Done, Done-Done Done!

I just put my dissertation copies in the trust of the USPS.
I am officially Done!

Gloria: "About time you are done!"  (Reminding me a great deal of Georgia...)

While my distractions over the past few months have been many, I have continued to plug away, and successfully defended my dissertation on December 10th.    I arrived back in Humboldt on the 12th, and I adopted Gloria from the shelter on the 13th. I took a needed break for two weeks, which became four weeks.    

And then I worked on the revisions and additions requested by my committee for final approval.  This included submitting a revision for Scott's approval, then preparing the document for format review for the university.  I had another week of work after the format review was completed, fixing tiny things like a missed date here and a misplace period there.   While doing my final reading before printing, I kept finding words and sentences I wanted to alter, proving once again that a good piece of writing is never "finished" it is just abandoned.  :)

The reason most of Gloria's pictures are of her on my bed?  Because I took so many pictures while I was working on my dissertation...

A friend helped me find a good source of 25% cotton paper, saving about $10 per ream over local price. When purchasing 4 reams, that adds up to quite a savings!  Then came printing. I first went to a local printer, thinking I should stay local instead of going with a chain.   Oops.  The first printer put black marks throughout the first half of seven copies, and the entire 8th copy. Never mind that I only wanted 7 copies, and never mind that they didn't let me approve the test copy before proceeding.    When I stopped by to look at the test copy, she'd already printed the first half of 7 more!  Once I saw the marks, I tried to stay calm, but tears filled my eyes.  The copy person said it was my paper, and she would not charge me for what was printed. Oh, and she said, "Sorry about that." What?   Sorry?  Yeah, the age of customer service is long gone.

So glad Gloria got me out every day.   I'd be in much worse shape without her insistent motivation. She's like a personal trainer. 

At that point, I'm worried I don't have enough paper left.   I get my zip drive and leave, not sure what to do.  I re-grouped, and went to Kinko's. They only had 100% cotton paper, not the 25% I had, so if they did the second half on that paper, my dissertations would look like hybrid creatures.    Plus it would be $300 for them to run the whole thing over, or $95 plus tax to print the whole thing on my paper.

While working, my Christmas Cacti bloomed.

The only house plants left from my once enormous collection.

They bloomed and bloomed.

I went home.  Sorted through what I had (did I tell you it wasn't collated, either?  7 copies of page 1.  7 copies of page 2....).  Decided I could live with my copies and my professors' copies having blemishes (sorry about that, Scott, Sara, and Bill), but I needed the University copies to be as clean as possible. So I ran 3 new copies of every blemished page on my printer. It looked like I had enough of my fancy paper to do the rest, so I decided to format a copy of my dissertation that was just the second half, correctly paginated, to take in to Staples.

But when I put my zip drive in my computer, a red virus warning popped up.  What?  I've never had a virus on my zip drive.    Antivirus quarantined it.  I deleted the files on my zip, and ran a virus scan of just the zip.  Got another red virus warning, but for a different virus.  So I picked up two viruses at the copy place?  Wow.

Another distraction. Care taking a herd of 24 chickens.

18 eggs a day, on average. And some of them were extremely above average size. No, there were no geese disguised as chickens. But the big ones were usually double yolks.

Headed into Staples.  The guy behind the copy counter turned out to be one of my former Blue Heron students, so that was a nice happenstance.   He started to run a test copy, and quickly learned that the laser copier turns cotton paper into curled crisp things.  Luckily he only ran 20 pages. But I started to panic about my dwindling paper! Their other Staples printer, the one that wouldn't curl paper, is not working.  Augh!  I head to the Kinko's in Eureka. The lady behind the counter assured me I had enough paper, and she would take care of it.    And she did.

Rare photo of Giovanna and me getting to work. This was the infamous day of the great Cow scare.  Here she is after almost an hour of in-hand work to bring her back to earth. Phew.  

So now my dissertations look quite interesting.  Three different copiers used, so three different levels of ink.  Not to mention the first half had to be hand sorted, so the pages aren't all crisply organized!  Oh well.  It's the words that count, right?  And the binders probably have a machine that tamps the paper into a neat block before binding.  I can hope!

Personal trainer Gloria, at work.

Lesson in this?   Not sure yet.   All I know is I really am done.    Trying not to panic about not having a job (or even a career!), not knowing what is next.  Doing odd jobs to get by, like fixing plumbing, babysitting, cleaning houses, and teaching an OLLI class on writing and doing pro-bono work helping kids with learning disabilities.  All greatly enjoyable.   Also working on getting organized after moving so many times, sorting through the stuff I had in storage at my McK house, and trying to remember what life is like without a huge goal sitting in front of me.  Lots of philosophical thinking lately about the meaning of life and all that. 

Luckily Gloria is a daily (hourly?) reminder of what life is about: Live in the moment, and take one day at a time. Enjoy what you are doing, for you never know what's around the next turn.  Whatever you do, get outside every day for a walk or four.

We are out of here!

March 17

Arcy's moon, Boise, ID, March 17, 2010

March 17th marked a year since Arcy left, way back in Idaho.
To honor her memory, I'm sharing a few photos from her life, and a true story about her "hunting" in the house.
I miss my RCA pup, and am so very glad for the memories.

Maroon was definitely one of Arcy's colors.

Our visit to Humboldt, December 2009.  Thank you Kathy!

Cuddling Arcy in Humboldt, before Idaho.

Arcy with her boy.

The girls, Day 2 of our Boise Venture.  Looking sharp in their new coats.

The Great Mouse Hunt

By Emily

One evening, about 8 pm, I was tidying up the kitchen before going to my study to work on school prep for the next day.  As I rearranged tea and coffee containers and wiped the counter, I noticed these tiny black crumbs no bigger than a small ant.  In fact, they looked like little mummy ants.  I called to my husband, “Hey, Pat, we’ve got mice!”

            Our McNab dog, Arcy, had been telling us all week that something was in the house.  Since she can over react to things, we ignored her. But now it was obvious that she had been right all along.

            “Where are the mice, Arcy?” I asked.  She snuffled under the stove while looking up at me and wagging her tail furiously.  Georgia, our terrier, noticed something was going on in the kitchen, and not one to be left out, she trotted in and stuck her nose under the stove, too. 

            Pat and I moved the stove out so I could clean and the dogs could continue their investigations. Sure enough, we found more evidence.  I cleaned. Arcy and Georgia sniffed and snuffed. We pushed the stove back in and I set to work cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom. Seems the mice had been just about everywhere in that kitchen.  How did the little mummified ants get into the utensil container?  And under the microwave which is on top of the refrigerator?   Clearly these mice had rappelling gear or suction cups on their feet.

            Pat set some traps in the kitchen that night. The next evening, there was no new evidence of mice.  However, Arcy said, “The mice are behind the entertainment center…No, wait, they are in the bedroom closet. Oops, now they are back in the kitchen.”  She raced from room to room, “tracking” the mice.  Between you and me, I don’t think she knew where they were, but her persistence paid off, and Pat set a trap in the bedroom closet.

            The next evening, Arcy spent two hours telling me the mouse was in my computer table, right behind the printer. She crawled up into the cabinet and sat on top of my printer. I finally put her outside so I could get my work finished.

            No mouse action for almost a week, and then Arcy practically shouted “The mice are in the closet Right Now!”  She ran ahead as I moved towards the closet. She jumped up and down with anticipation as I opened the door.  “Wow Arcy, you were right. There was a mouse in the closet, and now it is dead.  Good hunter!”  I patted her happy head.  The poor little mouse was killed by the trap. As I looked at its cute face, I thought, “Surely we could live with mice?  Nah, they carry diseases…”

            I thought that was the end of our mouse problem.  Georgia and Arcy spent the next hour running from the now open closet to the kitchen and back again. I ignored them, thinking they were having  a good time, so why nag them to stop  Then there was a flurry of activity by the cat food container, and a tiny gray shape bounced into the bedroom, followed by two gleeful dogs.  “Crash!”  Arcy and Georgia ran smack into the closet door as the mouse darted under it.   I opened the closet door.  Five minutes later, the mouse streaked through he living room, hurtling under the couch.  Georgia squeezed under the couch as far as she could go, which was about mid belly, and lay there, tail wagging.  The mouse darted behind the wood stove, followed by two dogs.  Then back to the couch. Then around the corner and into my study, behind the bookshelf.

            Pat arrived home from work in the midst of this chaos.  I explained the situation, interrupted by the dogs (Yeah, yeah, it’s in there!  We almost caught it!  Can we get it now?  Hurry, hurry!”).  He got his BB gun and followed the dogs into my study.  The mouse ran from the bookshelf to my filing cabinet, back to the bookshelf, behind the sewing machine, over to the recycled paper box, then behind the record cabinet.  Each mouse movement followed by two dogs and two humans, like cars on a toy train connected by string. Finally we all cornered the pint-sized rodent and Pat ended the tiny creature’s life.

            The story continued over the next week as the dogs tried to engage me in frequent discussions about mice. They believed there were more in he house. I figured it was just the scent left over from the previous mice. Then, yesterday morning, I found more itty-bitty black things on the kitchen counters. I tried to convince myself that I had missed them during my previous cleaning.  Arcy looked at me with laughter in her eyes, and said, “No, I TOLD you there were more. Let’s go look!”  With that, she raced off into the bedroom, with Georgia seconds behind. Here we go again!

Talk about Distractions! Forgot to Post This...

I flew to Boise on December 8th, and successfully defended my dissertation on the 10th.  Yay!! Talk about a sense of accomplishment.   I realize that statement seems a bit of an understatement.  But it's been six weeks since I was there, so I have some distance from it. 

Gloria, who likes to be snuggled in blankets.

Gloria, looking alert from "her" bed.

Close up of snuggled puppy.

On Saturday, I spent the day with my friend Dora. We went to the zoo.   In Boise, in the winter, many of the exhibits have "retired to warmer climates for the winter" or "hibernating, be back soon" signs on them.  But some of the animals especially enjoy the colder weather. The penguins were downright chpper. And the meerkats.  OMG they are so very cute.  After the zoo, we went to a book store so I could get a fun book or two to read on the plane home. After all this intense reading for grad school, I wanted some fast and fun reading that I didn't have to process and take notes from.    Finally, we went to a music performance at the Cathedral of the Rockies, and then dinner.  Was a long, low-key day, and very much enjoyed.

I flew back home on Dec. 12th, and went to the animal shelter on the 13th to adopt Gloria.
She has been my main distraction for a while. Though, truly, I am just finishing up edits and revisions requested/required by my committee before publication. I'll check in when the dissertation is Done.

Gloria and me at Clam Beach.

This is not Gloria. This is Lupin, my mom's dog.  I was stunned at the resemblance.

Another picture of Lupin, for comparison.

Hurtling forward to the inevitable

The bulletin board at this moment. . 

  In the picture above, the top section is chapter 3, the literature review.  The three column sections headed by green cards are the three Findings chapters, organized by the headings so I can check for flow.   I have an outline on paper, too.   This way I can check for relationships between the emerging themes and what I found in the literature review, which will enable me to see the "new" information my research may be able to add.  I know, even though every doc student wants to add something to the body of literature, the goal is to "finish" the dissertation.   But I really do think I may be on to some cool stuff. So humor me.  :)  Lack of sleep and too much chocolate is a dangerous combination.  :)
 

The Cards

 In these pictures, you can see my data cards.    These were created from the interviews. I took coded quotes, transcribed them to color-coded cards, jotted code/theme connections on them, and identifying numbers for the interview and page (3-9, for example, would take me to Surie's interview, page 9).  These cards were then sorted several times.  Once I was satisfied with the groupings, each pile was banded with an identification card on top explaining the grouping, such as "Making it Work" or "Why are Parents more involved here?" These groupings were then organized into four main categories: Parents' Perceptions on Schooling (theirs and their children's); Choice, Parent Involvement, and Lessons for School Improvement.    These four categories then became the chapters seen organized in the first picture up above: Ch. 4 Who Chooses and Why?; Ch. 5 Parental Involvement; Ch. 6 Outcomes of Choice: Improving Public Schools. 

Another view of  The Cards

Phew. Then those cards were typed into sections, based on their banded groupings.  As I typed, I found mis-categorized cards--cards that, upon closer examination, did not fit in the grouping I originally thought.  So I had an ever rotating pile of cards which were placed in new categories as I found the right fit.  I would jot notes on the card, like "try Ch. 6, Nature vs Nurture sect.".  When I started typing that section, I'd remember that card and go look for it...    In the end, I had a small banded group of cards with the label "Didn't use".  Every other card found a home!  Yeah, I guess I felt pretty responsible for making sure every participant' words were honored and utilized.  

Now that I am working on the conclusions section, and have a healthy draft of about 140 pages (that includes the appendices, so don't start panicking!) after untold hours of revision, I'm feeling pretty positive about my process. It took a LOT of time.  But the writing part has gone like lightening because of it.  Living and breathing the data for a condensed period of time has worked.  What a luxury it has been!

It's now Nov. 21.    I am close to having a fairly final draft composed.    My final is due to my committee the 29th, and I defend Dec. 10th.  I feel like I'm on fast forward, hurtling towards a jello wall covered in velcro, and I'm in a velcro suit. 

So, I'm on a role. Coffee, M&M's, and hanging out in Starbuck's.  Why Starbucks?   Not sure why, but I can concentrate much better sitting in coffee shops.  And the Ramone's down the street has terrible customer service and an unpleasant vibe. Truly, I'd rather support local businesses. But the people at Starbucks are really genuine and nice. So here I am.  I also get into the mood of my dissertation easier here, because a majority of the interviews for this study were done in coffee shops, and probably 50% of them were Starbucks! 

At any rate, I'm trucking along, and grateful for the rain so I'm not feeling guilty for neglecting my horses.   Their shelter is great, they use it all the time and are dry when I see them.  Really cool that the shelter has worked out so nicely. I miss my girls, though. They would be really nice to have around right now.

Until later...

Checking out until Nov. 19th

I am checking out of the Internet world until my dissertation is done.  I leave you with a couple pictures of my note cards, sorted.  Also, my horses and I had a visitor today.  A lovely young lady who I had the pleasure of teaching in elementary school, many moons ago.   Ber and Gio think she is pretty special, as you can see from the pictures.  :)  Me, too!  Thanks for the visit, Cassie! 

I will post again when my final draft is sent to my committee on Nov. 19th.

All the little piles....

Piles sorted into four main themes!

Berhwood gives Cassie a horse hug.

Giovanna, starving as usual, reaches for the single strand of hay while Cassie cracks up.

Pranksters and Progress

I have a begonia plant in my container garden.  It once had three colors of begonias, many years ago when it was given to me as a present upon leaving Freshwater school.  I think it was Freshwater, ten years ago?  There is only one begonia color left, a nice orangey-red.

About a week ago, I noticed a new flower on this begonia.  I thought, "Wow, look at how it is aging.  I never noticed how the color bled away from the flower, leaving just a ring of color on the outer edges."     Check it out:

I thought this was pretty cool.     But unfortunately, when I touched the flower, it fell off.   I was pretty bummed, but knowing how long begonia flowers last, I set it in the pot so I could show it to someone, if the chance came up. This picture is after the flower had been there for a week!

A few days later, my neighbor came buy. I stopped her, and asked her to come check out this cool flower on my begonia.  As I told her about my theory on how the color had changed, she started cracking up. Soon she confessed that SHE had placed the flower there, as a practical joke. I just laughed.  Very, very cool joke. And even cooler that I fell for it and created this whole rational story of how the flower could have come from my plant!  Yes, I am the poster child for "Gullible."  Hey, the other day, I believed my Idaho friend Joe's fable about the new Republican party that had a teddy bear for a mascot.

Changing the subject....Progress!!   I have finished my coding/note-taking from my 30 interview transcripts. This took a very long time--a pretty laborious task, but the final writing of my data findings/conclusions will be pretty smooth from here on out.   I have my four main categories of cards (the colors), and I have I don't know how many hundreds of cards.  

Each card has a quote or summary of a sentence from an interview.   In the upper right corner is a number. The first part refers to which interview it is.  The second part tells what page it is from. This way, I can find the original text in the interview transcript very easily, when needed.  So, 27-8 would be interview 27, page 8.

There's a LOT of data cards.  I can't get over how many cards.  There's a part of me that wants to throw them all up in the air and let them rain down into a pile.    Maybe when I'm done with the thing, I can do that.   :) 

At any rate, I am very, very thrilled to begin the final sorting process tomorrow.    (okay, it's after midnight right now, so technically it is tomorrow already. So I  will say "after sleeping").  I take each card, read it, and put it into a pile.  As I sort cards into like piles, I make labels for the piles with new cards, to help me put cards into the right piles.   I may sort the cards several times, until I am really happy with the groupings and the labels. Then I take the piles, and write. 

During this whole research process, which began in March with the very first interviews, through turning the audio tapes into typed transcripts, and then through the underlining, highlighting, and recording quotes onto cards, I have been creating codes, labels, and groupings in my mind and on paper. I've thought about sorting this data since the moment I began.   It is going to be quite cool to see how it all lays out!!   

Last week, I was fortunate to have a high school friend hang out for a few days while he worked on independent study stuff.  Was very nice to have the company!  He was camera shy, though.....

To end this post, here's a couple more beauties from my container garden. These really were attached to the plants!  I caught them during a brief break in the rain, when the sun came out to turn the nasturtium leaves a nearly translucent green.  :)

Vibrant green Nasturtium leaves with rain drops hanging on the edges like mercury beads.

Nasturtium flower

Pansies are the epitome of joy in flower form, I think.

Best Laid Plans, and Mother Nature

I left my house at 4:30 am this morning, to go to Boise.  Was giving a presentation Monday on the McNair research my adviser, Scott, and I did last year and the paper we wrote which will be published May 2011. 

However, instead of being in Boise as planned,  I am back at my house.  Made it to Medford. Flight left at 9:25 AM, I got there at 9:40 AM.  The plane did not wait for me.  :)  It's a 4 hour drive, 3 hours in really good weather with no traffic and no problems and an excellent driver.  So how did I rack up an extra hour and ten minutes?    The short answer is, horrible weather, car problems, and an average to below-average driver!

Long answer:

1. Huge Storm.
2. Cliffs along Smith River between Crescent City and Cave Junction were saturated with water after drying out all summer.
3. Cliffs spit rocks onto roadway. Sharp, hard rocks.
4. At 6:30 am, Caltrans rock sweepers have not gone by.
5. Cars coming towards me, and cars behind me, with their lights on, of course, because it is dark!
6. Can't see road real well.
7. Hit rock.  Car was fine.    Car that was on my tail, and passed me, is seen five miles down the road with a flat tire. 
8. Scenario repeats about 5 miles down the road, I hit another rock.  Dang!
9. Couple more miles down the road,  Jetta has a flat tire.  
10. Changed tire, in the rain, in the dark, with a tiny LED light on my key-chain.  (Note to self--get good chargeable flashlight for the car!!!). (Hey, at least I wasn't barefoot in the snow!  lol)
11. Thank goodness Stuart had the forsight to teach me how to change a tire back in Idaho, before we moved me back to California the end of May!. Even then, it took me a while.   Rain, cold hands, jack problems, etc.  
12. Lower the car onto the spare tire, and wouldn't you know it, the Spare tire was very low on air.
13. Find old repair air canister in trunk.    Gets enough air in tire to drive the 20 miles to Cave Junction and the gas station.
14. Soaked to the bone, freezing cold. Thank goodness for Jetta's heated seats!  
15. Made it to Grants Pass and then the airport near Medford, but the next flight was 6 am the next day, and was going to cost an extra $236.   
16. So, my adviser is reworking the powerpoint I put together, and doing the presentation tomorrow.    We are going to work on revisions to finalize the powerpoint, over the computer and phone tonight, instead of in person this evening in Boise as we had planned! 
17. Phew. Thank you, Scott!!!  I'm so glad the information we had to share will be shared.  I wish I was there.

On my way back from Medford, I passed two wrecks.  Was not a good driving day.  So I stopped at this beach and took some photos to wrest something beautiful and positive from the day!   Enjoy.

One lone gull, hanging in the air.

A gull that came in for its close up.

Suddenly the flock of beach-bound gulls took to the air.

Coast, looking north towards Crescent City.

Coast, looking south towards Dry Lagoon.

Trying to capture the surge. 

Getting closer but still not as magnificent as the real thing!

Looking straight out to sea. This rock is the one in the surge pics below.

Looking straight out to sea, these rocks are just south of the larger rock in the photo above.

Surge splash!

Surge Splash 2.

Surge splash 3.