I'm not as bold as my husband who put away the snow blower so I'll hang onto the winter necessities of gloves, hats, boots and heavy jacket. But, I'm continuing the spring cleaning, the decluttering of the computer, of a few rooms but mostly my mind. That is how there will be space for what is around the corner if I'm willing to keep moving.
Maybe moving is the key to staying alive, a way of breaking the patterns that threaten to hold us back, that hold us in, that hold us tightly within boxes supplied by others and accepted by us.
New refrigerator
Speaking of boxes, remember the joy an empty refrigerator box can begin. The young so easily turn the empty crate that delivers an American kitchen necessity into a magical place - a fort, a palace, a dollhouse.
Our new refrigerator was finally delivered. Sadly, there are no children to play in the box so the drivers took it away. Instead, I played with arranging the vegetables with names I forget, the cheese I can no longer eat and the fruit that I am eating one piece every day. (Let's celebrate - 15 days in a row!)
This new appliance, picked out by my husband and bought in time to earn a government rebate, takes up less space and, we hope, less energy.
I say let's hope because of that Congressional audit that showed getting the Energy star really is no indication that you'll save. Of course, the program promises to change so that no longer can made-up products slip into the "do good, save energy" list. You can read the newly issued, 27-page report for yourself, but really the title alone tells you enough: "Covert Testing Shows the Energy Star Program Certification Process Is Vulnerable to Fraud and Abuse."Of course, you'd miss reading about the gas-powered alarm clock and decorative light string.
Surprise, surprise
A few surprises are wrapped in that refrigerator. The men who delivered it could not believe it was the first time I was seeing this appliance, that I had "let" my husband pick it out. Seriously, why not? He's the one who wanted to replace the monster we've lived with since we first moved to the one town I told the real estate agent we would not move to. The questions remind me of patterns expected by some: Women shop, women choose, women turn a house into a home.
This model does not have a water dispenser in the door. I had agreed that the new model did not need it, but now I am surprised how often I go to that corner of the kitchen to refill my glass. It's just time for a new pattern to change this newly acquired habit of drinking enough water everyday.
I also was surprised that there was no "how to use your refrigertor" brochure inside this shiny new appliance. I'd been pumped to expect one after reading a Wall Street Journal article on how manufactuers were helping customers learn to use the appliance.
Find the news
That article "Why won't anyone clean the refrigerator" was enlightening. Also surprising as the guts of the piece are based on a 2006 study on how people organize their refrigerators and Whirlpool's 2005 survey of how people use their refrigerators.
The news peg is the new models, ones with germ-fighting shelves, bigger lights and tiny etchings to help keep spilled liquid to one shelf. (Yes, "find the news" or the reason why this article ran today is a frequent hobby of mine.)
But I was not surprised that Habitat of Humanity, which works so hard to provide houses, permanent places for those in need, willingly picked up the monster of a refrigerator.
Where did that come from?
This post was started over on FarmVille.com, a game I play sometimes while waking up or multitasking, when I picked up a "golden egg" to share with neighboring players.
I noticed today that FarmVille.com's personalization includes my profile picture at the top of the screen, right next to the "Welcome, Mary Ann." I know something is not computing in gameland when my name disappears and all I get is a "welcome."
There is a glitch because when I visit "my farm, I get a "Good neighbors" message from Zynga telling me that more then 485 people have visited my farm. That is a surprise since I "only" have 140 neighbors.
OK, back to spring cleaning, not playing, not writng. Enjoy.
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