but get them down on "paper." Bonnie doesn't call every day. She doesn't even call every week. She is busy. I am not. 

My days are filled with little unimportant tasks to everyone but me. 

I was in another scrapbooking frenzy wanting to get it all done. I want the photos and stories recorded. There are a lot of stories that have no photos and they are still important to record and treasure. OK maybe not treasure. I mean who will want to read about me in 20 years? Fifty years?  Sometimes, I don't even want to read them next week.  

When I moved to digital, I started with Momento on my iPhone. Then I moved to DayOne for iOS and MacOS. I love DayOne but I tend not write long entries. I use it more for general notes and quotes I want to remember for later. I still use Momento as an aggregator of my web activity and FourSquare logging. (I know that Brett Terpstra made something to aggregate those things in DayOne but I have not tried it. I am too anxious about doing things in coding.)

When I have an idea for a longer journal entry, I note it in Drafts. I add notes until I am ready to write.

I am not a writer and think of writing a chore. I tend to try to get it out of the way and done. I have never been one to read and reread and school essay and make revisions. I was lucky to write it once and then a final time to correct typos. I am so old that we didn't even have an electric typewriter let alone a computer or word processor. When I blogged, I would type something up, scan quickly for typos and post.

Writing is not something I enjoy like photography or drawing. I never enter FLOW. I enjoy the physical aspects of writing, of forming letters by hand. At least until my carpal tunnel acts up and my hand begins to tingle.

But I do like getting thoughts out of my head and onto paper. 

cold but walking

We are having weird weather in Florida. It is cold. We typically only need to turn on the heat a handful of days each year. It seems like the heat has been on most of the winter. 

I go walking most mornings. I don't own running tights or sweatpants. I walk in a skort made for biking. Most mornings I am OK. Today is was cold and windy and even my teeth got cold.

Thankfully I had a playlist that kept me moving. I use Tangerine to evaluate my music and give me tracks that will keep me moving at a fairly steady pace. My dad thinks I should walk to Sousa Marches. I like my eclectic mix.

1. California Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
2. Girlfriend Is Better Talking Heads 126bpm
3. Phone Call From Leavenworth Chris Whitley 124bpm
4. Wind Up Foo Fighters 126bpm
5. Say You Love Me Fleetwood Mac 127bpm
6. Wild Vanilla Kristin Hersh
7. Wouldn't It Be Nice The Beach Boys

housework

I hate housework. 

I don't know anyone who likes it but a few who do it knowing it has to be done and that they want  to make their home the best it can be. 

Growing up, we had to clean a room in the house each week. We earned 50¢ for our effort. For some reason, I remember getting stuck with the bathroom way too often. I hated having to clean that room. The floors had to be mopped and I did it on my knees. Our bathroom was small and all seven of us used it. Yep, it was gross. 

As we got older, the boys moved out and all the housework fell to my sister and me and then finally just me. Mom was not a taskmaster regarding housework. We only got paid when we did the work. She was lazy too. The only times we had to do chores was before holidays. Mom mopped the kitchen floor. Everything got cleaned before Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. During those times, mom was busy in the kitchen cooking up a storm so she didn't help with the rest of the housework. And the mess she made in the kitchen!

I don't remember any whole-family cleaning effort except a few times when mom wanted all the windows cleaned. The screens were removed and I had the job of scrubbing them clean with a brush and a hose full of very cold water. 

I do enjoy a clean house. I am not crazy. But I am lazy and hate to do with those little things that are so easily ignored. I have no problem doing the dishes and the laundry on a daily basis. Dusting, vacuuming and mopping are last on my to do list. 

Gail liked a clean house. He felt that a clean house was the equivalent of telling him "I love you." I didn't know this until after he died. After each boy was born, he put up with the mess and clutter for about three months. Then one day he would snap and yell. Gail did not mind doing the floors and I happily let him do them.

After Gail died, I had lots of free time once the boys were in school. I started really cleaning the house. I picked a room each day and did a big clean. This lasted for a few months. Until I joined the YMCA. And discovered scrapbooking. I went back to doing a crazy clean before I hosted a scrapbooking evening.

When I began my online business, I got very lazy with housework. I cringe when I see old photos and the boxes and boxes and crap all over the house. 

I did a major clean in 2008. My siblings were coming to celebrate my dad turning 80. I let things go again after that but not nearly as bad. 

There were times when I read things like How to Clean Your House in 20 Minutes a Day for 30 Days. But I needed a big clean first. And I kept putting it off. Then my sister planned to visit. My sister is good at housework. I think she likes cleaning. With her husband working from home, she couldn't sit around like Peg Bundy eating Bonbons and watching TV.  Not that Nancy is anything like Peg Bundy. But I think Charlie expected her to be home and cleaning. Anyway, she is picky about a clean house I knew I had to do something. 

Last fall, I started cleaning. I cleaned so much I broke my vacuum. The house is not spotless. I just can't work that hard. But it is passable and I feel good. I have started a routine and keep it that way. 

I looked for some cleaning routines to adopt. I found a few check lists and saved them. Then I remembered about seeing an iPhone app with cleaning routines. I checked a few out and downloaded Home Routines. 

Home Routines comes with some tasks already loaded and suggested room zones. I did some modifications and started using the app.  Then I realized this was just another to do app with repeating tasks. I already have an app like that did I really want another app to open and keep track? Nope. I entered those tasks into Reminders.

Home Routines is a good app if all you want it to get working on good home cleaning tasks and don't want to think about how to set it up in Reminders or Things. 

I have been doing some cleaning each week. Some weeks I do better than others and I complete all the tasks on my lists. Other times I don't. I don't let it bother me since each area gets repeated every 4 weeks. (Toilets get cleaned each week.) And I am still working through areas that tend to get ignored like the tops of tall furniture.

I will never be The Hostess with the Mostess. But I won't be embarrassed to let guests into my home.

toronto

University of Toronto, 1890 (Library of Congress)

In senior year, we had a class trip. We went to Toronto for a weekend. Mom drove me to Windsor, Canada to take the train. Tina, Jane and I shared a room. I cannot remember if the fourth person was Cathy or Aimee. The train took about 4 hours. The four of us sat together and talked. I recall others talking and walking around and drinking. Did we walk through the train? I don't remember. It was early. 

We stayed at the hotel that used to be the Four Seasons. It was the same hotel our family stayed at when dad had his convention in 1974. The room was nice and large. A photography blog posted a photo of the demolition of the old Four Seasons. Except that it wasn't that old. It was built in the 1970s.

We went shopping in the underground mall. I bought a blouse with a turtleneck type collar. I thought it was cool. It was about $50. Mom lent me her credit card and I felt a bit guilty spending such and amount on one blouse. But I also felt cool for using a credit card. 

We had dinner at the The Old Spaghetti Factory. I think we went as a group but split into many tables. The drinking age was 19 and I was 18 at the time. They did not card me when I asked for a manhattan. Dad drank those and would let Nancy & me have his maraschino cherries. Dad's drink were sweeter & milder than this one. I only had one. 

The next night, the four of us got into a cab and asked the driver for a good club to go to. The club was dark and loud and full of foreign students. I danced with Milad. He was very aggressive with his moves and rubbed his erection against my thigh. We kissed. It was my first kiss! I was too drunk to know if it was any good. Milad and his friends called the hotel the next day. Why did I tell him where we were staying? Jane called him Midol. 

We did more walking around the city. It was cold and gray. 

There was mention of Sharon pulling the hotel fire alarm. But that was the other Sharon, Sharon McGann. The cool, popular Sharon. 

We took the train back home. Everyone was tired and quiet. 

mixed signals

Minimalism and simplify  are all over the interwebs these days. Then someone posts how to make proper coffee or proper cup of tea.

John Gruber made the case (tongue in cheek) for how to be successful in blogging. You need a clicky keyboard, fizzy water and fussy coffee. 

Why can't we be satisfied with the keyboard that came with our computer, tap water and bagged tea? 

At the same time Patrick Rhone is talking about enough, he also talks about the great bag he has.

So while I make endless trips to Goodwill to donate the items I didn't need and don't use, I purchase different loose teas to try. I add teaware to my amazon wish list.

All this can probably be blamed on me having too much free time. I listen to many podcasts and read even more blogs. Thanks to Dan Moren's article, My Cup of Tea, I am back trying and drinking loose tea. The Pen Addict has renewed my interest in pens and paper. I am opening myself to new things which is good. But most of these things come with a price of new things and gadgets to acquire which is not.

This is where Pinterest helps. I pin things that I like or would to have or want to remember. When I do this, I feel like a part of that "thing" is mine to look at whenever I choose. I get to share my discovery with others. Most of the time this is enough and I don't feel the need to purchase anything. Most of the time.