So good in their day

View with caution. . . I was inspired to take this trip down memory lane by an episode of He-Man I ran across.

Texas

I've been back just long enough to make new travel arrangements and will by flying to Houston on Wednesday. This time I'm not traveling for a conference but to do some work with a Crisis Counseling Program following Hurricane Ike. I'm very excited. Should be spicy.

Chicago

I just returned from a trip to Chicago, where I attended the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies Annual Conference. I am a proud member. It was a great conference and I really enjoyed many of the speakers and presenters.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the city. I attended Second City, which is always a good time. I think anyone who goes to Chicago should go. I did some shopping with my-coworker, took in Lake Michigan, and enjoyed some excellent fare. The weather was cloudy, cold, and windy the entire time, as to be expected.



I also inadvertently but proudly joined a gay rights demonstration.

Return to Denvah

I just got back from a great weekend in Denver visiting Nick. It was such a nice break - work has been so super busy lately. I really appreciated the chance to slow down for a couple of days, even though it was so short. The whole time was so restful and pleasant, it was quite a shock to come back to a hectic day of work. Fortunately, I leave for Chicago on Wednesday - off to another conference!

Cabin John

I found a fantastic park very close to my house, Cabin John Regional Park. The name leaves quite a bit to be desired, and I haven't read enough literature at the park to know where it comes from, but the park itself is great. It is surprisingly large, given its location. It has tons of trails for running and hiking, and with the large amount of trees, it gives the impression of having left the city. My run this morning through the park was especially gorgeous because the trees are currently a range of brilliant colors.

You should all come see it before the leaves fall off.

You take the good, You take the bad

Tudy, you in trouble?

First the bad. My credit card and two debit cards were stolen. And used. It does not feel good, and it's quite a nuisance to deal with. I am hopeful, however, that I will not be responsible for the charges incurred.

Both good and bad. During the exciting Bartel Ikea extravaganza, I purchased some bamboo for my cubicle - two stalks (not a lucky number, I know). One of them has grown and flourished. Treating each equally, it is unclear to me why the other has chosen to whither and die. Perhaps I did not treat it with as much dignity as the Swiss. Since I have gone to Ikea on a mission for curtains for my sister, I was able to buy another stalk. Hopefully it will do better.





The good. My friend Amber was in town for an archeology convention, and we were able to hang out. I had a great time visiting with her. We ate at one of my favorite restaurants, Cafe Zorba. We also took a ghost tour of dupont circle. It was a walking tour in which the guides shared spooking happenings in buildings in the neighborhood. Good times.

Before the Crack

I got up at my usual time this morning (6:30 am) and was faced with the age-old choice: get out of bed or hit the snooze. I thought about my average snoozing time, and realized just how much I could get done every morning if I just rolled out of bed. Feeling inspired, I turned off the alarm, got up, and went for a run around my neighborhood. I can't believe how dark and cold it was! There was not even a hint of a rising sun anywhere. I can't say this experience will cause me to shorten my snooze time in the long run.

Last night I was going to attend the High-Heel Drag Race (exactly what it sounds like), an annual event in DC. However, "visible smoke" spotted on the red line metro prevented me getting there. Bummer.

The Finished Product

Here are my pie and little loaf of bread.

Yummy. . .

I am currently overwhelmed with the good smells of baking bread and apple pie. I am anxiously waiting for both of these items to come out of the oven, and can hardly stand the tempting aroma. Besides these two culinary delights, I also made a very tasty fruit smoothie this morning. I have spent more time cooking today than I have cumulatively for the past six months. I also may have gotten my fill for the next six.

Bet on Red

Atlantic City was a great trip. It was a fun city to visit and suprisingly productive.



The beach was fantastic, even though it was so cold.



So. . . when he heard I was going to Atlantic City, Nick told me to bet $100 on red. I didn't take this seriously. Roulette has never been my choice in a casino. In addition - betting $100 dollars at once goes against every Mennonite bone in my body. Today was the last day of our conference, and I had gotten through the trip losing less than $30 in slots. After the conference ended we packed up, had all of our stuff in the car, and were ready to leave without any roulette. At the last minute I drug my co-worker back into the casino. After twenty minutes of staring at the roulette table, I finally stepped up, changed some money, and bet $100 on red. And I won. I took my $200 and got as far away from the casino as I could. Here's a pic of me and my winnings.

My Mom, the Rock Star

Having finally gotten around to uploading some pictures, I want to share from a great weekend I had about a month ago. My mom came out to visit me. It was awesome to have her here and to explore a little more of the city with her. Reprising our first trip to DC about twelve years ago, we did some paddle boating on the tidal basin.


My housemates and I also introduced my mom to Rock Band. This is her playing some Aerosmith - definitely a natural rocker.



We also bought me a dresser and chair from Ikea, the assembly of which consumed an entire evening.

I can't wait for her to come back!

Atlantic City!

Woo-hoo! I'm in Atlantic City. I'm here to attend a conference for work. We have a small event tonight, but most of the day has been spent getting here, gambling, and checking out the city. I'm staying at the Tropicana - the "most exciting casino in Atlantic City". That's according to them, however, so I'll wait awhile before I concur. It is looking promising, though. It's pretty nice to be right on the beach, although I feel like I would enjoy that a lot more at a different time of the year. So far I've checked out the boardwalk, some Trump Casino, Caesar's, and the Wild West Casino. All very spicy.

What exactly do I do?

Before I even got this job I was discussing with my good German friend Raphael what exactly "technical assistance" is. He could not conceptualize the use of the word "technical" to mean anything beyond having to do with technology. He made a good point. However, as a technical assistance specialist, I do very little with technology, and still manage to fulfill my job description.

So far I would say that my job takes on two major functions - helping states implement crisis counseling following a disaster and improving how we do crisis counseling. The latter being a fairly lofty goal that I certainly won't fulfill on my own.

Did that clear everything up?

Ikea

This weekend I had the pleasure of seeing some of my favorite cousins while eating sweedish meatballs and shopping for scandinavian modern style furniture. Amy, Jonathan, and Chelsae all made the trek to Virginia to shop at Ikea, where I joined them. It was so good to see them! This is the closest I've lived to any cousin in a long while.

Besides that, the job is going very well. I'm still in the pretty steep part of the learning curve, but getting there. It's really interesting, and hopefully that will continue.

Ultimate Frisbee

So I joined an ultimate frisbee team. Seemed like the thing to do. Today we had our first game. The team got together last weekend to meet and practice, but I was in Denver, so I was unable to go. Our game was held in Anacostia, a neighborhood in DC.

Wikipedia reports:

Anacostia, today, is primarily known for its excessive crime rates that reached a peak in the 1990's. After decades of neglect, crime has been a major problem in this area of the city.

My friends report:

Don't go there.

Fortunately my game was held in the middle of the afternoon. The neighborhood was definitely not driver friendly. With lots of construction and one-ways, MapQuest quickly outlived its usefulness. I got incredibly lost, both on the way there and on my way back. Funny how you can't get on the interstates in the same places you got off. Besides my lack of directions, however, the neighborhood did not seem problematic and the park was actually really great. There were tons of teams of all sports playing everywhere. I had a great time playing frisbee, although it has been quite some time since I have played that particular sport. Additionally, the parameters of our game were either two hours or the first to 15 points. One game took over an hour and a half. That is a lot of running! I am very sore, and anticipate being even more so tomorrow.

Ah, the adventures of DC!

Employment!!!!

Yeah! I have a job! I am going to be a Technical Assistance Specialist for SAMHSA DTAC. I am really excited about the position and the work. I start Monday, so I can't wait to see how it goes!

To the Boats

So I left Denver, and in the middle of my move across the country I stopped for a delightful weekend on the farm. One of the highlights of this stay was a trip to the boats with my Aunt and Uncle, cousins, and cousin's boyfriend (always a fun addition - probably more for us than for him).

Steph and I got in the mood for gambling and increased our luck by singing some Kenny Rogers at least four times on the way there.


I guess it didn't help our luck all that much because Steph got a speeding ticket, and wasn't very happy about it. Fair enough.



We played a bunch of paigow. My luck was enough to break even at the tables, and come away with 15 extra from video poker.

All in all it was a splendid day.

Update

I graduated.

So close, yet so far. . .

I am getting dangerously close to graduation. I still have three papers and two finals to go, however, so it hardly feels like. I have about one and a half weeks to get it all done.

In other news, I recently bought a bike and have been attempting to commute to work. It's about a ten mile ride each way. I've only done it twice so far. Each time, I've gone to bed at about 7:30 pm, completely exhausted. I keep telling myself that I will get in better shape and that it won't take everything out of me to bike 20 miles in one day. We'll see.

Maybe Career Counseling was right

So I just successfully installed some RAM in my laptop. Maybe there's a future for me doing this kind of thing after all. . .

Wheel. . . .Of. . . . Fortune!

Vegas! Woo-hoo. Here's a quick overview:

I was so excited to leave - I think I could be an advertisement.



We stayed at the Sarahara. Our rating: two stars. Not the most amazing hotel in Vegas, but more than met our needs. The pool was more than sufficient, in my book. It was amazing to lay out in the sun surrounded by palm trees and interesting characters.


Some of us stayed too long. . .



We did take in some gambling - Wheel of Fortune was a classic, but not quite as great as Village People Party.



Saturday morning we attended a bowling extravaganza. A NFL player, Grey Ruegemar, sponsors a charity event called Bowling for Books. All of the proceeds go to buy books for schools that need them. A bunch of NFL players come and bowl with the common folk, and a good time is had by all. It was great fun, and I am new fan of Kevin Barry.



It was at this event that I had my first In-N-Out Burger. A landmark event.



Saturday night we went out to a great Italian restaurant. I think we had a three hour meal.



After supper we walked the strip. The garden inside the Belagio was quite amazing.



And then it was time to come home - so sad.

Career Counseling

As part of our class, we were obligated to take several assessments that we might potentially be given clients. Tonight we got our results. Here are my top 10 recommended careers:

1. Technical Support Specialist
2. Computer Systems Analyst
3. Geographer
4. Computer Scientist
5. Network Administrator
6. Software Developer
7. Engineer
8. Mathematician
9. Mathematics Teacher
10. Engineering Technician

Let's see. . . nowhere on that list is there anything even moderately related to the helping profession. Less than two months until graduation. . . this does not inspire confidence.

At least it did hit the nail on the head for careers I'm not interested in:
Realtor
Art Teacher
English Teacher
Athletic Trainer
Interior Designer

A Ray of Light

I just turned in my first job application. In general, I feel like I am so busy that that bulk of my job hunt may happen after I graduate. But it still felt good to turn one in anyway. Woo-hoo.

Getting Through. . .

My own blog is depressing me. Logging in and seeing references to Spring Break, that week which is no more, only reminds me of how little break I am currently getting. Only now, in the last quarter of my masters program, do I realize how far away from getting my masters I still am. This quarter is nothing short of excruciating. Class, thesis, field placement - yikes. Here's hoping I make it.

Spring Break, Mod Style

I got in a good two and half days of work before heading out again, this time to see the mod for our annual Good Friday/Easter shenanigans. I had such a good time. I was sad that Yodes and Em could not be among those present, but I can hardly fault a trip to China. I can, however, fault Yodes.


Easter weekend for us follows a pretty similar pattern every year - lots of hanging out, lots of catching up, and lots of candy eating. I don't think I've felt well for any Easter since graduating. How old are we?




In addition to the candy, the trip was augmented by some amazing eating. As many options as I have here in Denver, some of my old regulars are still my favorites. We took in the Bread Basket, Lupe's, N&J's Deli, and got some sushi. Verenike to schawarma to sushi. . . what a great mix.


We did surprise Amber with this fabulous cake from DQ. Please note the well combined artwork of two things she loves - cats and pears. Nope - they're just both stuck on there.

Spring Break, Family Style

It's spring break - finally. It's such a needed respite. I started my break off with a fabulous weekend - my parents came to visit. I was really scared that my busy schedule would prohibit us ever finding a time, but we made it work.

Mom and I did a lot of shopping. I showed them around DU, my job, and my field placement. We enjoyed some local fare. We also went to Boulder, did a little hiking, and took in the town. It was really great to see them and finally have a weekend mostly off.


On Sunday I said goodbye to my parents, went to work for eight hours (got off late due to a small staff crisis), and then drove 4 hours to join some of my fabulous cousins at a condo in Glenwood Springs. The drive shouldn't have taken that long, but I was foiled by a nice snow storm.

Boarding with the Schmidts was great! They were very generous about my lack of ability, as they all (including Joshua!) can ski much better than me. There were hardly any other people on the slopes, and the snow was great (I should know - I drove through it!).


After boarding/skiing, we went into town for the night. We enjoyed some tasty food at a local brewery. Then we relaxed in some hot springs. It felt wonderful after a pretty painful day - okay, only painful for those of us who aren't very good.




I had a great time with them and was so fortunate to crash their family! Go Bartels.

5 Down, 1 to Go

For better or for worse, I am done with another quarter. I only have one left to complete. I can't guarantee the quality of any of the papers I just turned in, but they are turned in. And at this point, that is a major success.

Woo-hoo.

I knew it. . .

I should have known today wasn't going to go very well. Having a bad shift last night and losing an hour of sleep just wasn't enough, I guess. Today one of my clients ate something with strawberries in it, even though she knows she's allergic. (We all have our theories about why.) Of course this resulted in a swelling throat and a closing airway. . . causing a medical back-up, staff jabbing her with an epi-pen, and then ambulances flying in. Of course, within two minutes of this girl coming back to cottage, one of my staff made the ultra sensitive comment "I don't feel sorry for you - you brought this on yourself." Which while true, didn't help the situation. Of course this caused a 45 minute stand-off in which she was screaming (and I mean screaming) at the top of her lungs (you would never have known she had just gotten out of the hospital). She threatened all kinds of shenanigans before we were finally able to get her to a safe space. All of this excitement prevented me from getting any of my paperwork done and caused me to leave work much later than I should have or wanted to. Just what I need on my last weekend of the quarter with all my papers due.

Foiled by Daylight Savings

It is currently about 10 minutes before 1 am. I just got home from work. It was a very, very bad shift. One of the things that makes this shift so excruciating is that I have to be back at work at 9 am. This has happened on several weekends, but is made worse this weekend by the loss of a very precious hour. If I am complaining about such a short turnaround, why am I wasting precious sleeping time blogging, you might wonder. It is quite usual to need at least five to fifteen minutes after getting home to unwind before I can fall asleep. This is especially true after having such a bad shift. This turnaround is so shady that my coworker who would otherwise have to do the same took a vacation day just to avoid it. That means that I'll have to work tomorrow's already coming way too soon shift with a fill-in which always makes it more difficult. I am dreading it like no other.

As to the actual shift tonight. . . I consider myself a very competent person. Additionally, I have lived in several places without a car in which I was dependent upon public transportation. I am very able to figure this stuff out. Or so I thought. It was my responsibility to take 5 girls via the bus to a Walmart about 2 miles away - on a bus line that requires no transfers and seemingly no difficulties. Not so. Things went very wrong. Long story short -we did not get to Walmart by bus, after about an hour and a half of trying. To make matters worse, as I am trying to fix the problem with staff, my cell phone died. We then witnessed a head-on collision. It was a fiasco. But the whole trip wasn't a complete loss. I think I bestowed a great lesson on my girls - how to roll with the punches. This is a skill many of them struggle with, but they handled it beautifully. They are now ready for traveling by train in Europe.

I'm not sure this post is going to be very coherent, and I'm currently lacking the skills to edit it. Sorry.

End of the Quarter

Ok. . . So I am completely overwhelmed right now. The end of the quarter is next week. That means that everything for the quarter is due. Right now that includes 13 reaction papers to 13 articles I haven't read, one 12 page paper on gender-based violence, an hour presentation in family systems class, and a 10 page paper on international perspectives on trauma. Plus, I work 27 hours this weekend. Did I mention this is all due by Tuesday? On top of that, I have three workshops to plan for work next week. On top of that, I have a crap ton of work to do on my thesis. Things are definitely out of control.

In other news. . . despite the amazing amount of work I have do, I decided the best way to accomplish all this was to take a day and go snowboarding. Actually, that was last week, before this all piled up. (okay, I knew it was coming) I got a righteous sunburn - reddest face in my life. Not good, but I learned my lesson.

I couldn't have said it better

"I've already graduated". - Michelle, classmate, about 20 minutes into our International Perspectives on Trauma class, with a look of absolute lack of caring. My thoughts exactly.

Despite the fact that I have an amazing amount of work yet to do. . . most of my class is already feeling as if graduation has come and gone. There is just no way to get us to care about certain things. And yet, I have a lot left to do to actually get me to that point.

Since I have been remiss in my blogging as of late, here are some highlights from the last two weeks:

My friend and I both went shopping and replaced jeans that we had ripped through various mishaps and shenanigans. I still believe that someday I will grow up to be graceful.

I finally sent off my sister's birthday package. . . a week late. I rock as a sibling.

What kind of a two weeks have I had that these things are considered highlights?

A Wicked Weekend

So my weekend consisted mainly of. . . working. I worked Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday during the day. By the end of it I was ready to not go back to Phoenix Cottage for a week, if ever. I did manage to squeeze in some bowling with friends, which totally convinced us to join a league this summer.

Although I am really busy, I don't seem to be able to use all of my non-working time to study as I probably should. I think Scott said it best when he noted that he usually has to try to squeeze homework in between doing nothing and nothing. Amazing how nothing can fill your day.

Braiding and Braiding and Braiding and. . .

This is the position I thought my hand would never be able to uncurl from. Last week I braided my friend's hair. All of it. Into little tiny braids. And she has a lot of hair. We started at 10:00 am, and with a total of probably an hour break throughout the day, finished at 3:00 am. By the end we were both in excruciating pain. My back and hands were killing me. And I think every part of her was killing her. But it looks great. . .so as soon as I regain all functioning in my hands I'll be able to say it was worth it.

Trying to catch up

So I haven't been very good about blogging lately. Oops. I have been both super busy and super sick. Neither of those are super fun. After taking my roommate to the hospital to get her chest x-rayed for possible pneumonia. . . how was I possibly going to avoid catching something myself? I wasn't. After an entire week of sore throats, coughing, and ridiculous sniffles, I am still not feeling better. But I have hope that maybe, just maybe, tomorrow will be the day I wake up and feel better.

In the meantime, my illness certainly did not prevent all of my obligations from piling up. I did have the joyous opportunity of hosting a game night for my class. Fortunately for my sick state, we had already planned on doing this in our pajamas. We just don't have the motivation for much else. It was fabulous. We started with a little cranium, and then moved to trivial pursuit. Good times from some classy people. Take that, Denver night life.

The Hammer of Jeff

and Monkey with a Rash. These are my favorite constellations made up by Shawn from the TV show Psych. I love this show. I highly recommend it.

mit Senf

One of my classmates made mustard. I have never know anyone to do that. It was amazing! It was sweet and spicy all at once. She generously gave me a jar and I am so excited to eat it. Yum.

Maria hat Geburtstag!

Maria turned 25! Yeah! Because her birthday fell on a day in which we had class for 6 hours and Maria works for 6-8 hours, we didn't get to do anything fun. But Dee and I did make some pretty rockin' cupcakes to share during class. We got 25 candles all on one cupcake, which resulted in about a 4-5 inch flame. I think this entire weekend will be dedicated to birthday shenanigans for her, of which I hope to partake.

My favorite quote from class so far. . . "There's only a lot of reading if you do it". My new motto.

Turning over a new leaf

I successfully made it to all of my classes this week, and although I am already overwhelmed by the amount of reading, I am excited. I didn't think I would ever get that feeling toward school again, so I am pleasantly surprised. This quarter I am taking International Perspectives on Trauma, Family Systems, Gender Based Violence, and the old standard - Seminar. It's also nice to have one less class. I'm hoping that contributes to a higher percentage of completed reading for the classes I am taking :)

A Few Moments from People I Love. . .

Brian provides cinematic direction. . .



Yesterday I went down to the Springs for our Guitar Hero marathon. About 3 hours into it, we realized we were not reaching our full potential. So we went out and bought RockBand. It was phenomenal. We played for another 5-6 hours. Here's a small sample of Maria finishing a song on the drum set. Although it's short, I think you can see the pure bliss on her face.

Getting back into things

I have decided that the best way to ease back into work, school, and internship is to have an entire day marathon of guitar hero with my friends. Classes start again on Monday, and I am less than ready. For the mod. . . I do not intend to play guitar hero through the first day of class, but I make no promises.

Christmas was delightful. It was wonderful to see everyone and meet all the new additions.