witty banter

Today was hilarious. For some reason Kari and I were just really in sync today- which worked out great for our session with the client we see together. We were on fire.

Of course out of that fire came many a conversational gem. We were discussing what we wanted to do for the 4th of July (my favorite holiday). We decided on getting together for burgers and trying to find fireworks somewhere, perhaps also playing a few games. I thought it would be great to play "What's Yours Like?" which is a hilarious game that I first played with Mar-boy and his parents when we went down to PA. Unfortunately it requires a minimum of 4 players.

Lauren: oh man, i think it needs 4 players. too bad we don't have any friends.

Kari: yea, too bad we aren't more likable.

We had a good laugh. We also created some nice music- we had a jam session today while our ITD was interviewing a prospective intern. We're going to record it. Stay tuned for that. It's going to be pretty brilliant.

The frustrating thing happening now is the state of my mileage reimbursement checks. They aren't coming. The state of new york is so flipping broke that they've basically stopped issuing checks (like starting with april checks). sooo.... that really sucks. maybe someday I'll get that money... its a few hundred bucks a month. It can really add up.

I'm exhausted. All the laughing and documentation doing (1 more to submit for the month of june!) has worn me out for today. I watched The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus last night and loved it. It was very interesting- not as dark as I thought it would be nor was it as weird as I thought it would be. I really enjoyed it.

Well tomorrow is July- that's still weird. That means I have about 6 weeks left. I can't believe it. I have no idea what I will be doing when I'm done. I'm definitely coming home while I figure out prospective job opportunities which seem to be focused around the west coast for now. I can't really decide where I want to go and with whom I want to work. The good news is that I still have time.

Rockin' and Rollin'

Just call me the "Documentation Machine!"

I submitted 5 monthlies yesterday and 3 more today.... leaving just 3 left for the month of June! Whoa! My assessment report was finalized and signed today- Done! I have one more update report to complete - the last meeting that I will attend while I am here --- that's 1/2 done. I have 3 reports due for September meetings, but I anticipate that those will be easy to finish. AND to make everything better for my productivity, we have a student interviewing tomorrow and only 2 sessions, so I will have TONS of time to finish up the other three monthly summaries, ISP report and probably even get around to writing up the next classical improv inservice assignment. Except that I was going to use this piece by Ginastera... but I was playing around with it today and I don't like it.... so now I just want to change my piece. blech. back to square one.

Part of the reason I have been able to be so productive is that I spent 2.5 hours on Saturday organizing my monthly summaries. That made it easy to fill in the left over information and submit. Phew. What a couple of days.

I'm hungry so I'm going to cook up some chicken and pop in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Kari lent it to me after she and her husband watched it this weekend. I finished Rue McClanahan's autobiography. Its been nice to read some fluff in between all the Maslow. I may start Betty White's sometime this week. Rue's was great... she really was kind of a "loosey" goosey. That's all I got. Tomorrow after work I plan to go to the UPS store and ship my box of winter clothes. Can't believe I'm already do that! Weird. Oh yea and even weirder?? Thursday is July? Where did the time go?

Thank You For Being A Friend...

Oh! A belated birthday gift came in the mail yesterday afternoon. In it was a Golden Girls Trivia book AND Betty White's and Rue McClanahan's autobiographies. Thank you Thank you thank you! I love em. I've already cracked open Rue's book. Her real name is Eddi-Rue.

Last night I took an evening to just kind of disengage and not think about anything. It was nice. I really didn't do anything. I ordered in from togotaxi for some "mexican" food and hung out in my pjs. I can't wait to come home and have a los pericos burrito. I do miss good mexican food. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.

This morning I'm currently pondering the various hair styles of michael jackson. MTV is doing a michael jackson video marathon- since yesterday. Weird. MJ died last summer while I was working at the fair which was centered around a music theme. It was really incredible. There was a tribute wall in our building within like 8 hours..... awfully quick considering how long it took to put everything else together. Speaking of the fair, I got an email yesterday that there are some baby lambs (is that redundant? baby lambs?) in the Agri-Fair building: Mint, Chocolate, and Chip. My sup from the fair sent pictures too. They are awfully cute.

Today I'm going to drive out to Newark to get some work done this morning and maybe call Kari when I'm done there. Other than that I plan to have a relaxing weekend- I need to do laundry at some point. we've had a lot of rain in the past week. It was nice yesterday. I think today it isn't supposed to rain until the afternoon. I'm just looking forward to wearing my slippers to the office!

I did it!

I finally made an appointment for a massage with a lady here who knows about this technique that will probably really help me. I have been talking about this for a while - like since April. But now I finally have an appointment. I am really looking forward to it.

Today was great. I had two great sessions. Kari came to observe and she was able to tape one of my sessions and that was really great. It was nice to get her feedback too. I have a ton of good clips to use for my case study already. We then had a pretty productive afternoon. I finished up my assessment report and started thinking about my last official update report. We had a nice afternoon but did get things done. We watched the video from the recital and re-lived those moments. That was fun too.

I got my couch time in tonight and got to catch up with my aunt which was nice.

Anyhow it is late! And now I am off to bed!

Did ya feel that?

We had an earthquake today!

EAARRTTTHHHQUUAAAKKEEEE

as you can imagine, this is a rare occurrence here in New York. I really understood that once Kari and our ITD started getting a little nervous. We were in our office watching a Nordoff-Robbins video and I started to hear this faint rumble. Then I felt my chair moving.

I calmly said, "I think its an earthquake."

Our ITD and Kari got up out of their chairs and didn't really know what to do. It was extremely entertaining. I'd venture to say that it was barely a 2 or something. It was a tiny little thing. But it was fun to see both of their reactions.

Today was the annual summer recital. Everyone did really well! There was only one backhanded compliment but the recipient didn't really hear it so that was a relief. All the performers were great. We had standing room only. It was a lovely morning. We spent the rest of the day in inservice and practice time which was nice. After work Kari and I went to "the Corner" which is like the ritziest restaurant in Newark. That's the restaurant that our ITD takes all the interviewees when they spend the day with us. Both Kari and I went there on our interviews. We tease our ITD about that. But last time someone interviewed they brought back a small order of fries for me and Kari! We LOVE the fries. They are so krispy and wonderful (yes Krispy with a K)! It was a lovely dinner. Kari treated me. I've picked up dinner the last time so she didn't even give me a chance to argue with her. It was very nice.

I am very tired. It was a busy day plus 85 degrees and humid as all get-out. Its exhausting. Tomorrow Kari is coming to observe and help video tape my session. Our ITD is taking a few days off for a little vacation- well deserved. We'll have the office to ourselves all mid-morning and afternoon. We both have a lot to do and we seem pretty motivated this week collectively- so we'll see how far we get. We're pretty good at keeping the other on track. Here's hoping.

No big plans this weekend. I think I'm going into work sometime this weekend to get a head start on the ol' end of the month documentation- oh joy. :) It will feel good to be a little ahead of the game.

Fathers Day!

Happy Father's Day!!

I would call my own dad right now, except that its not even 6 am. I think I'll let him sleep for a little while longer. I was trying to think of a wonderful story about my dad to write up as a tribute. I've been thinking about all of the fun trips and adventures we went on and I think I have enjoyed those the most--- we went to Hawaii just the two of us for a whole week and did nothing, lots of ski trips. That was great. My dad moved me out of my apartment in Santa Ana AND Arizona. I think the most fun adventure to date was when he moved me out here. We didn't yell at each other or fight or anything. We missed our flight out of Detroit and into Rochester so we were rerouted through Buffalo and renting a car to make it to Rochester that same night. By the time we got to Buffalo it was like midnight and kinda snowing. Our rental car (for the 90 minute drive) ran out of windshield wiper fluid. So we drove in the middle of the night, down a dark and unfamiliar thru-way with the heat blasting and the windows down. Classic. I think I will remember that forever. My Dad is a pretty outstanding guy and I'm very thankful for all that he's done for me-- even when he insists on doing it his way (which is clearly not the way I would do things-- minor technicality). :) Love you Dad. I'll call you later.

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Yesterday was absolutely ridiculous in a fantastic way. Kari came over. We had margaritas, waffles, bacon, and more drinks. We created a drinking game to go with New Moon which did make things a little more interesting. After seeing the movie (in preparation for June 30th when Eclipse comes out), I guess I understand why young teens drool all over this "saga." This movie had a lot of teen angsty eyebrow furling and confused looks and bad acting. But it helped that the two male leads are very attractive. Believe me, there were many a comment. Kari and I just laughed and laughed and laughed. It was fun. We were still kind of wound when New Moon was over so I put in Xanadu!!! The ultimate bad movie. Kari left without really being sure what happened in the movie- all she knew was that Gene Kelly was in it, there was an animated sequence, lots of ELO and me doing Aaron Neville impressions. Plus the last 8 minutes. The last 8 minutes of the movie make it all worth while, in my opinion.

Whenever I watch Xanadu I think of the time that my friends Julie and Jess came over to stay with me while my parents were out. I made dinner and we ended up watching Xanadu outside in my backyard. We topped the weekend with a trip to black bear for breakfast. I can't recall every shenanigan from that evening but I do remember thinking how ridiculous it was to be watching this horrible movie. I love it.

Today is a low key day. I have to do dishes and things that I didn't bother cleaning up last night. I have left over waffles for breakfast! I'm excited about that. Its supposed to be a little rainy, but if its nice, maybe I will also take my book to the pool sometime today. It is, now, only 9am. Whatever I end up doing today will be pretty low key.

I hope everyone has a nice relaxing Sunday! and Happy Dad's Day (again)!

Weekend Update

Dear Lady at the Gym,

Although I admire you motivation to go to the gym, please wear proper gym attire. Using the machines (that everyone else at the apartment complex uses!) wearing solely a sports bra is really gross. Plus the gym is out of disinfectant wipes which I didn't see you ask about. Sweating all over the machines is already disgusting. At least when you wear a shirt (with sleeves!) there's a bit of an absorbent barrier. Ew.

Sincerely,

Lauren

Yeah, there was a lady who came into the gym while I was working out to use the bike. I really wanted her to be wearing a shirt. Not because of how she looked but rather the whole issue of sanitation and maintaining clean equipment for people is difficult enough when a lot of people use the stuff. Eck. She was only there for about 20 minutes.

--------------

In other news, I had a great day at work yesterday. I had an excellent supervision Friday morning. I was describing one of my clinical placements while I was studying at Chapman. I spent a semester working with adults with disabilities the fall of my junior year. That was such a big semester for me. I had a lot of growth in my skills and understanding of music therapy. I first started using the piano in a clinical way in that setting. When I started here, I have been reminded of that placement but my skills and my life are so different from that fall of 2007.

This week has been a pretty big week in terms of my awareness too. Two big examples are regarding what it is to be human (sort of ) and the therapeutic relationship. I learned in school that people with disabilities are people first and foremost. I knew that. But as I have been working on my case study and spending time watch tape and thinking about my client, I truly understand that. It may seem simple, but it just absolutely clicked. Same with the therapeutic relationship. At school the idea was drilled into our heads: its a triangle between the client, therapist and music and its an interaction of all three things. But it wasn't until I started working here and developing a therapeutic relationship that I truly began to understand this concept. It just clicked. Sometimes it takes a lot of my cognitive capacities to try and make sense of things- but seriously- this was easy. It just clicked.

So my supervisor and I started talking about how my clinical placement was a sort of foreshadowing to my life and development now. That semester was full of growth plus a lot of other similarities (facility, clients etc) and well you know how this year has gone. Its been remarkable. But I haven't really come full circle. I started kind of describing a swirl. Like the one pictured above. The swirl is like a symbol for life- like your timeline. because you can revisit situations or places or stages of development in life, but its never really full circle. You can't ever be in the same place as you once were because growth is inevitable. So you are different and always changing and growing. you swirl and expand out as you grow- so you're bound to revisit ideas and feelings and things. I don't know if that makes sense, but it does to me. Like... that semester in 2007-- I've completely expanded again, but I'm revisiting the same concepts and client population--- but I've grown so much.

My supervisor kind of looked flabbergasted and said that the concept was kind of amazing and makes a lot of sense with the Maslow ideas too. He also suggested that I do some art to kind of give me a visual and journal about it-- -those things really do help me. So last night I started on a swirl. Its kind of cool. its 2-D but if you do shading and all that you can give it depth.

Our ITD has been stressing throughout the internship that not only will we expand on that horizontal plane but that our work will acquire depth. Whoa- connection there. The swirl goes outward but yet can have depth. Kinda crazy.

My supervisor and I kind of talked about the swirl and mandalas and if I'd ever done artwork like this before. I stopped to think and realized that I painted this square thing in April one afternoon. I was feeling arts and crafty. I realized that what I had painted sort of looked like a swirly looking thing--- and definitely an unclosed circle figure. I found it and took a picture to show you.

It also kind of looks like water. I really like water. Its a good symbol for me too.

Sooo I've been swirling out of control - in a great way-- for the past two days.

Kari is coming over today for Vampires, Werewolves and Waffles, Oh my! I have a bucket of Vamp-aritas (margaritas with a theme! We love a good theme) slushing in the freezer just waiting for consumption AND plenty of waffle makings. But now I've gotta get cleaned up and straighten up the apartment before Kari arrives.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

A Lesson Learned

Today I learned an important lesson:

Do not get in the way of the drumhead.

I was clobbered today- on accident. I reached over the drum head to assist on of my clients in using their left hand to play the hanging chimes while they played the snare drum in the right hand. The crook of my elbow got in the way and bam! The good thing is that I got it all on tape and the best thing is that you can't tell in the video. I didn't flinch or say "ow" or anything. Good for me! I do, however, have a bump that's a little tender to the touch. No bruising yet. We'll see. I don't bruise easily- its that Portuguese olive skin.

I had a good day. All of my sessions went well today. And I've been to the gym... again. Yes, you read that correctly. I logged in my cardio (that's twice for the week already) and as I was leaving, this older woman stopped me and asked if I had time to show her a few of the machines. Her daughter showed her how to use them earlier, but she may have forgotten. So I took the extra 5 minutes to help her out. She was very grateful and said that I was "just an absolute princess." I loved that. I said "you're welcome and all I need is a tiara!" That made me feel even better than the working out part. So now in tribute to my aunt, I'm having a little broccoli and something else (yet to be determined) for dinner!

This weekend is supposed to be HOT and RAINY. Kari and I have our "Vampires, Werewolves and Waffles, Oh My!" Day planned for sometime this weekend. I am really looking forward to it. Time to eat!

RIJF

Rochester International Jazz Festival!

Our ITD sold Kari and I some club passes to the Jazz Fest for last night. We all went- our ITD, her main squeeze, me, kari, my supervising therapist and his wife. Of course our ITD also knows everyone so we ended up meeting quite a few people.

This festival is really amazing. We went last night specifically to see Stanley Jordan. He's a guitarist who plays by hammering on the fret board (instead of picking or strumming). What he can do with just two hands is amazing. When I closed my eyes during his show last night I could hear at least four layers--- rhythm, bass, chords and melody--- all happening at the same time. He also did a lot of improv on themes from the classical repertoire. Our ITD came over to our side of the table and said "the ultimate classical improv!" True. He did a slow movement from a Mozart Sonata, he did an improv on themes from a Bartok symphony. In one piece he was just jamming out and all of a sudden he was playing Bach prelude from the well tempered clavier (can't remember which one).... then he went right into Stairway to Heaven. The man is amazing.

Our ITD knows him from many years ago. He's an advocate for music therapy and actually got our ITD's phone number (digits oh yea!) to talk about his work. She turned around and said, "Stanley Jordan wants supervision. You girls get it for free everyday. Just remember that."

Anyhow, we had an awesome time. It was nice to also spend time with our supervisors outside of work. To see them cut loose and relax was a blast. I had an amazing time!! We didn't get back until after 11- we stayed to see a 10 o'clock show. There are like 8 stages with acts going on every 90 minutes or so... most performers do two sets (like a 6 and 10). We had club passes so we can go into any show at any time. For anyone else, you have to pay $20 per show which is fine if you're seeing one show, but if you spend the evening there and catch 2 or 3 shows, the club pass is completely worth it.

Kari and I may go back later this week and check out some more live music. Its a fun festival- literally a marathon overload- 9 days long. We had a wonderful time.

*Sniff... Sniff

What's that smell you ask?

Why, that's the smell of productivity.

I've started making "MUST DO" lists. To-Do lists... I could make to-do lists until the cows come home and they would be at least 100 items. I keep my "MUST DO" lists down to 2 or 3 (max. 4) things that absolutely, positively, must be accomplished in the day--- everything else is cause to celebrate. The "must do" list has helped keep some perspective on celebrating the things I DO accomplish in the day and to pace myself.

Today was been Ultra productive.

I got my "Must do" items done at work and just finished my "must do" items at home. Today I caught up my documentation, started on an assessment report, and daily notes. Then I came home and sent of a thumb drive for music therapy stuff, picked up a few boxes and tape (to ship my winter stuff back to CA), called a massage therapist to set up an appointment, AND logged an hour at the gym. I've been so productive today! Its cause to celebrate. I'm not sure how I'm going to celebrate yet.

Today I had some great sessions. One of my clients set up an excellent groove in a piano improv. I think I might record it on my computer, sample it and improv over the top and see what happens. Maybe that's how I'll celebrate today.

Okay! Time for dinner!

Extreme poodles

This sassy poodle is going to turn into a roller derby girl. But in this moment, he's (yes he) just chilling out in his robe, waiting for his big moment.

Oh my gosh. This is my new obsession. These people grooming their dogs and the whole presentation element. One of the judges described the final product as a "piece of art with four legs."

This show is insanity. One poodle receives massage and reiki treatments. One lady freaks out because she things her dog is too tired and may pull him from the competition because of his health. The drama. Anyhow, I had to post about this.

for more information:

http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/extreme-poodles/poodle-photos.html

Thank you TLC for blowing the roof of of competitive creative poodle grooming. This is utterly fantastic.

Newarkfest 2010

Newarkfest was a blast. Its a small little street fair- certainly smaller than some of the down town things attended... except that there were fair type vendors (funnel cake, homemade ice cream, fried things, "mojos tacos" and even a sign that said, "hispanic food." Hmmm yeah... authentic mexican food is rather hard to find around here). Kari got a funnel cake, which she graciously let me have a few bites and I enjoyed a good corndog- My mother and I love corn dogs.

Speaking of dogs, "Extreme Poodles" airs on TLC today. I just came across the promos while channel surfing and I am so glad I did. I would be really sad if I missed this. I do love poodles. But these people are crazy- they make their dogs look like other things. It makes me feel bad for the dogs, but its nearly impossible for me to look away. I can't wait.

Anyhow, yesterday i came back from Newark and stopped at redbox and rented a movie. Its been an extremely relaxing weekend and I have enjoyed it immensely. Tomorrow, Kari and I are going to the Rochester International Jazz Festival. Its a 9 day festival with like 8 stages and things happening all the time. Its like a marathon. Our ITD takes time off and people come in to see her for this festival. But she's a jazz-nut, so I'm not really all that surprised. I'm excited about that. It'll be something fun that shakes up the routine a bit.

I'm going to go return my video and hit the UPS store for a couple of boxes. That's right. I'm going to pack up my winter stuff and ship it home sometime this week. We'll see how that goes. Its strange to already be thinking about shipping stuff back, even though its winter stuff that I won't need for the rest of the internship. weird. okay. I'm determined to do something. Packing and then back to some couch time before the professional poodle grooming competition begins!

UHHHhHHHH

That is the sound of being so fully after an insanely large meal that its difficult to breathe.

I made pancakes this morning. Oy.

I didn't get around to updating the rest of this week, so I will recap. Thursday and Friday were great.

Thursday the four of us met to do our classical improvisation inservice. I went first. Our ITD had some nice feedback for the improvisation. I twas fun to be able to look at the classical rep and be able to use it. You know, use it for more than performance. We can use it functionally. Kari and I went to dinner after the inservice and had a wonderful time. We are both feeling sort of normal again. I mentioned that in group supervision- that I felt like myself. All my ITD said was, "Good. Welcome back. We're glad to have you." The past few icky weeks are behind and thats a good thing. Kari even felt more normal by the end of dinner. I'm glad that we were able to go out and just relax.

Friday I had some great sessions and good supervision. In my Into to Music Therapy class at Chapman, the teacher would share a "Music Therapy Story of the Week." While there are a ton of things that happen in the course of a week here, I wanted to share something that happened yesterday. I see one client in the afternoon on Fridays. Music Therapy is a chance for this particular to engage in meaningful interactions and self expression-- those are big skill building areas for this person. This particular client uses their voice in incredible ways without using much speech. Eye contact is also a big thing for this person. Anyhow, the session wasn't particularly eventful except that when it was over, and I said, "Good job _____" and this person started repeating what I was saying, clearly articulating every word. This person repeated a few other phrases, said goodbye to me and waved. Wow! That was amazing. I was really excited about that. Anyhow that's the story for last week.

Last night I came home and even though it was 78 degrees, I really felt like albondigas. So I ventured to Wegmans on a Friday afternoon and picked up what I needed, plus some coronitas. It was relaxing to actually cook and enjoy a good meal. Then I passed out sometime between 9 and 11:34 when I got off the couch and made it to my bed. Unfortunately I was up at 6, but I had plenty of time to catch up on my Hulu queue. That is one of my favorite saturday morning things. This morning I made pancakes and I'm thinking about getting cleaned up for the day. I think I'm going to go out to Newark sometime today to check out Newark Fest! Its like a weekend fair type of thing (I even saw a Funnel Cake stand) happening in Newark. Kari and I are going to check it out. Unforunately our original plans: Vampires, Werewolves, and Waffles, oh my! had to be rescheduled for next weekend because "New Moon" didn't arrive from Netflix. Kari wants to go see "Eclipse" - you know the Twilight movie. So I've gotta catch up on New Moon before I can see the third movie. But we're going to make waffles which makes anything better. Anyhow, I'll probably end up in Newark sometime today and tomorrow will be my free day. We'll see how the weekend pans out!

Now we're talking...

Today we sat down for a few hours and discussed Toward A Psychology of Being - by Abraham Maslow. Whoa! Its a great book. Its all about Maslow's Humanist philosophy AND Maslow's theories were the basis for the Nordoff-Robbins approach to music therapy. We literally went through it chapter by chapter and our ITD pointed out some things she did not want us to miss while we were reading. Its not always an easy read, but its interesting and it makes sense. THe big thing is that everything in the world is inherently good. People who are not "good" are reacting to life stressors and/or "neuroses." I like how the humanist perspective takes into account the entire human experience. There are a lot of dualities- but at least he recognizes them. Its not all about sickness, but also moving towards health and growth. He also came up with the "peak experience" idea and "self actualization." AND (from the existentialists which we discussed today) the idea of just being... like the title says, towards a psychology of being. I dunno, I guess its still hard for me to formulate my thoughts into words right now- its a lot to swallow. BUT its fascinating. I am seeing the connection to my work in therapy but also my own personal characteristics and the characteristics of people I know. For example, Maslow said that even "bad" things that happen in life are still good if the help the person move forward in their development. And people who try to "protect" others from making the same mistakes are in a way, hindering that person's development; they are showing a lack of regard and respect for the person's journey. This made me think about my Dad. I don't remember when, but one time my Dad was talking about how he's seen me make a lot of the mistakes that he made but he didn't want to say anything because I had to learn the lesson for myself. And even though it was hard for him to stand by and watch me do whatever it was I did, he had to let me do it so that I could grow. Oh man. My parents are such humanists. Cool eh?!

I like all the theoretical discussions. Its amazing how my ITD and ST have this whole internship planned out and for a reason. Had we started talking about this stuff in the beginning, I probably would have come home screaming! Its nice that we have the practical stuff going and now we can divert what little brain power we have left to this philosophical stuff. I love it. Of course, I love spending time in my head anyway. A good and bad thing.

But now its time for brownies (still working on my tub of brownies and they are still so fresh and delicious) and a glass of milk!

Tomorrow brings an inservice on a piece from the classical repertoire and how we turned it into an improvisation. I chose a piece by Bach- and I hate Bach. Now that I can improvise on Bach, I can finally play stupid Bach the way that I want to. This was a big break through. Bach usually gives me hives. ;) Kari chose "Nimrod" by Elgar- a really famous piece. If you don't know it by name, you probably could recognize it if you heard it. I'm excited. After that we (the four of us, me, kari, our ITD and my ST) are having some group supervision. Both Kari and I have been in a bit of a slump and they (ITD and ST) thought it would be great just to get together--- all in the same room --- and see how everyone is doing. I'm looking forward to it.

Brownie time!

Feeling Like Myself

Oh! for the first time in 10 days I woke up feeling like myself again. I was happy to feel chipper this morning. I had a great day, great sessions and some chocolate milk on my way home. All in all a great tuesday.

On my way home today, I was remembering a fun thing that happen the first year that I worked at the fair. The first year I worked there the theme of the fair was all about sports. One of the speakers that came to our stage was a man who grew up in Africa and who is a competitive wheelchair racer. His race wheelchair was awesome. Anyhow, I had my guitar there because I'm fairly certain my friend and I were practicing our best version of "Candle on the Water." (That's a long story and new blog post) This man and I got to talking and the woman who was with him said he had a beautiful singing voice. In the middle of the fair during operating hours, this guy and I had a mini jam session. He was requesting songs and I was making them up as we went. That was fun.

I'm going to eat a little something and go to bed. I was up way too late last night reading my book.

U2 Monday

I've had U2 songs stuck in my head all day: Stuck in a moment... and I still haven't found what I'm looking for. Specifically those two songs. Although "The Sweetest Thing" has been playing in my head too.

I had a good day today. I always feel better when I see clients in session. Its easy for me sweep things under the rug and I get to do that when I have to be present for a client. Unfortunately whatever may bother me is usually waiting for me once I get in the car to come home. Its nice to not deal with my own ish for like 8 hours a day. But I have to be careful and balance that- I don't want to dismiss the things I need to work through. That would just be counter productive.

I had some great sessions today. I'm looking forward to see my clients tomorrow and continuing to do assessments sessions with this other consumer. When you assess someone in this model of therapy, it mostly just being with that person in music and observing them. Its just like hanging out. I like thinking about it like that. Its a chance to get to know someone in music for the first time. And along that note, I really started working on my case study today. My ITD described the case study as an opportunity to hang out with my client in my head a lot and to think about my client and who they are in music therapy and that what means for them. I also have to think about my main message... what is it that I want people to know through my work with this person. I started this gargantuan task by surfing through my client's entire music therapy history. One thing I couldn't help but notice was a line from some anectdotal notes from an intern almost 20 years ago when my client started music therapy. The note said, "There is such an incredible person in there." I thought that summed up my client perfectly. Its easy to see the characteristics of this person's diagnoses and its easy to see how this person drums (demonstrating rhythmic disorder).... but underneath it all, my client is still an individual- with likes and dislikes, quirks, you know... a personality. I think that sometimes people working in health-related fields forget about the person and see only the diagnosis or symptoms or behaviors... whatever that means. Anyhow, its just nice to see that other people have seen how cool my client is. I look forward to our sessions together and getting to know this person better in music. Often, music is a medium that opens the door for relationships. In music the client can make eye contact or feel good about themselves or become more organized. Therapists support those steps towards growth and we're also the ones that are privileged enough to see it and experience that growth in the moment with the client. I could probably go on about this all night. Instead I'm going to go to bed.

Hope everyone had a great monday.

Laaazzy weeekend

Hi everyone,

Greetings from my big comfy bed. I am refusing to get out of bed until I absolutely have to. That may be soon as I am getting pretty hungry. But I have my computer here, and my phone and my book. So really.... there's no need to get moving right away. I think once I do get going, I'll have a bite to eat and then go out by the pool with my book for a little bit. The weather has been so nice and I have my pool permit, its really a shame not to take advantage of it.

This has been a nice relaxing weekend. I've hit up the redbox and caught up on some movies that I've been wanting to see. I watched Nine-- which I didn't think was really all that spectacular. Yesterday Kari came over and we watched "New York, I love You." That was a really interesting movie. We both really enjoyed it. Its an "anthology of love stories" in new york. Each clip was written and directed by different people and the stories were pieced together. The acting was great- a bunch of a-list people. Very Interesting. We then went to Chipotle for dinner and just hung out. I didn't go to work on Wednesday and had a meeting Thursday afternoon so I saw Kari for like 20 minutes last week. It was nice to sit and catch up. We both had weird weeks.

The other big news is that Mar-boy and I have pretty much broken up. This was definitely a hitch in the plan and not necessarily my idea, although we would have had to have the conversation sooner or later. He was worried about the short amount of time I have left here- which was a concern when we started dating. I guess trying to save a little heartache for everyone. Things were going really well but we're switching gears and decided to just be friends. He's home this weekend, so it was nice to have a lot of time to myself to relax and do my own thing. Its a good decision in the long run, but its still a bummer. So all in all, its been a hell of a week and I am glad that its Sunday and the start of a brand new week.

Our ITD is going to be around all week long which will be nice. She was off to a board meeting thursday-friday and through the weekend. I didn't see her at all this past week. According to my supervisor, she was worried after hearing about my little meltdown earlier in the week. Rest assured I am definitely in a better place.

Even though I've spent almost half of my day in bed reading and catching up on my Hulu queue, I plan to be productive- do my laundry, a quick write up for an assignment and more reading. I've got a "just for fun" book going and my internship book. I haven't decided which I will read today. Maybe the just for fun book. Sometimes its hard to read about Humanist psychology when you aren't really in the mood.

Now that my reports are done and documentation will be done this week, I can really start focusing on my case study presentation. I need to go through my client's music therapy history which is a file that is at least 10" thick. My client has been in music therapy for a while. :) Otherwise things are going well. I'm going to get through some laundry today as well as all my other stuff. So here I go!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Good luck to all the fair people during this crazy time of set-up and week before fair! I miss you all and I am still enjoying my bucket-o-brownies. Much love.

Get Up, Stand Up

Today I fought for my rights. My tenet rights, that is. I got a note on my door this morning that said that I had to start paying for my electricity. When I signed my lease, all of my utilities were included. I knew this wasn't right. So I went in the office and pointed to parts in my lease and they were completely apologetic and took back the note they left on my door. It turns out that fighting for my rights is an easy thing. GO me.

You best bet I'll be leaving my air and lights on while I'm gone during the day.

Today was a good day. I'm definitely feeling better. I had two good sessions today and drove for an hour for another meeting. The meeting went well. Now I'm back on the couch. I'm going to eat a bit and try and put together at least one monthly summary to submit tomorrow. Now that I'm on the couch... we'll see how productive I can be.

This Post has gone Viral

Viral things can be entertaining-- like those viral videos or posts and things. Not so much a viral infection. I decided to stay home from work today because I woke up and my throat was so sore that I could barely swallow and my ears were still feeling funny. I was pretty sure this morning that it wasn't strep because I haven't had a fever in a long time. But I decided that it would be best if I didn't come to work. Some of the guys we see are medically fragile. Even passing a cold could be really bad. So I went back to bed after calling my ITD and Kari and saw a doctor this afternoon. The strep test came back negative- no surprise there. This didn't feel like strep. Anyhow, its viral- sore throat--- so basically a cold. I'm hoping to get back to work tomorrow. I've got my gatorade and I've straightened out my apartment which already has made me feel lot better. Now I'm just taking it easy and enjoying daytime television!

Is it Monday?

I like having long weekends, but I hate short weeks. It sounds weird, but the short weeks really mess me up. My schedule and inner clock gets all wonky.

I had a nice birthday weekend. I enjoyed all the cards and boxes and care packages. I enjoyed all the facebook love and phone calls and texts. I did actually get really sad on Sunday. I didn't realize how far away I am from the people I love until Sunday. I think its the timezone that makes everyone so far away. Now that's a great song by Carole King. I love her music. Anyhow, I got really sad. Mar-boy handled it like a champ, armed with movies and red cherry icees from the nearest 24-hour convenience store. I do love red cherry icees. We watched The Blindside (Team Sandra) while downing our icees and snacking on salt (technically sunflower seeds and beef jerky). My day ended well with a good long chat with my pal julie. The next day Mar-boy and I checked out RibFest-- excellent ribs, drinks, and live music.

Today I went to work feeling a little emotionally fragile due to the sudden realization that I am so far away AND there are only 81 days remaining in my internship. What a ride this has been, eh? Anyhow, I got to work and my supervisor asked how I was doing and I just started crying in the office. It was a healthy thing. We talked it out and I felt better. I need to organize my home life like clean my apartment and do laundry which didn't exactly happen tonight, but I'm hoping to take care of that tomorrow. I also have not been feeling physically up to snuff- sore throat and ear stuff. Tomorrow I guess I'll go to urgent care. We'll see. We all know how I feel about doctors. Anyhow, aside from all of this stuff I had a great day! I did the first assessment session for one of the consumers and it went really well. I really got a charge out of that. I also got to video tape one of my sessions today and I'm going to tape another session friday- I need a more objective look at what I'm doing in sessions, especially with this one client. I feel like I did a horrible job and that nothing happened in the session and then I talk and process with my supervisor and learn that it wasn't as bad as I had originally thought. Go figure.

I got to meet Kari's dad tonight. He took us out for ice cream. Now I'm back on the couch and watching episodes of Murphy Brown. I'll be going to bed soon and hoping that my throat is better in the morning. Sleep tight!