By now, if you read my blog, you know the nerdy habit I am extremely proud of and will boast to the world if not stopped: I play competitive Scrabble. Michael does too. This is a crazily fun pastime, both because it unleashes the competitive bug in me that hasn't seen the light of day since middle school spelling bees, and because I'm actually okay at it. Middle-of-last-division okay, but the people in the last division and a few from the one above it know who I am. Some even think I'm pretty cool - the grad student who just got into Scrabble and is sort of slowly rising through the standings at the pace of a snail who accidentally digested half a dose of speed.
This is okay with me. I like being known. I like name notoriety. I like knowing that I'm the young kid - often among the three or four youngest at a tournament - who is doing comparatively well with some of these middle-aged men and women who have been playing Scrabble competitively for years. I like when my rating slowly, steadily rises so that I see happy numbers every time but also I'm not expected to do THAT well because my rating still is not stellar. The last tournament wasn't my greatest - I won half my games but my rating dropped by 2 points - but that's okay; I've risen by 45 and 23 points after my second and third tournaments, respectively, so I'm not terribly sad.
The problem is this: some tournaments are big. Yay, more players! I like having a big field of nice people who actually become acquaintances and sometimes friends, at least in the Scrabble world. I enjoyed talking to a 15-year old I met in a past tournament. A woman I met last time who'd been to tournaments before but who had this one as her first in many years was incredibly friendly to me. Others are smiley, happy, and welcoming (with the occasional one who's not terribly pleased after you unexpectedly beat them, but you'll have that...)
But in any case: some tournaments are big. This means that there are a lot of players; this also means that there are numerous divisions. Say you have twenty players signed up for a tournament. There might be three divisions: top six players in Division 1, next seven in Division 2, next seven in Division 3. If you have thirty two players, there might need to be another division - so there'd be eight players each in Divisions 1-4.
But the Farmington tournament tomorrow?! That, my readers (whoever and how many ever you may be), has 40 registered players. Which means there are FIVE divisions - eight people per division. Because I have risen somewhat in ranking over the course of four tournaments, that puts me - the rookie, the newbie, the wouldn't-know-a-strategy-if-it-ran-me-over-with-a-semi one, as fourth seed in the last division.
On one hand: I'm fourth from the bottom, ranked 36 out of 40 here. What sort of pressure does that put on me for ANYTHING in the least?! On the other hand: I'm competing against only the other seven in Division 5, and against that field, I am expected to win four games out of my seven. I have never gone 4-3 (four wins, 3 losses) at a tournament in my life. But I have to tomorrow, to keep my rating where it is. I know I can beat a lot of the people here - because I HAVE beaten three, have never played two, and have narrowly lost to two - but there are two I'm especially nervous about. One woman I have never beat although I've played her twice, and one woman who will certainly be out for my blood tomorrow since I unexpectedly pulled one out against her at the last tournament (she had no losses up until that point - I was kind of proud of myself, lol)
Granted, that puts me still hypothetically at 5-2 even if I do lose to those two. Which would place me quite happily somewhere near the top of this division and would ensure my rating would go up. But I'd only have a grace of one game of the remaining five that I could unexpectedly falter on and still have a good performance at the tournament.
This puts me in study mode today. When in doubt today, I am studying my Scrabble words. There is so much I don't know, and so much I am determined to learn before tomorrow, so that I can take the field by storm and maybe, maybe, maybe, even win it all?! It's possible, but only if I severely buckle down today. So - I shall.
I do, however, understand that my life does not depend on this Scrabble tournament. I am not irrationally stressed about it, nor am I obsessing about the different outcomes possible for tomorrow. I am just a competitive little bugger who will wake up at 7 to spend her Saturday looking at tiles with people mostly 20-40 years older than she is....but who also thrives on these sort of within-my-reach stakes! And I shall put my best effort forth at this tournament tomorrow. Wish me luck!
To make use of some of my newfound vocabulary:
PAX (Latin form of the word peace) and XU (Vietnamese money) to all in this holiday season ;-)
Friday, December 21, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming...
The last few weeks have been insane - a fitting end to the semester of madness! But I am finally done with everything!!! Friday was my last Clinic supervisor final meeting and my Neurogenics final, Friday night through Monday night (the extra day as the result of the snowstorm) were spent in Ohio with Michael, Tuesday all day was spent studying for my Aphasia final, Tuesday night was the actual final, and now I'm DONE with it all!!!!! It feels absolutely, unquestionably, extraordinarily INCREDIBLE to be done with it all.
I'll be extremely busy over Christmas break - as ever - but it will be wonderful because nothing I do will be tied to schoolwork! Tonight I'm going out with Liz, Thomas, and possibly Jeeyoung and/or others, then tomorrow will be going to the gym followed by out with Apryl, and Friday Michael will be here for the weekend in A2....and a Scrabble tournament in Farmington on Saturday....and we have to go shopping for presents for his family...then we start the Christmas fun stuff! Back and forth between Port Clinton and A2 from the 24th to the 27th or so, Soumya's birthday party on the 29th, possible New Year's festivities at/around the apartment on New Year's Eve, getting out to Troy to see Tanya and possibly Rohin somewhere in there, then Cassandra visits and I start my public school internship. Woo hoo - fun stuff! ;-D When do I actually get to do stuff like researching CFY jobs and planning study for the Praxis and looking around at PhD options?! We shall see - I am targeting tomorrow before the gym as a likely candidate, perhaps the only likely candidate before New Year's, even! lol
The wonderful thing is that I now feel as if I have my life back. I can actually do what I want when I want to, without worrying about schoolwork or needing to be here or there or check the clinic for paperwork revisions....I don't even need to set foot on EMU's campus next semester if I don't want to! :-D I can update this blog without feeling like I am seriously slacking - I can keep in touch with people and meet up with
What's everyone up to over Christmas?! Would love to get together with anyone who will be in or around A2....so drop me a comment or something if you wanna meet up!!!
As a closing note: Did anyone ever wonder what Cassandra, Apryl, Michael, or I would ever look like as elves? http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1469125973
(the link brought to you by my mother, who created this on a whim....and caused all four of us who've seen it so far to DIE laughing....)
Hope all is well with everyone! Off to the gym now, but have a great day!
I'll be extremely busy over Christmas break - as ever - but it will be wonderful because nothing I do will be tied to schoolwork! Tonight I'm going out with Liz, Thomas, and possibly Jeeyoung and/or others, then tomorrow will be going to the gym followed by out with Apryl, and Friday Michael will be here for the weekend in A2....and a Scrabble tournament in Farmington on Saturday....and we have to go shopping for presents for his family...then we start the Christmas fun stuff! Back and forth between Port Clinton and A2 from the 24th to the 27th or so, Soumya's birthday party on the 29th, possible New Year's festivities at/around the apartment on New Year's Eve, getting out to Troy to see Tanya and possibly Rohin somewhere in there, then Cassandra visits and I start my public school internship. Woo hoo - fun stuff! ;-D When do I actually get to do stuff like researching CFY jobs and planning study for the Praxis and looking around at PhD options?! We shall see - I am targeting tomorrow before the gym as a likely candidate, perhaps the only likely candidate before New Year's, even! lol
The wonderful thing is that I now feel as if I have my life back. I can actually do what I want when I want to, without worrying about schoolwork or needing to be here or there or check the clinic for paperwork revisions....I don't even need to set foot on EMU's campus next semester if I don't want to! :-D I can update this blog without feeling like I am seriously slacking - I can keep in touch with people and meet up with
What's everyone up to over Christmas?! Would love to get together with anyone who will be in or around A2....so drop me a comment or something if you wanna meet up!!!
As a closing note: Did anyone ever wonder what Cassandra, Apryl, Michael, or I would ever look like as elves? http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1469125973
(the link brought to you by my mother, who created this on a whim....and caused all four of us who've seen it so far to DIE laughing....)
Hope all is well with everyone! Off to the gym now, but have a great day!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
A mid-finals update on life (AKA, The Monster that Ate My Weekend)
Okay, I haven't updated this thing in forever! Time to return to our previously scheduled programming after a month-long interlude of commercials featuring "third draft", "let's discuss", "think about ___", "check file", and "now WHY haven't you all started that aphasia project yet?!!?" Yes - the end of clinic turned into the end of life as we Clinic 2's knew it for a month or so there. Treatment outcomes, SOAP notes, graphs, and end-of-semester self-evals were just about killin' us.
And then, of course, there was the ever-present Aphasia project and oral presentation. Oh, but you all are just doing Clinic 2 and a few classes...of course you have time to put together a 25+ page project!!! Sure, we all just have free time out the wazoo....
Well, several crazy-mad weeks later and after a weekend of constant work on what turned out to be a 50+ page Aphasia MONSTER that ate my weekend (preventing me from seeing Michael AT ALL but I'M. NOT. BITTER!!!!) I am finally feeling like things are calmer!
(Side note: the weekend was actually really fun in the times I wasn't working; got to hang out with Apryl a lot and go to the bar with her and hang out with Liz at the bar and go to Erin's really fun Christmas party....but I DESERVED all that after working so hard each day from morning to night! I suppose you could say the weekend was a mental health weekend...not that I needed to restore any, just that I WOULDN'T HAVE HAD ANY if I hadn't taken the mornings, afternoons and evenings to work and then gone out afterwards!!! hahaha)
Anyway, yeah, things are calmer. Never mind that I have a family conference and a final meeting with one supervisor both today, a final meeting with a supervisor and an exam both tomorrow, and an exam on Tuesday still left to go....it all feels like cake compared to what I just went through to finish up the Clinic paperwork and the Aphasia project. (And that's when you know you've been busy - when THAT schedule feels like nothing! lol)
And I am super, super, super-excited because I get to see Michael tomorrow!!! It will have been eleven days, which completely feels like eons. I am meeting him in Toledo at Franklin Park so that I can get some final Christmas shopping done if I have any time before he gets there (NO looking in my shopping bags if I have any when you get to me, hon! lol lol lol) and then we can go to the Beirut, which is possibly Michael's favorite restaurant on the face of the earth and is a place we have not been in eons! We'll decorate his tree over the weekend (yayyyyy Christmas trees!!!) and go out Saturday night to a new restaurant in Sandusky for 18 months wow...it so does not feel like we've been together that long!!!! we both keep mistakenly calling it six months, hahaha....
/end gush-fest
----brief interlude to give everyone reading this who's not Michael time to go throw up----
I am really excited about being done for good, though. That'll happen Tuesday after the Aphasia exam, and then all of us will go out somewhere to celebrate (I am SO taping the Biggest Loser finale and watching it the next day, hahaha) and I will feel like I actually have free time!!!
To do what, you ask?!
Let's see:
-figure out when to take the Praxis exam - I think the next available time is March??
-start studying for the Praxis
-figure out what jobs are out there that I could apply for starting in May so I have a job when I'm out in August
-work on research stuff
-get stuff settled for my public school internship (wherever that happens to be - I still don't know yet!!!)
-try to see if I can come up with a cool PhD area of interest so that I sound more together when talking to Karla and anyone else I might try to email as a backup plan
-talk to a few of these people who have clinical/research jobs to see if the PhD is even something that benefitted them/that I would want
-plan New Year's Eve party at my place and see who would want to come (any interest? email me!)
etc. etc. Some break, huh?! But at least I'll have TIME to do all this crap!!! lol
Gotta run off to EMU, but I will talk to you all later :) Have a great end of the semester!
And then, of course, there was the ever-present Aphasia project and oral presentation. Oh, but you all are just doing Clinic 2 and a few classes...of course you have time to put together a 25+ page project!!! Sure, we all just have free time out the wazoo....
Well, several crazy-mad weeks later and after a weekend of constant work on what turned out to be a 50+ page Aphasia MONSTER that ate my weekend (preventing me from seeing Michael AT ALL but I'M. NOT. BITTER!!!!) I am finally feeling like things are calmer!
(Side note: the weekend was actually really fun in the times I wasn't working; got to hang out with Apryl a lot and go to the bar with her and hang out with Liz at the bar and go to Erin's really fun Christmas party....but I DESERVED all that after working so hard each day from morning to night! I suppose you could say the weekend was a mental health weekend...not that I needed to restore any, just that I WOULDN'T HAVE HAD ANY if I hadn't taken the mornings, afternoons and evenings to work and then gone out afterwards!!! hahaha)
Anyway, yeah, things are calmer. Never mind that I have a family conference and a final meeting with one supervisor both today, a final meeting with a supervisor and an exam both tomorrow, and an exam on Tuesday still left to go....it all feels like cake compared to what I just went through to finish up the Clinic paperwork and the Aphasia project. (And that's when you know you've been busy - when THAT schedule feels like nothing! lol)
And I am super, super, super-excited because I get to see Michael tomorrow!!! It will have been eleven days, which completely feels like eons. I am meeting him in Toledo at Franklin Park so that I can get some final Christmas shopping done if I have any time before he gets there (NO looking in my shopping bags if I have any when you get to me, hon! lol lol lol) and then we can go to the Beirut, which is possibly Michael's favorite restaurant on the face of the earth and is a place we have not been in eons! We'll decorate his tree over the weekend (yayyyyy Christmas trees!!!) and go out Saturday night to a new restaurant in Sandusky for
/end gush-fest
----brief interlude to give everyone reading this who's not Michael time to go throw up----
I am really excited about being done for good, though. That'll happen Tuesday after the Aphasia exam, and then all of us will go out somewhere to celebrate (I am SO taping the Biggest Loser finale and watching it the next day, hahaha) and I will feel like I actually have free time!!!
To do what, you ask?!
Let's see:
-figure out when to take the Praxis exam - I think the next available time is March??
-start studying for the Praxis
-figure out what jobs are out there that I could apply for starting in May so I have a job when I'm out in August
-work on research stuff
-get stuff settled for my public school internship (wherever that happens to be - I still don't know yet!!!)
-try to see if I can come up with a cool PhD area of interest so that I sound more together when talking to Karla and anyone else I might try to email as a backup plan
-talk to a few of these people who have clinical/research jobs to see if the PhD is even something that benefitted them/that I would want
-plan New Year's Eve party at my place and see who would want to come (any interest? email me!)
etc. etc. Some break, huh?! But at least I'll have TIME to do all this crap!!! lol
Gotta run off to EMU, but I will talk to you all later :) Have a great end of the semester!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Where has this semester gone?!!?!?
Sitting here at ERC-State Street, drinking cinnamon cider and hoping all the work I have to do will somehow complete itself!?!? I'm slightly tired and don't feel like working. But if I want to get anything done this weekend, it has to happen this morning or afternoon, or it won't happen. So I thought maybe making a blog entry - goofing off but still - sort of? - being productive? (forgive me if I delude myself) would get enough unwillingness to work out of my system that I'll be able to dive right into everything after I do this. That is the hope at least....
So it's November 2, surprisingly and scarily enough. The semester's almost over, and there's only about two more weeks till Thanksgiving break!!!! :) (wow - I so cannot wait!!!!!) Clinic is making me feel overworked and underpaid, despite the fact that, A) all the horrific paperwork-crunch-ness is over, and B) I'm not SUPPOSED to get paid! Except I sort of just was - in the middle of all that crazy applying-for-grad-assistantship-ness, I threw in my app for free money from EMU, and just got notified that I got a $500 scholarship! yay :)
Anyway. Clinic is going well. I'm not as attached to my clients this semester as I was to the little guy I had last semester, but the clients are interesting and since one of them is canceling sessions for two weeks soon to go on vacation, I'm gonna have time to go and observe my little guy from last sem! I am super-excited. :)))))
Super-curious to meet a certain miss A.'s new main man this weekend. ;-) Michael and I will have dinner with them at some point either Saturday or Sunday, then I'll get together with Jessica Saturday evening, and Michael and I will probably cook together tonight. Michael wasn't supposed to be here till Saturday night and I wasn't supposed to NEED to get work done right now, but he decided to skip going to the OSU game to come hang out with me, which I think is one of the sweetest things ever :))))) so of course I am re-arranging things a bit and making myself do more work sooner.
On November 16 I head off to Chicago!!!!!!! Two weeks!!!!!!!! I am so unbelievably excited to see Cassandra. :)
I need to do a lot of work on the PhD thing (what am I interested in now that autism's out?!!?) In some parallel universe could I ever see myself going the motor speech PhD route and doing Moebius???!! But then I wouldn't get to go to Iowa - which I kind of have my heart set on at this point if I do the PhD, although I'll apply elsewhere too - and I wouldn't get to work with Karla, who's awesome, and I wouldn't have a PhD topic that's terribly fundable and generalizable to a lot of other disorders. I think?
and where-the-cwap-am-I-gonna-get-my-C's? I wanna be in Chicago, but what kind of jobs are out there? Would I be better off somewhere else where there's a job more suited to what I want? I have less than a year now to decide this. Perhaps I will work on that all next weekend, after the Scrabble tournament in South Lyon.
Well, speaking of work, I'd better get back to mine. Hope everyone's as excited about the weekend as I am!!!!
So it's November 2, surprisingly and scarily enough. The semester's almost over, and there's only about two more weeks till Thanksgiving break!!!! :) (wow - I so cannot wait!!!!!) Clinic is making me feel overworked and underpaid, despite the fact that, A) all the horrific paperwork-crunch-ness is over, and B) I'm not SUPPOSED to get paid! Except I sort of just was - in the middle of all that crazy applying-for-grad-assistantship-ness, I threw in my app for free money from EMU, and just got notified that I got a $500 scholarship! yay :)
Anyway. Clinic is going well. I'm not as attached to my clients this semester as I was to the little guy I had last semester, but the clients are interesting and since one of them is canceling sessions for two weeks soon to go on vacation, I'm gonna have time to go and observe my little guy from last sem! I am super-excited. :)))))
Super-curious to meet a certain miss A.'s new main man this weekend. ;-) Michael and I will have dinner with them at some point either Saturday or Sunday, then I'll get together with Jessica Saturday evening, and Michael and I will probably cook together tonight. Michael wasn't supposed to be here till Saturday night and I wasn't supposed to NEED to get work done right now, but he decided to skip going to the OSU game to come hang out with me, which I think is one of the sweetest things ever :))))) so of course I am re-arranging things a bit and making myself do more work sooner.
On November 16 I head off to Chicago!!!!!!! Two weeks!!!!!!!! I am so unbelievably excited to see Cassandra. :)
I need to do a lot of work on the PhD thing (what am I interested in now that autism's out?!!?) In some parallel universe could I ever see myself going the motor speech PhD route and doing Moebius???!! But then I wouldn't get to go to Iowa - which I kind of have my heart set on at this point if I do the PhD, although I'll apply elsewhere too - and I wouldn't get to work with Karla, who's awesome, and I wouldn't have a PhD topic that's terribly fundable and generalizable to a lot of other disorders. I think?
and where-the-cwap-am-I-gonna-get-my-C's? I wanna be in Chicago, but what kind of jobs are out there? Would I be better off somewhere else where there's a job more suited to what I want? I have less than a year now to decide this. Perhaps I will work on that all next weekend, after the Scrabble tournament in South Lyon.
Well, speaking of work, I'd better get back to mine. Hope everyone's as excited about the weekend as I am!!!!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Oh, and another quick note - comment away, if you wish!
After being made aware by Chaim that only people with gmail accounts could post comments on my blog, I have now set my blog to accept comments from anyone, with or without gmail accounts. So feel free to comment away if you so desire :)
Life's Insanity, and Other Musings
Turns out there is very little time that goes by without things going on. Not that this is bad - I really enjoy having a busy and eventful life!! - but it's just interesting to see the different times where I start thinking "Well, this week should be really calm!" and then find out that things still hop along and there are still not enough hours in the day during even those times.
Recently saw Chaim and Sunali when they came into town - coincidentally on the same day, but they didn't end up seeing each other, although I saw both of them. That was lots of fun! Went to Ashley's with Sunali and Michael, and met Chaim at the South U Starbucks.
Am headed to Chicago during the November 16 weekend, and have been invited by Nate to go to DC on the November 10 weekend when he and his fellow novices at the IVEs get their habits - I doubt I'll be able to go, but am going to run it by the Parental Forces That Be and just see if there's a shot I could make it.
Seven to eight more Tuesdays left in the semester - that is unbelievably exciting. I am NOT a huge fan of Tuesdays - and that's not a reflection of any one particular thing I do on Tuesdays, it's just a reflection of the fact that it seems that EVERYTHING I DO IS ON TUESDAYS. Literally, I'm at EMU from 8:30am-8:30pm. I am so ready to not have a 12-hr day anymore! One client's session may change from 9:30-10:30am to 10:30-11:30am, though, so that could give me - well, just an 11-hr day, lol - but I think it would be better. We will see what happens with that - client's family must talk to supervisor and arrange and then I will get the word as to if that will officially be changed.
Other than that - Michael and I went to our second ever Scrabble tournament this past weekend in Elyria, OH. It was two full days of Scrabble - fifteen games total - and was a total blast! I won five of the fifteen against a pretty darn good field (there were only four players, including Michael and me, whose ratings were under 900 - my rating was 740), so since my rating only put me in line to win 3 of the 15, my rating will go up by about 43 points. Yay! Michael saw one of the competitors I lost to some days later (who finished, like, third in the competition) and the guy said I'd really scared him; he thought I was going to win! I didn't, but I kept it really close, so I was proud. Another game that I lost was only by 4 points, and I kept it really really close against the guy who eventually won the tournament, too. Very proud of my performance - but I know I still have a ton of work to do on my game! I can do all the two-letter words in my sleep, but I need to be slightly more solid on the threes, and my fours and bingos need a bunch of solidifying, too. It'll be a fun process learning all these new words, though.
And we went to Cheesecake Factory after the tournament was over! I had Kahlua Cocoa Coffee cheesecake - it was reeeeeeeeeally good. :-D I loooooove Cheesecake Factory.
This weekend should be a lot of fun, too. I'm meeting Apryl for coffee tomorrow night, then on Friday Michael's coming and we're going grocery shopping and cooking together. We're hopefully meeting David for lunch on Saturday. For dinner Saturday night Michael and I are going to Gratzi because that's where we go every 10 weeks - and it has been 70 weeks since we met :-D Wow, how time flies! Saturday's also Sweetest Day - so it'll be cute and I'm excited. I wonder if there's anyone good at the comedy club below Seva on Saturday? We went to the comedy club and Gratzi on our first date, and we keep talking about re-creating that sometime..... Then on Sunday Michael and I are going to Wiard's Orchard to do the pumpkin picking, cider mill, hayride, corn maze, other-cool-stuff-to-do-right-before-Halloween thing. I'm excited about that too because I haven't been to Wiard's in eons!!!
I have a new background on my computer: an adorable picture of Lucy, the auction puppy most of you have heard me rave about, as a little teeny puppy! The family that won her sent Mom the picture, and Mom forwarded it on to me. Lucy is toooooo cuuuuute....makes me want a Golden Retriever puppy when I get older and into an apartment complex or something that will let me have a pet. But of course, who knows what life will hold for me - I can't start planning for a dog yet. :-P
Lord knows I can't even plan past the next year....who knows where I'll get a CF job?! The hope is Chicago, but life will plant me where it wants me to be. It's kinda scary knowing that I don't know where I'll be - that a little over two years from now I might be far far away in IOWA of all places - lol but Iowa City's awesome - but that's what life is; you can't always plan for it and you don't know what the future's going to hold when transition times like graduations and going into the work force are ahead. We shall see - but I'm going to try to make my life post-master's-program as conducive to making me happy as possible, in whatever form that ends up taking. How on earth did I get to be 23 and on the cusp of making major life decisions?! Time she flies.
In any case, I'm so totally putting off serious work that it's not even funny. I gotta get going - there's so much I have on my to-do list for today, and I haven't even crossed off one thing on it even though I've been doing stuff since 9:30am! lol
/end procrastination
Bye, everybody - have a great week!
Recently saw Chaim and Sunali when they came into town - coincidentally on the same day, but they didn't end up seeing each other, although I saw both of them. That was lots of fun! Went to Ashley's with Sunali and Michael, and met Chaim at the South U Starbucks.
Am headed to Chicago during the November 16 weekend, and have been invited by Nate to go to DC on the November 10 weekend when he and his fellow novices at the IVEs get their habits - I doubt I'll be able to go, but am going to run it by the Parental Forces That Be and just see if there's a shot I could make it.
Seven to eight more Tuesdays left in the semester - that is unbelievably exciting. I am NOT a huge fan of Tuesdays - and that's not a reflection of any one particular thing I do on Tuesdays, it's just a reflection of the fact that it seems that EVERYTHING I DO IS ON TUESDAYS. Literally, I'm at EMU from 8:30am-8:30pm. I am so ready to not have a 12-hr day anymore! One client's session may change from 9:30-10:30am to 10:30-11:30am, though, so that could give me - well, just an 11-hr day, lol - but I think it would be better. We will see what happens with that - client's family must talk to supervisor and arrange and then I will get the word as to if that will officially be changed.
Other than that - Michael and I went to our second ever Scrabble tournament this past weekend in Elyria, OH. It was two full days of Scrabble - fifteen games total - and was a total blast! I won five of the fifteen against a pretty darn good field (there were only four players, including Michael and me, whose ratings were under 900 - my rating was 740), so since my rating only put me in line to win 3 of the 15, my rating will go up by about 43 points. Yay! Michael saw one of the competitors I lost to some days later (who finished, like, third in the competition) and the guy said I'd really scared him; he thought I was going to win! I didn't, but I kept it really close, so I was proud. Another game that I lost was only by 4 points, and I kept it really really close against the guy who eventually won the tournament, too. Very proud of my performance - but I know I still have a ton of work to do on my game! I can do all the two-letter words in my sleep, but I need to be slightly more solid on the threes, and my fours and bingos need a bunch of solidifying, too. It'll be a fun process learning all these new words, though.
And we went to Cheesecake Factory after the tournament was over! I had Kahlua Cocoa Coffee cheesecake - it was reeeeeeeeeally good. :-D I loooooove Cheesecake Factory.
This weekend should be a lot of fun, too. I'm meeting Apryl for coffee tomorrow night, then on Friday Michael's coming and we're going grocery shopping and cooking together. We're hopefully meeting David for lunch on Saturday. For dinner Saturday night Michael and I are going to Gratzi because that's where we go every 10 weeks - and it has been 70 weeks since we met :-D Wow, how time flies! Saturday's also Sweetest Day - so it'll be cute and I'm excited. I wonder if there's anyone good at the comedy club below Seva on Saturday? We went to the comedy club and Gratzi on our first date, and we keep talking about re-creating that sometime..... Then on Sunday Michael and I are going to Wiard's Orchard to do the pumpkin picking, cider mill, hayride, corn maze, other-cool-stuff-to-do-right-before-Halloween thing. I'm excited about that too because I haven't been to Wiard's in eons!!!
I have a new background on my computer: an adorable picture of Lucy, the auction puppy most of you have heard me rave about, as a little teeny puppy! The family that won her sent Mom the picture, and Mom forwarded it on to me. Lucy is toooooo cuuuuute....makes me want a Golden Retriever puppy when I get older and into an apartment complex or something that will let me have a pet. But of course, who knows what life will hold for me - I can't start planning for a dog yet. :-P
Lord knows I can't even plan past the next year....who knows where I'll get a CF job?! The hope is Chicago, but life will plant me where it wants me to be. It's kinda scary knowing that I don't know where I'll be - that a little over two years from now I might be far far away in IOWA of all places - lol but Iowa City's awesome - but that's what life is; you can't always plan for it and you don't know what the future's going to hold when transition times like graduations and going into the work force are ahead. We shall see - but I'm going to try to make my life post-master's-program as conducive to making me happy as possible, in whatever form that ends up taking. How on earth did I get to be 23 and on the cusp of making major life decisions?! Time she flies.
In any case, I'm so totally putting off serious work that it's not even funny. I gotta get going - there's so much I have on my to-do list for today, and I haven't even crossed off one thing on it even though I've been doing stuff since 9:30am! lol
/end procrastination
Bye, everybody - have a great week!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Clarity in Columbus
As those who have Facebook know, I'm currently in Columbus, OH for the 2007 NATTAP/OCALI Conference, funded kindly by those wonderful people who give out the ASHA SPARC award (for those who don't understand the abbreviations: I'm at an autism conference funded by the money from a research award I got recently.)
The conference has truly been a fascinating experience. I came here wanting to find out more about autism, thinking I might do something related to it or to Asperger's or hyperlexia for a PhD topic over at Iowa when I (hopefully, if I decide to go for the PhD!) go there. I wasn't sure what exactly the conference would do for me.
Two days into it, I've gone to:
"intro to Asperger's"
"how to get typically developing preschoolers to interact with preschoolers who have autism"
"understanding the social framework of kids with autism"
"autism spectrum disorders and slp's: what asd training is needed for undergrads, grads, and professionals"
"autism and AAC"
"autism and ADHD: the connection and differences between the two"
and have learned loads that might help me in looking at past, present, and any potential future clients. But I won't bore anyone with random autism factoids. The major thing I learned from this conference is that I will not be doing an autism-related topic for my PhD. I know now from what I learned that what I had envisioned as a possible group of kids to work with for the rest of my life is not a group that exists under the spectrum, and the work that people do with kids who have autism - while eminently noble, laudable, and impressive - is not work I'd want to be doing for the rest of my life. A few clients, sure, but I'm not sure I'd want a full caseload of kids with autism.
This conclusion was somewhat surprising to me. I really expected to love the conference and be all fired up about autism and this and that. And while what I've learned is fascinating and invaluable - you won't find me specializing in ASD's in ten years.
In other news, despite a harrowing day this past Tuesday (the day I left for this conference - I've rarely been so stressed in my life as I was that day, but IT'S OVER!!!) life is going quite well. Things are moving forward, I'm getting some clarity and some leads as to where my life might go in the future, and I'm just very happy with everything :)
Well, time for me to run off - I've felt like I might be getting sick (stupid lack of sleep from 7am construction every morning!!!) lately and have been sleeping an absolute ton, so it's time for me to take advantage of my last night having absolutely nothing to wake me up at any point, and head to bed! 'Night, all!
The conference has truly been a fascinating experience. I came here wanting to find out more about autism, thinking I might do something related to it or to Asperger's or hyperlexia for a PhD topic over at Iowa when I (hopefully, if I decide to go for the PhD!) go there. I wasn't sure what exactly the conference would do for me.
Two days into it, I've gone to:
"intro to Asperger's"
"how to get typically developing preschoolers to interact with preschoolers who have autism"
"understanding the social framework of kids with autism"
"autism spectrum disorders and slp's: what asd training is needed for undergrads, grads, and professionals"
"autism and AAC"
"autism and ADHD: the connection and differences between the two"
and have learned loads that might help me in looking at past, present, and any potential future clients. But I won't bore anyone with random autism factoids. The major thing I learned from this conference is that I will not be doing an autism-related topic for my PhD. I know now from what I learned that what I had envisioned as a possible group of kids to work with for the rest of my life is not a group that exists under the spectrum, and the work that people do with kids who have autism - while eminently noble, laudable, and impressive - is not work I'd want to be doing for the rest of my life. A few clients, sure, but I'm not sure I'd want a full caseload of kids with autism.
This conclusion was somewhat surprising to me. I really expected to love the conference and be all fired up about autism and this and that. And while what I've learned is fascinating and invaluable - you won't find me specializing in ASD's in ten years.
In other news, despite a harrowing day this past Tuesday (the day I left for this conference - I've rarely been so stressed in my life as I was that day, but IT'S OVER!!!) life is going quite well. Things are moving forward, I'm getting some clarity and some leads as to where my life might go in the future, and I'm just very happy with everything :)
Well, time for me to run off - I've felt like I might be getting sick (stupid lack of sleep from 7am construction every morning!!!) lately and have been sleeping an absolute ton, so it's time for me to take advantage of my last night having absolutely nothing to wake me up at any point, and head to bed! 'Night, all!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
And it begins....
Well, the craziness of a new semester has begun. Fun times have been had - I started Clinic 2, in which I get two clients, and have two other classes besides. The two classes' times and days were messed around with to no end when the new professors took over classes for the former prof after he seems to have disappeared. But luckily I was able to keep both classes because my schedule was open - others weren't so fortunate. There's not been much to do for either class thus far, but of course that's made up for by the mountains of paperwork that are Clinic. It doesn't quite feel like Clinic One times two because I'm way faster at everything now that Clinic 1 taught me more or less how to structure my paperwork...but it's a hoppin' party of wild and craziness nonetheless. :-P
I was correct in my suspicion of who one of my new clients would be, which makes me happy. Both my new clients are really interesting cases and it will be so much fun doing therapy with them this semester! I'm still figuring them both out, but hopefully I'll be up and running with solid therapy sessions soon, and for sure sooner than the about-a-month it took me last semester to get everything solidified with my then-client.
Got to see my little former client in the hall of the Clinic today. That seriously made my day! I had hoped to get that client back for this semester, but if I can't, at least I know now that I can go observe whenever I want because the session time is extraordinarily convenient. :))))))) And we're encouraged to observe other clinicians, anyway!
I'm kind of excited because I just structured some stuff with a professor of mine so that I can meet with her on a regular basis and really get going on some research stuff when the approval comes back from the necessary committee. There's apparently also another girl at EMU, who I haven't met yet, who my prof knows wants to do some research. If I could get in on that, I'd be thrilled! The more research projects I've got, the better - and since a few I thought I was going to be involved in haven't happened due to other people's time constraints, I'm excited to do stuff on my own - where only I am holding myself back in terms of time - and with people who also have the same idea of wanting to do a lot of research. Possible coolness there! I'm also doing a presentation in my professor's class (which I took a year ago and which spawned the paper from which my current research emerged) in mid-October. I'm excited about that too - my research topic is very close to my heart and I welcome a chance to share what I know with other people. I could talk forever on this topic, but I have a feeling I'll be kept to a half hour or so - boo! lol but I shall deal.
Today I get to see Apryl! I am very very excited. I have not seen her in forever!!!! Much to tell her, and I can't wait to hear her stories. I also need to go to the gym, do a lot of Clinic work, study my 3-letter-words if miracles happen and I have time (yeah, right - I have two hours or less as it is, probably :-P), and then Michael comes tonight. Fun times! But it's amusing how no day turns into an entirely-work day where I can just crank Clinic stuff out. I'm having way too much fun now to back out on any social thing, but I can't say I won't relish an entire day to work, if I ever get one, hahaha. A few days in November look like the most likely and soonest candidates for that. By that time, maybe I won't need a work day! lol But there's always stuff to do.
On that note - better get going so I can get some of that "stuff to do" done! But hope everyone is having a wonderful week. Saturday is Michael's and my first competitive Scrabble tournament in Battle Creek - wish us luck!!!
I was correct in my suspicion of who one of my new clients would be, which makes me happy. Both my new clients are really interesting cases and it will be so much fun doing therapy with them this semester! I'm still figuring them both out, but hopefully I'll be up and running with solid therapy sessions soon, and for sure sooner than the about-a-month it took me last semester to get everything solidified with my then-client.
Got to see my little former client in the hall of the Clinic today. That seriously made my day! I had hoped to get that client back for this semester, but if I can't, at least I know now that I can go observe whenever I want because the session time is extraordinarily convenient. :))))))) And we're encouraged to observe other clinicians, anyway!
I'm kind of excited because I just structured some stuff with a professor of mine so that I can meet with her on a regular basis and really get going on some research stuff when the approval comes back from the necessary committee. There's apparently also another girl at EMU, who I haven't met yet, who my prof knows wants to do some research. If I could get in on that, I'd be thrilled! The more research projects I've got, the better - and since a few I thought I was going to be involved in haven't happened due to other people's time constraints, I'm excited to do stuff on my own - where only I am holding myself back in terms of time - and with people who also have the same idea of wanting to do a lot of research. Possible coolness there! I'm also doing a presentation in my professor's class (which I took a year ago and which spawned the paper from which my current research emerged) in mid-October. I'm excited about that too - my research topic is very close to my heart and I welcome a chance to share what I know with other people. I could talk forever on this topic, but I have a feeling I'll be kept to a half hour or so - boo! lol but I shall deal.
Today I get to see Apryl! I am very very excited. I have not seen her in forever!!!! Much to tell her, and I can't wait to hear her stories. I also need to go to the gym, do a lot of Clinic work, study my 3-letter-words if miracles happen and I have time (yeah, right - I have two hours or less as it is, probably :-P), and then Michael comes tonight. Fun times! But it's amusing how no day turns into an entirely-work day where I can just crank Clinic stuff out. I'm having way too much fun now to back out on any social thing, but I can't say I won't relish an entire day to work, if I ever get one, hahaha. A few days in November look like the most likely and soonest candidates for that. By that time, maybe I won't need a work day! lol But there's always stuff to do.
On that note - better get going so I can get some of that "stuff to do" done! But hope everyone is having a wonderful week. Saturday is Michael's and my first competitive Scrabble tournament in Battle Creek - wish us luck!!!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Only about 24 hours of freedom remain....
...and I have enjoyed this freedom way too much to see it go! :( Life has been crazy and busy, but intensely fun. Among the more interesting parts have been the job-that-lasted-a-week,-thankfully, continuing driver's training which is fortunately going well, having two fabulous new roommates move in, and generally getting life in order for the new semester.
Michael spent a week here while I had no roommates, which was awesome :) He's now back in Port Clinton, though :( But I'll see him again on Friday, which is happy! And we'll go with Soumya to the Recent Grad Reunion casino night and all that. While he was here we went to a wedding in Ohio, which was really pretty but which they held outside (not sure why anyone would get married outside - hello, rain? hello, wind and messy hair? dirt to mess up outfits? I could go on and on....hahaha) and at which they played Disney songs...not my cup of tea, but cool if that's what floats your boat! :-P
We also played lots of Scrabble, so much that I literally had to start a Scrabble file in my file cabinet to keep all the score sheets!! hahaha sooooo much fun. I rule the short words and the overlapping/stacking plays that get 25-40 points with just a few letters...Michael's better than me at the 7-letter word (bingo) plays, though. Which probably means he's in better shape than I am to do well at Scrabble tournaments, since you can more easily study a sheet of three-letter words than you can study the millions of seven, eight, and nine letter words that comprise bingos. But I win more games than he does nowadays....so we'll see. :)
Our first tournament is September 22 in Battle Creek. It's one full day and seven games - we've been trying to play several seven-game days over at Starbucks so that we can prepare for not just one or two games like living-room Scrabble, but actually seven full and challenging games against players who have rankings and who may be more prepared than we are (we're studying, but having not been to tournaments yet, we have no idea what we're up against!) I'm just hoping to finish respectably, seriously. I refuse to finish dead last! But anything better than, like, middle-of-the-pack will thrill me. I will make goals for future tournaments after this first one...but I can't say "I want to finish first! or in the top five!" or whatever until I know from one tournament if that sort of goal (even in the bottom division, where we'll be playing) is feasible or if it's just a pipe dream. Again, we shall see :)
We also went to the Lifehouse/Goo Goo Dolls concert at Freedom Hill on August 26. It was so completely awesome!!!! Although I'm biased - Lifehouse is, like, my favorite band EVER EVER EVER - I do think Lifehouse was objectively better than the Goo Goo Dolls because you could actually hear the lyrics Jason Wade was singing, the background beat/accompaniment wasn't so overpowering, Lifehouse had a better set list, and Jason Wade just has a better voice than Johnny Rzeznik (Jason is like my height though - he's really short and it's slightly disturbing!) But don't get me wrong - both were great, and the entire concert was amazing!
Classes start tomorrow for me, meaning that soon I'll find out what this new professor who's taking over the original professor's classes is like...and I'll also find out who my new Clinic 2 clients are! I'm sooooo excited about that. I have a suspicion I know who one of them is...if I'm correct, that'll be really interesting and quite a challenge but an exciting one!!! I love being a speech therapist :-DDDD
In the coming time, Soumya and Tasia will both be visiting me, Soumya this week and Tasia at the end of October. Can't wait to see both girls - haven't seen them in forever!!!
I'd better run so that I can get a few emails done to important people and then start my Scrabble studying - today's free, but after today who knows how much time I'll have, so I should tackle it full throttle when I can!! Hope everyone's having a great summer end/fall beginning!
Michael spent a week here while I had no roommates, which was awesome :) He's now back in Port Clinton, though :( But I'll see him again on Friday, which is happy! And we'll go with Soumya to the Recent Grad Reunion casino night and all that. While he was here we went to a wedding in Ohio, which was really pretty but which they held outside (not sure why anyone would get married outside - hello, rain? hello, wind and messy hair? dirt to mess up outfits? I could go on and on....hahaha) and at which they played Disney songs...not my cup of tea, but cool if that's what floats your boat! :-P
We also played lots of Scrabble, so much that I literally had to start a Scrabble file in my file cabinet to keep all the score sheets!! hahaha sooooo much fun. I rule the short words and the overlapping/stacking plays that get 25-40 points with just a few letters...Michael's better than me at the 7-letter word (bingo) plays, though. Which probably means he's in better shape than I am to do well at Scrabble tournaments, since you can more easily study a sheet of three-letter words than you can study the millions of seven, eight, and nine letter words that comprise bingos. But I win more games than he does nowadays....so we'll see. :)
Our first tournament is September 22 in Battle Creek. It's one full day and seven games - we've been trying to play several seven-game days over at Starbucks so that we can prepare for not just one or two games like living-room Scrabble, but actually seven full and challenging games against players who have rankings and who may be more prepared than we are (we're studying, but having not been to tournaments yet, we have no idea what we're up against!) I'm just hoping to finish respectably, seriously. I refuse to finish dead last! But anything better than, like, middle-of-the-pack will thrill me. I will make goals for future tournaments after this first one...but I can't say "I want to finish first! or in the top five!" or whatever until I know from one tournament if that sort of goal (even in the bottom division, where we'll be playing) is feasible or if it's just a pipe dream. Again, we shall see :)
We also went to the Lifehouse/Goo Goo Dolls concert at Freedom Hill on August 26. It was so completely awesome!!!! Although I'm biased - Lifehouse is, like, my favorite band EVER EVER EVER - I do think Lifehouse was objectively better than the Goo Goo Dolls because you could actually hear the lyrics Jason Wade was singing, the background beat/accompaniment wasn't so overpowering, Lifehouse had a better set list, and Jason Wade just has a better voice than Johnny Rzeznik (Jason is like my height though - he's really short and it's slightly disturbing!) But don't get me wrong - both were great, and the entire concert was amazing!
Classes start tomorrow for me, meaning that soon I'll find out what this new professor who's taking over the original professor's classes is like...and I'll also find out who my new Clinic 2 clients are! I'm sooooo excited about that. I have a suspicion I know who one of them is...if I'm correct, that'll be really interesting and quite a challenge but an exciting one!!! I love being a speech therapist :-DDDD
In the coming time, Soumya and Tasia will both be visiting me, Soumya this week and Tasia at the end of October. Can't wait to see both girls - haven't seen them in forever!!!
I'd better run so that I can get a few emails done to important people and then start my Scrabble studying - today's free, but after today who knows how much time I'll have, so I should tackle it full throttle when I can!! Hope everyone's having a great summer end/fall beginning!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Survey stolen from Snu!
TEN WHATS:
1. What was the first thing you thought about when you woke up?
I start driving lessons today - nervous!
2. What did you do last night?
Talked to Michael on the phone and played online Scrabble...I'm such a nerd :)
3. What is the most important part of your life right now?
Planning, beginning to plan, and - as always - maintaining close contact with everybody I care about!
4. What would you rather be doing right now?
Feeling really productive and/or hanging out with Michael!!
5. What did you last cry over?
Grrrrr - beginning of July, being unfairly penalized for what I didn't think/know was wrong...
6. What always makes you feel better when you're upset?
I'll agree with Sunali - getting hugs from people I love. Sure made me feel better that time, even though I didn't expect a certain wonderful MRB to drive all the way from Ohio and visit me that night! :))) Also, making up my mind that it is just not worth it to be sad because what is done is done - and moving the heck on with my awesome life!
7. What are your plans tomorrow?
I have no idea during the day! Perhaps job training, perhaps swimming, perhaps getting together with people....perhaps all of the above? But Michael will be here at night for sure - yay!
8. What's the most important thing you look for in a significant other?
I'll agree with Sunali - a good heart.
9. What are you worried about?
Driving and making the best plans for my life
10. What are you looking forward to most in this week?
Seeing Michael, perhaps beginning job training, and moving into the bigger room in the apt. on Saturday!
NINE HAVE-YOU-EVERS:
1. Have you ever liked someone with a girlfriend/boyfriend?
Sure, haven't we all?! :-P But I've always come to the conclusion pretty quickly that it's better to keep looking and not waste time on someone who may or may not eventually break up with their significant other and who at that time may or may not at whatever point decide you are the better choice for them!
2. Have you ever had your heart broken?
Meh - I don't buy the terminology. Have I been sad over guy-related issues, sure. But has anything ever "broken" me or caused me to have "baggage" in any way?! Heck no.
3. Have you ever played a sport on a team?
Hahaha - not unless you count gym class, when I had to. I am soooooo not an athlete!
4.Have you ever been out of the country?
Yep! New Zealand when I was ten, Cancun, Mexico when I was thirteen, Paris when I was sixteen, and Barcelona when I was twenty. Oh, and Canada a bunch of times, but everyone's been there. Should I count Puerto Rico, which happened just before I turned twenty-one?
5. Have you ever back stabbed a friend?
I agree with Sunali - If I have, I didn't do it knowingly...
6. Have you ever been back stabbed by a friend?
I can remember a time or two - what's important with those is just to get yourself over it when that happens :)
7. Have you ever had the cops called on you?
No. Haha. I'm ridiculously straight-edge.
8. Have you ever dated someone younger then you?
Briefly - no harm done, but no intention to do THAT again!
9. Have you ever read an entire book in one day?
I'll agree with Sunali - so many. I was a bookworm growing up. But I don't really make that much time to read anymore, simply because there's always something else to do! (and that something else is often, but not always, of the more-interesting-than-reading sort!)
EIGHT WHOS:
1. Who was the last person you saw?
Cristina, yesterday at B-Dubs!
2. Who was the last person you hugged?
Cristina, saying bye as she went off to St. Mary's and I ventured over to the gym for my second workout of the day...lol
3. Who was the last person you called?
Michael :-D
4. Who was the last person to call you?
Michael :-D
5. Who was your first crush?
Hahaha....a kid in my class when I was in first grade
6. Who was the last person to text you?
Michael
7.Who is the last person you texted?
Michael
8. Who did you last yell at?
I agree with Snu - I don't even know. I don't yell at people.
SEVEN WHENS:
1. When was your last shower?
Last night after the gym!
2. When did you last see your mom?
Yesterday
3. When was your last hug?
Yesterday
4. When did you last dress up?
Ummmm....last wore a skirt and cute top last weekend, last wore a full-out dress on....my birthday was probably the last time?
5. When was the last time you cried?
Beginning of July
6. When did you last go to the movie theater?
Tuesday to see Harry Potter...I hardly ever go to the movies, though!
7.When were you born?
March 25, 1984 at 4:30pm
SIX WHERES:
1. Where does your best friend live?
There are several people whom I could consider "best" friends - three that come to mind immediately live in Oak Park, IL, Port Clinton, OH, and Rio Piedras, PR.
2. Where did you last go?
The gym, last night
3. Where did you last hang out?
I'm currently hanging out at Espresso Royale on State Street :)
4. Where do you go to school?
EMU
5. Where is your favorite place to be?
I don't even know. Somewhere where there's lots of stuff to do!
6. Where did you sleep last night?
My bed, in my room in the apt.
FIVE DO/DOES:
1. Do you like someone right now?
Yes. Or love. Whatever you prefer. :)
2. Do they like you too?
Yes. Or love. :)
3. Do you ever wish you were someone else?
I agree with Sunali - ew no, why?
4. Do you know the muffin man?
Of course. He's muffin, like you expect him to be.
5. Does the future scare you?
Kind of, although I try not to let it.
FOUR WHYS:
1. Why are you best friends with your best friend?
The people I could consider "best" friends are people I have great conversations with, who know they can tell me anything and to whom I can tell anything.
2. Why did you get a myspace?
I don't have one!
3. Why did your parents give you the name you have?
My mom just loved the name Heather - and Marie, my middle name, has been sparsely passed down through the family (although, as the Facebook group says, "Hey! My middle name is Marie, and so is hers, and so is hers!" - it's eeeeevery girl's middle name!!!)
4. Why are you doing this survey?
I like surveys and I wanted to update my blog
THREE IFS:
1. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
Telling the future!!! Being able to alter any decisions now to make myself and everyone I care about the happiest in the long run.
2. If you could go back in time and change one thing, would you?
No - I have no regrets :)))
3. If you were stranded on a desert island and could bring one thing, what would it be?
Whatever contraption - a boat, maybe? - could bring me OFF the desert island!!!
TWO WOULD-YOU-EVERS:
1. Would you ever be friends with someone again who you said you never would be friends with again?
Depends on the person and the circumstances. I don't think I'm currently friends with anyone I've ever vowed never to be friends with again, though.
2. Would you ever shave your head to save the person you love?
Sure, if that's what had to be done - but hopefully shaving my head would never be the one action that would save anyone, cuz I love my hair!
ONE LAST QUESTION:
Are you happy with your life right now?
Yes!
1. What was the first thing you thought about when you woke up?
I start driving lessons today - nervous!
2. What did you do last night?
Talked to Michael on the phone and played online Scrabble...I'm such a nerd :)
3. What is the most important part of your life right now?
Planning, beginning to plan, and - as always - maintaining close contact with everybody I care about!
4. What would you rather be doing right now?
Feeling really productive and/or hanging out with Michael!!
5. What did you last cry over?
Grrrrr - beginning of July, being unfairly penalized for what I didn't think/know was wrong...
6. What always makes you feel better when you're upset?
I'll agree with Sunali - getting hugs from people I love. Sure made me feel better that time, even though I didn't expect a certain wonderful MRB to drive all the way from Ohio and visit me that night! :))) Also, making up my mind that it is just not worth it to be sad because what is done is done - and moving the heck on with my awesome life!
7. What are your plans tomorrow?
I have no idea during the day! Perhaps job training, perhaps swimming, perhaps getting together with people....perhaps all of the above? But Michael will be here at night for sure - yay!
8. What's the most important thing you look for in a significant other?
I'll agree with Sunali - a good heart.
9. What are you worried about?
Driving and making the best plans for my life
10. What are you looking forward to most in this week?
Seeing Michael, perhaps beginning job training, and moving into the bigger room in the apt. on Saturday!
NINE HAVE-YOU-EVERS:
1. Have you ever liked someone with a girlfriend/boyfriend?
Sure, haven't we all?! :-P But I've always come to the conclusion pretty quickly that it's better to keep looking and not waste time on someone who may or may not eventually break up with their significant other and who at that time may or may not at whatever point decide you are the better choice for them!
2. Have you ever had your heart broken?
Meh - I don't buy the terminology. Have I been sad over guy-related issues, sure. But has anything ever "broken" me or caused me to have "baggage" in any way?! Heck no.
3. Have you ever played a sport on a team?
Hahaha - not unless you count gym class, when I had to. I am soooooo not an athlete!
4.Have you ever been out of the country?
Yep! New Zealand when I was ten, Cancun, Mexico when I was thirteen, Paris when I was sixteen, and Barcelona when I was twenty. Oh, and Canada a bunch of times, but everyone's been there. Should I count Puerto Rico, which happened just before I turned twenty-one?
5. Have you ever back stabbed a friend?
I agree with Sunali - If I have, I didn't do it knowingly...
6. Have you ever been back stabbed by a friend?
I can remember a time or two - what's important with those is just to get yourself over it when that happens :)
7. Have you ever had the cops called on you?
No. Haha. I'm ridiculously straight-edge.
8. Have you ever dated someone younger then you?
Briefly - no harm done, but no intention to do THAT again!
9. Have you ever read an entire book in one day?
I'll agree with Sunali - so many. I was a bookworm growing up. But I don't really make that much time to read anymore, simply because there's always something else to do! (and that something else is often, but not always, of the more-interesting-than-reading sort!)
EIGHT WHOS:
1. Who was the last person you saw?
Cristina, yesterday at B-Dubs!
2. Who was the last person you hugged?
Cristina, saying bye as she went off to St. Mary's and I ventured over to the gym for my second workout of the day...lol
3. Who was the last person you called?
Michael :-D
4. Who was the last person to call you?
Michael :-D
5. Who was your first crush?
Hahaha....a kid in my class when I was in first grade
6. Who was the last person to text you?
Michael
7.Who is the last person you texted?
Michael
8. Who did you last yell at?
I agree with Snu - I don't even know. I don't yell at people.
SEVEN WHENS:
1. When was your last shower?
Last night after the gym!
2. When did you last see your mom?
Yesterday
3. When was your last hug?
Yesterday
4. When did you last dress up?
Ummmm....last wore a skirt and cute top last weekend, last wore a full-out dress on....my birthday was probably the last time?
5. When was the last time you cried?
Beginning of July
6. When did you last go to the movie theater?
Tuesday to see Harry Potter...I hardly ever go to the movies, though!
7.When were you born?
March 25, 1984 at 4:30pm
SIX WHERES:
1. Where does your best friend live?
There are several people whom I could consider "best" friends - three that come to mind immediately live in Oak Park, IL, Port Clinton, OH, and Rio Piedras, PR.
2. Where did you last go?
The gym, last night
3. Where did you last hang out?
I'm currently hanging out at Espresso Royale on State Street :)
4. Where do you go to school?
EMU
5. Where is your favorite place to be?
I don't even know. Somewhere where there's lots of stuff to do!
6. Where did you sleep last night?
My bed, in my room in the apt.
FIVE DO/DOES:
1. Do you like someone right now?
Yes. Or love. Whatever you prefer. :)
2. Do they like you too?
Yes. Or love. :)
3. Do you ever wish you were someone else?
I agree with Sunali - ew no, why?
4. Do you know the muffin man?
Of course. He's muffin, like you expect him to be.
5. Does the future scare you?
Kind of, although I try not to let it.
FOUR WHYS:
1. Why are you best friends with your best friend?
The people I could consider "best" friends are people I have great conversations with, who know they can tell me anything and to whom I can tell anything.
2. Why did you get a myspace?
I don't have one!
3. Why did your parents give you the name you have?
My mom just loved the name Heather - and Marie, my middle name, has been sparsely passed down through the family (although, as the Facebook group says, "Hey! My middle name is Marie, and so is hers, and so is hers!" - it's eeeeevery girl's middle name!!!)
4. Why are you doing this survey?
I like surveys and I wanted to update my blog
THREE IFS:
1. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
Telling the future!!! Being able to alter any decisions now to make myself and everyone I care about the happiest in the long run.
2. If you could go back in time and change one thing, would you?
No - I have no regrets :)))
3. If you were stranded on a desert island and could bring one thing, what would it be?
Whatever contraption - a boat, maybe? - could bring me OFF the desert island!!!
TWO WOULD-YOU-EVERS:
1. Would you ever be friends with someone again who you said you never would be friends with again?
Depends on the person and the circumstances. I don't think I'm currently friends with anyone I've ever vowed never to be friends with again, though.
2. Would you ever shave your head to save the person you love?
Sure, if that's what had to be done - but hopefully shaving my head would never be the one action that would save anyone, cuz I love my hair!
ONE LAST QUESTION:
Are you happy with your life right now?
Yes!
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Everything Meep (or, It's Been Far Too Long Since I Updated So Prepare for a Long One)
So much has happened since my last post here, which was apparently about three weeks ago. Wow - how time flies! I'm so busy that I barely noticed we were getting into August here. This is good because I'm soon done completely with summer classes and with Clinic, and then I get a break till about September 5! The break thing thrills me to no end, but I'm like - what the cwap am I going to do with myself?! I am a huge fan of, and used to, filling my days up with this and that and going here and there and being very active because I have things to do, places to go, people to see, and all that. But the end of classes and Clinic means that my 'things to do' list is going to grow a lot shorter, and I'm not sure I'll know what the heck I'm supposed to be doing with my time! My hope is to be able to get together with a lot of people and to have a lot of different places I'm going and random fun things I've decided to do, so that I don't go absolutely nutty with boredom, haha.
I look at my life in the past few weeks and I think - shouldn't I be ready to do nothing, since I've been doing so much this past while?! But that's not the way I work and it never has been - I thrive on being active. Some of the stories of what I'm doing when I'm active are interesting and some are not - but here's a sampling for those of you who are curious:
Finishing up Clinic 1! My goodness, how the semester has flown....I had my last session with my little client on Monday and the family conference on Wednesday. Both went excellently, and the family said this is the first semester of therapy during which they saw instant and noticeable results and he's speaking more clearly automatically. That was SO COOL!!!! I'm like - I LOVE MY JOB. :) My final conference with my supervisor is Monday the 6th - I'm pretty darn sure I'm getting an A and am super-excited. My little client has made SO MUCH PROGRESS and I am SO PROUD OF HIM!!!! :-DDDDDD
The SPARC award! I knew I wouldn't get this - I just knew it. But I got an email night before last - and I got the award!!!! This was followed by a letter from ASHA and a call from the ASHA head of this award - I totally just got $1500 to go to two conferences (Moebius Syndrome Conference in July 2008 and National Autism Training and Technical Asssistance Program Conference Sept 26-28, 2007 in Columbus) and to go to Iowa again! Am super-excited and so are my parents :) The award was the Students Preparing for Academic and Research Careers award for outstanding research - I applied on the basis of my Moebius research - and it gave you $1500 to do stuff that supported your research. I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!
The grad assistantship thing. Applied for three grad assistantships, didn't hear back from any, gave up sort of on that. Then yesterday - within like 12-24 hours of hearing about the SPARC award - I got an email from one of the assistantships, and they want to interview me! My interview is next Friday at 11am, and I am SUPER EXCITED. What this is, is full tuition paid, plus a $10,000 stipend. I MUST get this job!!!!!!! I am so determined. I'm reading interview tips and everything.
Also am finally going to be going gung-ho on the process to get my driver's license. I know - finally, right?! I have had so little luck getting that going in the past while. Even this time was tough - but it'll finally start happening on August 7. That day I'm actually going to be taking the written test to get my learner's permit for driving. Tried a bit ago, but what's going on is that I failed the idiot vision test (you have to be 20/20 to pass it and I'm not) so I had to go over and get my eye doctor to sign a form telling them that my acuity is not 20/20 but still okay to drive....and then it turns out that in order to have her sign that form I have to have had an eye appointment in the last six months, and I was about due for a year, so I made an eye appointment that day and am gonna, in one day, finish up summer classes, have an eye appointment, get my form signed that my vision is okay, take the written driver's test, and get my learner's permit.
Also, as I said in my earlier post, July 12-14 I went to the University of Iowa to check their PhD program out - loved it! PhD looking somewhat likely depending on, 1) if I get a job doing clinic work plus research for my CFY (year after I graduate) like I want to and 2) if I like said job and definitely decide I want research as a part of my career. I so want to find a CFY position in Chicago because I LOVE IT THERE!!!!
Oh, and I twisted my ankle on July 4! It was probably a stress fracture, but whatever it was, it made it impossible to go to the gym for four whole weeks! That made me sad - but there was just a little too much random pain and tenderness for me to feel comfortable doing that, and I didn't want to hurt my foot further!!!!!! I went back on Sunday though for the first time, and it was a little tougher than usual but not surprisingly so, considering that my muscles had four weeks to forget what I had been forcing them to do.
Also walked around the Art Fair a few weekends ago with Allison and then Michael - bought a really cool wooden painted cat figurine with wings and a blackjack "bug" from the Bug-Ems booth. I LOVE THE ART FAIR!!! :)
Also went to CHICAGO!!!!! I love that city. I was there from Thurs of this past week to Sunday afternoon, and just had the BEST time. Cassandra didn't get off work till 7 when I got in at 12:30, so I took the El (Red and Orange Lines) to Michigan Ave and went shopping...so much shopping there, so much to do, so exciting!!!!!! Then I took the Blue Line back to Cassandra's in Oak Park. We went out for margaritas that night, then Fri Cassandra worked and I hung out with Sunali at a really cool coffee shop called Lavazza. We hung out with Cassandra's PT friends - and then went to salsa dancing lessons! I am certainly no dancer...lol...but it was fun :) Saturday we went out for the birthday of Sonja, one of Cassandra's PT friends - we went out for Chinese, saw some really cool fireworks, and then hung out at the apartment of one of the girls' church group leaders. (We were on the rooftop deck briefly, but that closed at 10:30 so they kicked us out!) SO MUCH FUN. I so want to live there after I graduate. :))))
Times ahead are busy again - Michael's coming tonight, we're going back to Port Clinton tomorrow, then we're hanging out with Chris and Rachel, doing a bunch of stuff at Michael's office, possibly going to my cousin's 10th birthday party on Sunday, and all such things. Hope everyone has a great day!!!!
I look at my life in the past few weeks and I think - shouldn't I be ready to do nothing, since I've been doing so much this past while?! But that's not the way I work and it never has been - I thrive on being active. Some of the stories of what I'm doing when I'm active are interesting and some are not - but here's a sampling for those of you who are curious:
Finishing up Clinic 1! My goodness, how the semester has flown....I had my last session with my little client on Monday and the family conference on Wednesday. Both went excellently, and the family said this is the first semester of therapy during which they saw instant and noticeable results and he's speaking more clearly automatically. That was SO COOL!!!! I'm like - I LOVE MY JOB. :) My final conference with my supervisor is Monday the 6th - I'm pretty darn sure I'm getting an A and am super-excited. My little client has made SO MUCH PROGRESS and I am SO PROUD OF HIM!!!! :-DDDDDD
The SPARC award! I knew I wouldn't get this - I just knew it. But I got an email night before last - and I got the award!!!! This was followed by a letter from ASHA and a call from the ASHA head of this award - I totally just got $1500 to go to two conferences (Moebius Syndrome Conference in July 2008 and National Autism Training and Technical Asssistance Program Conference Sept 26-28, 2007 in Columbus) and to go to Iowa again! Am super-excited and so are my parents :) The award was the Students Preparing for Academic and Research Careers award for outstanding research - I applied on the basis of my Moebius research - and it gave you $1500 to do stuff that supported your research. I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!
The grad assistantship thing. Applied for three grad assistantships, didn't hear back from any, gave up sort of on that. Then yesterday - within like 12-24 hours of hearing about the SPARC award - I got an email from one of the assistantships, and they want to interview me! My interview is next Friday at 11am, and I am SUPER EXCITED. What this is, is full tuition paid, plus a $10,000 stipend. I MUST get this job!!!!!!! I am so determined. I'm reading interview tips and everything.
Also am finally going to be going gung-ho on the process to get my driver's license. I know - finally, right?! I have had so little luck getting that going in the past while. Even this time was tough - but it'll finally start happening on August 7. That day I'm actually going to be taking the written test to get my learner's permit for driving. Tried a bit ago, but what's going on is that I failed the idiot vision test (you have to be 20/20 to pass it and I'm not) so I had to go over and get my eye doctor to sign a form telling them that my acuity is not 20/20 but still okay to drive....and then it turns out that in order to have her sign that form I have to have had an eye appointment in the last six months, and I was about due for a year, so I made an eye appointment that day and am gonna, in one day, finish up summer classes, have an eye appointment, get my form signed that my vision is okay, take the written driver's test, and get my learner's permit.
Also, as I said in my earlier post, July 12-14 I went to the University of Iowa to check their PhD program out - loved it! PhD looking somewhat likely depending on, 1) if I get a job doing clinic work plus research for my CFY (year after I graduate) like I want to and 2) if I like said job and definitely decide I want research as a part of my career. I so want to find a CFY position in Chicago because I LOVE IT THERE!!!!
Oh, and I twisted my ankle on July 4! It was probably a stress fracture, but whatever it was, it made it impossible to go to the gym for four whole weeks! That made me sad - but there was just a little too much random pain and tenderness for me to feel comfortable doing that, and I didn't want to hurt my foot further!!!!!! I went back on Sunday though for the first time, and it was a little tougher than usual but not surprisingly so, considering that my muscles had four weeks to forget what I had been forcing them to do.
Also walked around the Art Fair a few weekends ago with Allison and then Michael - bought a really cool wooden painted cat figurine with wings and a blackjack "bug" from the Bug-Ems booth. I LOVE THE ART FAIR!!! :)
Also went to CHICAGO!!!!! I love that city. I was there from Thurs of this past week to Sunday afternoon, and just had the BEST time. Cassandra didn't get off work till 7 when I got in at 12:30, so I took the El (Red and Orange Lines) to Michigan Ave and went shopping...so much shopping there, so much to do, so exciting!!!!!! Then I took the Blue Line back to Cassandra's in Oak Park. We went out for margaritas that night, then Fri Cassandra worked and I hung out with Sunali at a really cool coffee shop called Lavazza. We hung out with Cassandra's PT friends - and then went to salsa dancing lessons! I am certainly no dancer...lol...but it was fun :) Saturday we went out for the birthday of Sonja, one of Cassandra's PT friends - we went out for Chinese, saw some really cool fireworks, and then hung out at the apartment of one of the girls' church group leaders. (We were on the rooftop deck briefly, but that closed at 10:30 so they kicked us out!) SO MUCH FUN. I so want to live there after I graduate. :))))
Times ahead are busy again - Michael's coming tonight, we're going back to Port Clinton tomorrow, then we're hanging out with Chris and Rachel, doing a bunch of stuff at Michael's office, possibly going to my cousin's 10th birthday party on Sunday, and all such things. Hope everyone has a great day!!!!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
I'm new, snazzy, and re-located!
So Blogspot is, I decided, just...cooler. The actual website is more fun-looking, and since I hadn't posted on my livejournal for about a month due to craziness in schedule and trying to do a million things at once, I decided this might be a good time to switch.
So.....reeeeeeead meeeeeeee!!! :) lol
New excitements in life include something that I just got home from: my visit to the speech pathology PhD program at the University of Iowa. I will post more about that later - there is so much to say! - but Michael is just about to arrive here, so I will have to depart quickly :)
Other than that, I am planning a visit to Chicago the last weekend of July, Thurs-Sun, to visit Cassandra and hopefully Sunali too :) I love Chicago! Next weekend is Art Fair and I am super-psyched to walk around.
My foot is still not entirely healed from twisting it on the Fourth - ouch! I can walk normally and everything, but occasionally there is minor pain which prevents me from thinking I'd be safe venturing over to the gym. This does not please me. I miss the gym and want desperately to return - yet if I will further injure myself, it's not a good idea! Sigh.
That's it for now - way more to come as I experiment with this funky new blog format. :) But hope everyone is having a great day - talk to you all later!
So.....reeeeeeead meeeeeeee!!! :) lol
New excitements in life include something that I just got home from: my visit to the speech pathology PhD program at the University of Iowa. I will post more about that later - there is so much to say! - but Michael is just about to arrive here, so I will have to depart quickly :)
Other than that, I am planning a visit to Chicago the last weekend of July, Thurs-Sun, to visit Cassandra and hopefully Sunali too :) I love Chicago! Next weekend is Art Fair and I am super-psyched to walk around.
My foot is still not entirely healed from twisting it on the Fourth - ouch! I can walk normally and everything, but occasionally there is minor pain which prevents me from thinking I'd be safe venturing over to the gym. This does not please me. I miss the gym and want desperately to return - yet if I will further injure myself, it's not a good idea! Sigh.
That's it for now - way more to come as I experiment with this funky new blog format. :) But hope everyone is having a great day - talk to you all later!
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