A bold statement

I think I have found the best ice cream.

Ice cream is one of my top food groups- it makes up a large part of my diet. I love ice cream. To demonstrate my love I offer this analogy:

Chic is to donuts as Lauren is to ice cream.

Anyhow, MAR-boy came over to pick up some items and we decided to try out Bill Wahl's Microcreamery. I've been wanting to try this place since mom visited at the end of May and I finally got there.

The ice cream, I dare say, is the best ice cream that I have ever had. The outside is cute- it looks like an old fashioned ice cream parlor. A big tile counter, flavors written in chalk and around the other side of the shop you can see them make the flavors. Its a cool experience.

I got a "Small" which is two scoops. They aren't very small, are they? ----->

They have all kinds of flavors that they make right on the grounds. I chose the Cookie Dough and the Peppermint Chocolate Chip.

And it was absolutely delicious. I was worried about mixing the two flavors but it didn't end up being an issue. The ice cream was so delicious- not easily melted with huge chunks of dark chocolate and perfect cookie dough and little chunks of peppermint. MMmm. Well worth the wait.

It was nice to see MAR-boy, although I can't help but feel a little sad. There was a certain finality about the whole interaction. We did the catch up thing and talking about future plans and then said bye and thanks and that was it. I mean, I wasn't expecting some triumphant return or petty exchange but I wasn't expecting to feel a little sad. I guess the whole "finality" feeling will be creeping up more and more as I prepare to finish my internship and life here. Since moving to Arizona, I've been in this space where I knew I wouldn't be in one particular place for too long and I think now I'm kind of craving that. Could this be what its like to want to settle down somewhere and sow roots? Eck. That sounds too much like an "Adult" (The A-word) thing and I refuse to call myself that. These past 2 years have been jam packed and frenzied. I think the conclusion of my internship marks the conclusion of this frenzied period and leads into a more "stable" and more "A-word" phase. Saying "goodbye" to MAR-boy is just the beginning of the goodbyes I know I will have to do. Still I can't help but look forward to whatever being an "adult" means. I suppose its not such a bad thing. :) I like growing older (as long as I don't have to grow up). And I'll really enjoy growing older as long as I can still eat as much ice cream as I want.

Briar Manor FTW

Wow.

I started my Saturday as I normally do: Catching up on my Hulu queue before getting out of bed. Well I cheated this morning and made coffee first. As I was settling down to watch my stories, my internet gave out. This has happened before, so I decided to get up and actually plug into the router. Well that didn't work. OKay fine.

I unplugged and plugged back in, shut down and restarted the router and my computer like 3 times. Still nothing. In the meantime I did laundry, cleaned up my apartment- productive things. I even went out for an errand and returned my "notice to vacate" at the front office. While there I asked for my account number so that I could call Time Warner to ask about my modem.

"Hello welcome to Time Warner"

I had a lovely conversation with my new best friend, Eliot. He told me that my modem was disabled because my payment was 16 days late.

WTF.

The apartment complex pays my utilities and internet/cable.

So I walked back to the office and told them what Eliot said. My internet is officially back. Lets pay our bills on time.

Today has been productive- I'm looking to start editing some monthly summaries this afternoon and start practicing my presentation (ack on Thursday!). Later today MAR-boy (I know he hasn't appeared in "And On That Note" for a while) is coming by to get some things he left here. We're going to go and try this microcreamery in Pittsford. I'm glad that I won't have to worry about his stuff-- its not really even stuff that I'd want. My ITD suggested I sell it on E-bay. It was sort of tempting.

Time for a snack and on to that documentation stuff!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Walking Disaster

Today is just disaster. I am glad that I am home and that tomorrow is another day.

first disaster of the day:

1. Running out of gas.

I didn't run out of gas, but I was dangerously close to E. Normally this would not be an issue except that #2 disaster happened.

2. Left my purse at home

So I had no gas card, no drivers license, no insurance card. awesome.

3. A consumer became agitated and started pounding on cars in the parking lot.

I got a phone call in the office about the beamer with the california plates and to please check to see if there are any damages so that they can make arrangements to have it fixed. Well Great. No purse. No license. No AAA card. No nothing.

Luckily, there weren't any damages.

Kari came in later and gave me 7 bucks to get gas to get home. And here I am.

I did have a nice supervision today and we did go over Resumes and Cover Letters today. Our ITD gave us a very short list of possible graduate programs... as in, there are only a few that she has pre-approved. :) That was pretty funny.

I am just glad this day is over. I will hopefully have an easy breezy day tomorrow. My supervising therapist is away at a graduate school residency for the weekend, so I will have the office to myself and my ITD said that if I'm not feeling too hot then I can leave early. We all prefer that I get better before next week picks up- I have my big presentation and documentation and papers and evals (oh my!). Aside from my (almost) comical day and a silly little blunder, I'm feeling pretty good. I plan to do a lot of resting this weekend and working on my hand out for my presentation. That's all.

I went to work today!

I went to work today. But I didn't see any clients. I am feeling better although the afternoon was a little rough- I had that glassy look in my eye about 3pm. I did get some headway on my presentation. I anticipate that I will do most of the work this weekend--- like transferring my video clips to my tape and solidifying my outline and handout. After seeing Kari's presentation today, I have more of an idea of what I want to do and say. That helps a lot. I'm going to type those ideas into my existing outline and then hit the couch. BTW, Kari's presentation was fabulous. She is a rock star. I hope that mine will be as good as hers. I know that it will be different. However, it does turn out that the clients we picked have certain similarities. Its nice to draw on those similarities when I'm trying to figure out my presentation - but also figure out the things that I want to do differently. Kari had this beautiful and elaborate hand out and I think that I might want to do something a little more simple... we'll see what happens as it all comes together.

My presentation is really going to focus on the person that my client becomes in music. There are certain ways that this person is described in the chart is is completely opposite of what I observe in music therapy. I'm really going to highlight on how this person comes to life and can do anything despite whatever "dis"abilities present. That's the amazing thing about music therapy and about this Maslow humanist theory--- my client can fulfill any capacity or potentiality in music. I found the perfect quote from Maslow today that I will probably use in my presentation:

“The person in the peak-experiences usually feels himself to be at the peak of his powers, using all of his capacities at the best and fullest… he feels “fully-functioning.” He feels more intelligent, more perceptive, wittier, stronger, or more graceful than at other times. He is at his best… This is not only felt subjectively but can be seen by the observer He is no longer wasting effort fighting and restraining himself; muscles are no longer fighting muscles. In the normal situation, part of our capcities are used for action, and part are wasted on restraining these same capacities. Now there is no waste; the totality of the capacities can be used for action. He becomes like a river without dams.” (117).

I read that last line, "He becomes like a river without dams" and I just kenw that I had to use it to describe my client. My client also has some physical challenges--- so the muscles fighting muscles line really spoke to me as well. Anyhow, I felt really inspired by fidning that quote and its helped me get a move on my presentation. I have more focus which is going to help me, big time.

I did a lot today without doing much of anything. Although I did submit one monthly summary and started my final paper. My final paper is going to be sort of cool. I'm organizing and summarizing my entire experience based on our first piano in-service where our ITD gave us the rules for improvisation. It turns out those rules have been a lot more important than I had originally thought. It makes reflecting on my experience sort of fun and also ties into the actual musical part of my own transformation. There are things I wrote early on in my journal that are so clear now--- I had that sort of "whoa! how did I even know about that way back then?" reaction to a few of my entries.

Now its time to eat, type my notes and then crash. I think I actually will do sessions tomorrow. Our ITD is going to start doing some observations tomorrow afternoon in preparation for final evals AND tomorrow my ITD and I are going to sit down and talk about dates for last sessions. We have a few people figured out (Kari has all of her ending dates). It will be nice (But WEIRD!) to have that all figured out tomorrow. That truly does make this ending a little more real. I know I have to get through some big things first, but with ending dates, I'm sure the conclusion of my internship will certainly creep more into my mind. Lots of stuff happening and I've got to hit the ground running--- well with as much speed as I can while still managing to take care of myself and get better. We'll start right now with dinner. Goodnight!

back again

I am back in New York again- comfy and cozy on my couch.

My gilroy adventure was a whirlwind! I saw a lot of "my readers" and family and friends. I managed to sprain my ankle during the festival - just a little bit. And today I skipped work because I have a sinus infection and bronchitis. I think it was all the dirt and running around from the festival that caused congestion (as it usually does) and then having to fly all day yesterday probably brought things over the edge. But the festival was great. It was good to see everyone again- all the people who are apart of the Media team. They are my family for those few days during the year and for some, its the only time during the year that I get to see them. So I am glad that I was able to come back and work... even if I had to stay mainly at the media tent with my foot up on Sunday. I really love the garlic festival for that reason- that 3 days out of the year I get to see good friends and family. I think that's true for a lot of other people who have been involved for many years. The twitter project went really well. I think everyone was happy with it and it even got some media buzz and some of the followers were re-tweeting some of the posts. My sister and I were a great team with that (sometimes thats surprising)- she would text me with a message due to limited wi-fi at the cook off stage and I posted them from the media tent. It was fun to work with her this year.

Sometimes we really get on each others nerves (especially in the morning) but this year we were jamming and jiving. It made it more fun.

I posted a picture from Friday morning-- the Foster Farms Impostors were at the festival and we couldn't resist! ---------->

Julie came and picked me up Sunday night because I had a 6:45a flight out of SFO early Monday morning. It was good to hang with her in Gilroy and to hang with her up at her house. Its weird to think that this will probably be the only time we'll see each other in person until December. But I guess with any true and good friend the number of visits doesn't really matter as much as the ability to just pick up where we left off the last time. It was nice to see my family and be at home, even if it was just for a few hours a day. All of my flights were uneventful and on time. That's because I didn't fly Delta. Getting to Gilroy was really annoying as both of my Delta flights were delayed and completely full. Coming back, I was able to sleep on the plane (which is unusual), my flights left on time and only one flight was completely full.

Now I'm back in the ROC and trying to get healthy. I really can't come into work when I'm sick because I work with people who are also medically fragile. It's a good thing my supervisor said "Stay home" when I called this morning. I felt conflicted because I had these symptoms but I wanted to come in. My big presentation is next week, Kari's is tomorrow and I still have a ton of work to do on it. So the blog posts may not be coming as frequently in the next week because I really have to put all of my puzzle pieces together. I think I will have a better idea of how to do that after seeing Kari's tomorrow. She's been able to watch old case studies on tape and I know its going to be a stellar presentation. Plus she mentioned that there are Reese's mini peanut butter cups on the office --- which means I need to be there to eat them.

Oh well. Back to the couch and my bottle of red gatorade.

Oh! Other big news. My best friend from Chapman delivered her (HUGE) baby early this morning. A little boy, 9lbs and 15oz and 22" long. Her younger sister had one job and one job only aside from being there and that was to call and text me as necessary. I got an ecstatic phone call at 4am this morning with the big news. So now I get to be Auntie Lauren to this giant baby and I am very excited about it. I am planning on taking a trip down and visiting sometime in September.

Anyhow, Thank you all for the lovely trip home and I'll see most of you in a few weeks! These next 3.5 weeks are going to fly by and I have a lot to do. Once my presentation is done next week I will have to complete my final paper, final self evaluation, and final site evaluation. Not to mention the upcoming July summaries and the bits of August summaries. Also I will have to start transitioning my clients back to our ITD's caseload and start wrapping up my work plus observations! Phew. That's a lot. But as my mother would say, "you gotta finish the race." SO I'm going to work my hardest to be focused and get everything done. After my trip home, I've gotta change gears (and get better) and get back into the swing of things. I left feeling really balanced in my work and life, so I am hoping to get back to that place instead of the frantic cocker spaniel sliding down the hardwood floor wall. I'm going to get ready for bed now. Seems silly since I have literally napped all day (and I'm still tired!). I must have needed the extra sleep.

Signing off for now!

actual progress

I am packed and even am now (when I'm done) taking my suitcase to the car and taking out the trash- the last two things that I have to do this morning before packing up my backpack for work and trip. I'm putting everything in the car so I don't have to make extra trips back and forth from my apartment when I get back from work. I'm not going to have much time between then and my shuttle pick up. So, I'm saving myself a couple of trips.

I read something really distressing this morning. A music therapy friend/colleague/former classmate has a blog about his daughter. His daughter has a rare skin disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). I believe that its a genetic mutation where the body's skin cells are lacking a protein and therefore don't stick together. His daughter is just over one year old and undergoing a bone marrow transplant (BMT) clinical trial for EB. She's doing well in certain regards but the chemo and other stuff they have her on are just creating chaos in her body and add that to the medical community and people there that run on autopilot and have to be educated everyday in proper care for this little girl is/sounds completely frustrating.

Anyhow, Tim's story is amazing. Currently Bella (Tim's daughter) is not doing so well, bordering organ failure and another clinical trial for a drug to help her liver and kidneys. I wanted to send his family and specifically Bella some nice thoughts and all this morning and thought maybe you all might be interested in reading about this amazing little girl.

You can read her incredible story here:

http://careforanabella.blogspot.com/

Alright alright alright. I've got to get going especially because I have to stop for coffee this morning instead of making it. I'm out of my French Vanilla coffee creamer. And I have practically no food so I have to stop for a bagel or something. Timmy Ho's here I come!

See you all on the "best" coast in a few hours.

progress

Lauren is....

still not packed.

still leaving tomorrow

still not packed.

The miracle-worker

Kelly, LMT is perhaps my new favorite person. She did like this hot waxy parafin-y treatment on my today that she said will get rid of a bunch of bad stuff and give me a 6pack. A 6pack would definitely be an upgrade from my ab (that's right... just one). We'll see how this pans out in the next two days. I do feel great though.

I had great sessions today and we finished discussing Maslow and managed to start the blues improvisation in-service. That was fun. Kari and I got do to some playing together which is always fun. We got some final dates today- like when our final paper is due, our case study dates (which were determined last week) and when our last day of sessions will be. That makes things a little more real.

I bit my tongue so hard today the it bled a little and its still a little sore. While this does sound painful (and it was), it made for hilarious moments in the office. Poor Kari cannot get any work done when I am there to distract her.

My closet doors were fixed today- Thank you Hunky Anthony.

Not much else to report. I am going to settle down for my bowl of ice cream-- Kelly says that ice cream with real vanilla bean in it helps keep a muscle in your face from tensing too much.

productive weekend!

it only 12:45 here and I have already accomplished so much this weekend:

Shipped 2 more boxes of stuff home.

cleaned my apartment

dishes

laundry

Target run

trip to the bank

Halfway packed for my trip home

finished my Maslow book

and now waiting for a phone date.

Phew. I even made pancakes for breakfast this morning. AND I received my gas reimbursement for May! Woo hoo! I am really excited to be home Wednesday and am looking forward to working the festival. Its going to be a nice break and its going to be fun to see everyone. I haven't been home since the beginning on January.

Tomorrow we are going to finish discussing the Maslow book and have another piano inservice. I also have another appointment with Kelly, LMT. I am really looking forward to that and especially leading up to the weekend. Tuesday should be typical and Wednesday I have a meeting and then heading right to the airport. I'm so excited.

Well time for lunch!

Hill Cumorah Pictures

Pictures from our adventure......

Protesters Outside the gates. We saw them as we drove up. I could barely contain my excitement.

Mingle with cast members? Sure why not? These ladies looked like the were apart of the Nephites in the New World.

Who are these lovely ladies? Just two shixahs having some fun at Hill Cumorah.

Gotta have our snacks! ------>

I picked up some sunflower seeds, red vines, and reese's pieces for the pageant. Thank goodness for those protesters. Otherwise we wouldn't have any reading materials to add to our spread before the show!

The 10-tiered stage nestled in the Hill and the thousands of people in attendance.

Hill Cumorah!

Oh gosh. last night was epic. We got reading materials from the protesters on our way in-- good thing because we had about 45 minutes to wait before the show started. We got a free picture of Jesus-- I do love free swag. The video clip above is of the opening sequence. Now I realize you probably can't see much- it was dark and we sat waaayyy in the back on our own blankets and such. We figured that for all of our side comments that it would be best to sit in the back where we wouldn't bother anyone. Anyhow- the epic opening includes a huge procession of every cast member up to the GIANT stage. It was epic. And there were a ton of people there. We guessed a couple of thousand. All of the music was prerecorded with Morman Tabernacle Choir.

Now the details... we first pulled up and marveled at the sheer size of the hill and the stage. My mom has been there before and talked about the Hill and all this stuff but I'd never been there. Well. By the time we got there--- about 8:30, there were already a ton of people there. We were greeted by nice guys in shirts and ties in the parking lot who waved us to the appropriate lot. As we walked in the gate, protesters (2 different groups) handed us some reading materials. We set up our blankets and snacks- because no show like its is complete without snacks. I picked up sunflower seeds, red vines and reese's pieces. We had a very nice time. . We got our free picture of Jesus and plan on giving one to our ITD. Can't go anywhere without the free swag. They were also giving away copies of the Book of Mormon but I passed on that one. . We did get to talk with some cast members who were handing out programs and explained the premise of the pageant. It was fun to razz them a bit... in typical Lauren fashion. The two cast members were these two young guys whom Kari later said were flirting with us-- you know, two attractive ladies sitting together at the pageant... I disagree... but it was still amusing.

Cast members: Hello ladies, do you two have programs?

L: No we don't.

C.M: Oh well then we're not really doing our job are we?

L:I should say not. Say, do you have to be in character right now?

C.M: Umm no not really. Isn't this costume great? (insert sarcasm. The dude was wearing a floor mat that was sewn into a vest and matching hat. I mean, this stuff is so good I can't even make it up)

L: Oh yeah. New fashion statement. I may go and find one of those so that I can wear one too. Do your characters have names? Motivations? (Should've seen his face for that)

C.M: So are you familiar with the story of the pageant?

K: (She always steps in when I get a little too rowdy) No.

So they explained the pageant and how it basically is the book of mormon from the dawn of time when Lehi took his peeps and crossed the ocean to America (Cue music: We're comin' to Americcuhhh. Thank you Neil Diamond. We were singing that the entire way home). The program was nice because it had a scene by scene description of what was happening. Don't worry mom, I saved it and I'll bring it home so you can look at it.

So the show is all about the book of mormon which now I know why its called "The Book of Mormon." Mormon was a dude. And his son was Moroni (pronounced Mo-RONE-eye). But waay before that there was this other guy, Lehi and I guess he was apart of the tribes of israel. ANyhow, he gets a vision that Jerusalem is going to be destroyed so he gathers up his peeps and leads them for many years. they finally come to the ocean. His son Nephi builds a boat and after a big storm and some potential smiting by God they end up in the New World (Americuh). And there's war and people get burned--- all captured with fire and stuff falling and destruction on stage.... very dramatic and horribly entertaining. And finally we get to Mormon and Moroni and Moroni decides to write everything down from the time of Lehi and all the people inbetween to Mormon- the great prophets. That's why its called the book of Mormon. Well there's a big battle and everyone dies except Moroni because God spares him and he buries the Book of Mormon (these stories and accounts) in a hill in Cumorah. 1400 years later, Moroni appears to Joseph Smith who uncovers them and he transcribes it and voila. In the meantime some other stuff happens like Jesus appears to the people in the New World after he raises from the dead and after he visits the people in the old world (hence Comming to Americuhh). All very interesting and definitely different from what I believe. Kari and I had a good conversation in the car on the way back to her place.

The Event was not as scary as I thought it would be. Everyone was very nice. We also behaved ourselves very well and saved a lot of stuff to discuss in the car. And we wore our capped t-shirts (I decided dressing appropriately would be a good thing).... my tube top was in the wash anyhow. ;) So below is the opening sequence- I don't think I'm supposed to post it-- but really now. The angels are at the top of the stage "playing" the horns and all of the cast members process in. Like I said, epic.

Visiting the Hill

Going to the hill tonight....

I'm driving over to Kari's and we're going together in one car. I'm very exciting and hoping to catch some good footage.

Today was a great day. I had great sessions and accomplished everything I set out to do. This week has been really balanced for me. Its this new thing I'm trying.

I'm starting to prep for my trip home- that means pulling out my suitcase and putting some stuff in it. I plan on taking home some stuff around here that I won't need, like movies or books and more winter stuff that I really don't need to keep around. I talked to Chic today who told me to "stop by the media tent at the festival if you have time." Very funny. I am excited and know this will be a nice break for me!

Anyhow I have to eat before heading east. To the Hill!

protesters and things..

oh! Palmyra is not only the host of Hill Cumorah but the host of protesters protesting hill cumorah. Its added some excitment around here.

My post will be brief. I went out and treated myself to dinner and had a martini which means that I will be snuggled up in bed in only a couple of hours. I had great sessions the past two days. One of my Monday/Wednesday sessions have been phenomenal lately. The client has had incredible experiences and that kind of energy and joy in an experience is absolutely contagious. Today I taped another session for my case study. I think I have all the video clips that I need for my presentation. Thats a good feeling. My documentation has been better this month and my update reports for the meetings happening during my internship have been completed. Things keep chugging a long here and while I still am experiencing growth (because I think thats inevitable) it feels like its slowed down a bit. I am thankful for that. I feel like since January that I've absolutely shot out of the cannon. Its tiring to grow so much in a short amount of time, so I am looking forward to taking a small vacation when I'm done. I'm really looking forward to driving to see my sissy in michigan when she gets there and help her do whatever she needs me to do for a couple of days and then get home. Other than that I'm not thinking too far into the future. I do plan to take my certification exam soon after coming home. But that's as far as I have planned. That was sort of tangential. Sorry.

The weeks go by so quickly here!

Today we had another classical improv in-service. Kari basically picked a small book from the downstairs therapy room and said that I had to pick from that book. This works for me. If I had too many options I become indecisive. I ended up playing the first four measures of this piece - Suite de danzas criollas, No. I by Ginastera-- and both Kari and I just exhaled. Like... the music sounded and felt calming-- the chords and the way they were voiced prompted immediate relaxation. We both agreed that I would use that. Well I felt bored at first. Keeping is simple felt boring but I had to remember that just because I thought it was boring doesn't mean that the music didn't have value. Essentially what i think and like doesn't matter because in therapy the music isn't about me. And I always thought that it was ALWAYS about me... thats what my Auntie always says! :) Anyhow, it went really well. Kari used music from The Moldau by Smetana. We learned about that piece in my music history classes. Our ITD was excited about both our pieces and was already talking about how she was going to use them. Man, we have hundreds of years of "classical" music that is so adaptable for clinical improvisation. I wonder if people actually utilize it. Probably not. Another tangent.

Tomorrow should be "typical" and tomorrow--- we are going to the Hill! A special update will be required for that. I am going to bring my camera and get some pictures and maybe even video. It will be epic!!

YUUMMM

I actually cooked tonight! I love making this beef stir-fry-ish dish. Its really easy too... I just do a little rice, get one of those steamer bags of veggies, I cut up a little beef and scrambled a couple of eggs and mixed it all together in one pan. I had some sauteed onions left over from a previous dinner and so I threw those in there too. I love this because it tastes really good and its easy to make. We used to make this quite often in Arizona, so I always think of Mags and Stacey and having to make enough to even feed Jesse. I love the way that food can bring up nice memories (like specific songs do!). I prepared a lot of wonderful meals in Arizona. I didn't cook much when I was at chapman. I don't think that I had many friends over while I was going to school there. But once I made a little family unit at ASU, I started having people over for dinner at least once a week. I found out that I really love cooking for people because I like having that family dinner time. And when you cook, you make a meal that people enjoy--- its fun to see people enjoy the dish you made too. So I miss cooking for my Arizona family. I made a delicious coq au vin one time that was just sooo delicious. I think that was the last big meal I prepared in Arizona. I had all the usuals over including my friend Lisa who flew in from the midwest just for my graduation. The best is when everyone is silent at the table because the food is so delicious. That was a small but tasty tangent.

Anyhow, I had a great day today. Good sessions. Our ITD took us through more of the Maslow book today too. We scheduled my final case study for August 5th. I'm glad that I have a date for that now. It will help me pace my work. Tonight I'm just enjoying my dinner and hoping to get to bed early. I kept waking up- like every two hours. Thats about all thats going on here. Tomorrow should be a "typical" Tuesday.... as typical as it can get. Still looking forward to Hill Cumorah. I think we're going Wednesday night!! I'm so excited.

Arsenic and Old Lace

I turned on the tv today and Arsenic and Old Lace was on TCM. Loving that. Its a personal favorite ever since my mom rented it from the library one day a ton of years ago. I think I brought it to school once for a rainy day and I got mad because everyone else wanted to watch Homeward Bound.

Cary Grant is brilliant in this slapstick. I haven't seen this movie in quite a while, so discovering it this morning has been such a treat. I have now since enjoyed my oatmeal and coffee and am trying to decide what to do today. Yesterday was a bit of a waste. I woke up late and had a headache for most of the day. There is a Harry Potter marathon and The Hills (preparing for the big series finale) marathon. Then High School Musical 3: Senior Year later. I have to say that the HSM 3 was pretty horrible. You know, the first one was likable- the first one of its kind. Watching the 3rd became pretty tedious. I'd compare it to the Back to the Future trilogy, but the HSM series is no where near Back to the Future in terms of quality (even that kinda lame 3rd one set in the old west).

Anyhow, enough about bad TV. I think today I am going to go read by the pool for a while. Life has been pretty slow this weekend. Its been nice although its been hard to get moving to do anything. I might venture to target today to pick up some tennis balls. Kelly LMT told me to get some tennis balls and use them to break up the tension that I hold in my shoulders. Sounds good to me. We didn't make it out to Palmyra this weekend but maybe sometime during the week. We HAVE to go. Have to. Beginning this week I have 6 weeks left. While 6 weeks may sound like a long time, it is really going to fly.

The official face of...

I am the official Twitter Face of the Festival.

That would be a title I just came up with. I got an email from Chic saying to "make sure to pack your tweeter" because I've been asked to tweet during the garlic festival! I think that's pretty cool. I'll be plugging the big stuff happening around the festival so that all the people in the twitterverse will know what's going on. I'm actually quite excited even though I do not have a twitter account. I'll have to ask my worldly sister for twitter pointers. Although I'm certain its not rocket science.

I had a great day today. good supervision. since talking with my ITD and seeing Kelly LMT I have felt grounded and balanced. Its a nice feeling. It went from being rather warm today (like 82F) to pouring down rain (hmm... 75F). Awesome. We're talking torrential downpour. I am actually excited that its raining. It suits me just fine at the moment. I'm feeling pretty spent. Plus I love rain.

This weekend brings HILL CUMORAH!!! (Cue epic music!)

http://www.hillcumorah.com/Pageant/index.php

Please visit that website. You won't be sorry. If you are in your place of work, turn the volume down. It may startle you.

So in the sleepy town of Palmyra, NY, the Book of Mormon was born. In fact, it was in Palmyra that Joseph Smith found the tablets. My knowledge of Mormon teachings is about as good as my knowledge of.. uh... brain surgery? I know just about nothing. What I do know is that every year thousands of people come to the sleepy village of Palmyra for the Hill Cumorah pageant. Naturally, I have to go. Kari, her hubby and I are going. Its too interesting to resist. I have a fascination with Mormonism only because I don't know a lot about it and what I have heard has been so drastically different from my own religious background that it boggles my mind. There are some things that raise red flags but at the end of the day, everyone is entitled to believe in what they want... whatever that may be. In the meantime, Kari and I are coming up with aliases just in case- fake names and addresses. :) We are most definitely going-- free pageant, 10 tiered stage, Hollywood special effects, cast of 650-- plus it looks like there's fire too. What's not to love?

Time for a bit of dinner, maybe even a bit of laundry. I am starting to sort of research my options for life after internship but I've gotta keep that on the back burner until my case study has been completed! One thing at a time. The one thing right now would be food. I'm starving. Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!

Taking it slow

sooo after supervision today, we decided (my ITD and I) that I need to just slow down. In fact, I need to slow down a lot. I was feeling down for a while and then I got my energy back and I was just running overtime. So now I need to find balance. Isn't balance totally the name of the game. geez. I'm learning all the lessons that I know I should learn: like balance, but its really hard to carry them out. Balance and learning how to take care of myself.

Good thing I had a massage scheduled today. I went for an appointment with Kelly, LMT. She's a New York Licensed Massage Therapist (hence the LMT). She's a little crunchy but amazing. I feel great. I need to keep hydrating and she gave me some great stretches for my tendonitis and realigned pretty much all of my joints. I feel more able to go slow- I'm feeling quite mellow. She gave me some other exercises for my lower back and knees. I have another appointment for this other treatment in a couple of weeks. She's working on reseting my buttons so that I can basically function without continuing to do damage to my body. I'm not stranger to massages- in fact I love them. They work for me and they always make me feel better. She was great and managed to go deep without hurting me. I didn't know it could be like that! She told me she was trained to do that- you know dig her elbow in to my back to go deep and then feel sore and have to come back for more massages. She was really gentle but got through a lot of the ick that I have stored in my muscles. Plus I came home with emu oil and melatonin strips. I'm excited to have more uninterrupted sleep (as waking up at least once in the middle of the night is common) and balance. Plus this emu stuff is kind of an amazing moisturizer. I am excited to see her again in a couple of weeks and see what kind of work we can do.

Now its time for chicken and left over peas. Yum. Tomorrow is a relatively easy day. With all the horrible heat and mucky air, a lot of our guys stay home -- health reasons. We're anticipating our afternoon sessions to be canceled tomorrow. Kari and I plan to start working on organizing case study clips.

This weekend: Watch out! HILL CUMORAH.

More on that later....

Eaten alive....

I have a minimum of 15 bug bites and they all itch at once. Its horrible. The worst are the ones on the tops of my feet. I wanted to kick my shoes off in my office and take care of that. Oh well. I had a great Tuesday.

The attractive physical therapy (doctorate) student observed my morning sessions. It was nice to talk about my work to someone outside of the field and who was curious. I got my work done, put gas in the car, caught up with Julie, shipped two boxes, and now I'm back home slathered in cortaid. Tomorrow I really start working on my case study. I've started an outline and started typing up some of my clients history to have on file. So I'm off to a start and need to keep pressing on.

Aside from that, its oppressively hot and humid and is supposed to remain that way through Thursday. Eck. Its horrible. I'm glad to be sitting next to my air conditioner. I'm feeling pretty antsy in general- I'm excited for my trip home; I want my case study presentation to be done; but mostly I am excited to come home. So bear with my lame countdown and talking about how excited I am to be coming home. No amazing awarenesses or realizations to share today- just that I feel so different and I am curious to see how it will feel to come back home for a little bit.

Time for Dinner

Happy 4th!

We had an All-American time today: Cheeseburgers, biscuits, salad, drinks, food network, mario kart and fireworks. Kari and her husband came over tonight for some fun. It was nice to have them over. My burgers turned out to be delicious and so juicy- done just right. I didn't have a grill but I made do with my oven. I also didn't have Worchester sauce so I used a little red wine. They were so wonderful. We got to watch one fireworks (and a half-- there was another show but a building was in the way) show from the park next to my apartment complex. It was nice to be able to see some fireworks, I was a little afraid that we were going to be able to see any. On the way back to my apartment we saw a bunch of fireflies. That really added to the magic for me. It was a nice relaxing day and I was glad that I spent this year celebrating with Kari and her husband.

I have been trying to think of my favorite 4th of July memory but I couldn't pin down one in particular. Last year we saw fireworks from La Jolla- which was beautiful. They were right over head with thousands of our closest friends. You could also see the fireworks from the Fair a few miles up the road. The year before my boyfriend at the time took me to one of the bluffs to see the fair fireworks and then pulled little dishes of homemade creme brulee out of his car and torched them right there on the back patio at the place I was staying. In 2006 I was on a plane to Australia for a band trip. There were years of block parties in there and a few stand out in my mind. Mostly, I fondly remember setting off fireworks with my "pyrotechnic expert" uncle. I think of him often on this particular holiday. I think those block party years are some of my favorite favorites.... especially once I earned the right to operate my own propane tank.

So I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday. I plan on doing my couch time tomorrow while starting to work on my case study presentation outline. I'm missing my family and friends who I usually see but I know that I'll be back in just a couple of weeks for the festival. I am looking forward to it. Love to you all and goodnight!

Team Edward vs Team Jacob

Yep. Kari and I went and saw The Twilight Saga: Eclipse today. Hey. It was a matinee show for $5 and we brought our own snacks and beverages. For $5 and the margaritas we brought plus snacks from Weggies and a little Twilight action, we had an excellent time. I will say that the movie wasn't bad. Although we had two phrases that we whispered to each other throughout the movie: 1. "Take off your shirt." and 2. "That's not how the book goes." They moved some things around for flow and the two male leads look rather yummy. That Jacob Black almost never wears his shirt- a definite perk. Anyhow, people were saying that this was the best of the Twilight movies- but to be fair, the first 2 set the bar pretty low, especially New Moon. Kari and I were both pleasantly surprised with the movie. . We also got to re-enact it for Kari's husband when we got back to her apartment. All in all, a stellar day.

I did my grocery shopping early this morning, around 8a. I have found that Saturday mornings are perfect for my Mega-Wegs shopping trips. I get to take my time and the store is practically empty. I got everything I need for tomorrow's celebration. I'm making burgers and got some beans and Kari and her hubby are bringing salad and homemade paula deen biscuits (what's more american than Paula Deen?)! There are fireworks in Henrietta, so if we can't see the fireworks from my apartment complex, we may drive the 5 minutes to the park. The 4th of July is my favorite holiday- probably because of all the wonderful the memories I have associated with the day. Everything from the block parties, setting off fireworks, being at the Fair... all kinds of things and all the people that I've met and spent time with on the 4th. Maybe the whole summer thing too- the warm weather, bbqs, desserts... I guess I should like it for the whole "Independence Day" part of it... but the day yields so many fabulous memories that the independence part kind of takes a back seat. I don't know if I have a favorite memory from the 4th of July- all of them have been pretty stellar. I'll think about it.

Now I am snuggled up on the couch watching TCM. They are showing "Meet Me in St. Louis" as apart of the Essentials. I love this movie for one basic reason: The Trolley Song. Clang Clang Clang goes the trolleyyyyy..... Its a classic moment. Anyhow, that's my rip roaring evening. My afternoon was just so darn entertaining and amusing that I have to balance that with some couch time. Here's a shout out to my Fair Friends! Good luck in this last weekend and tear-down on Monday! I'll be thinking about you guys and can't believe the Fair is over and that I wasn't there! That's still weird to imagine.

Hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend!

Canada Day!!

Happy Canada Day!!

One time I was at Julie's house for Canada Day and we celebrated with sugar pie... or pecan pie. One of the two. Anyhow, it was a good day. I don't think that Julie was there-- I think she was out, but I remember having a fantastic time.

Today Kari took me to the Newark Farmers Market and there was this lovely Amish couple selling breads and cookies and pies. They had TINY PIES.... and TINY PECAN PIES. So I bought a Tiny Pecan Pie to celebrate Canada day.

I'm going to heat it up a little in the oven and enjoy a little later. I had a hot dog at the farmers market so I think I'll just follow up with something "healthy"-- I dunno, veggies or something.

Today was a good day. Kari and I were both tired... probably the "coming down" from yesterday's stellar day. I'm looking forward to a little pie and lots of sleep. I'm definitely dragging today. I am getting more excited for my trip home in just a few weeks! btw Mom, Julie said she could take me to the airport Monday morning.

I submitted my last monthly summary for the month of June today! A new record. And I started my July summaries- eck. vicious cycle. they never seem to stop! I can't believe how much there is left to do in the short time that I have left. Especially in regards to my case study. I'm hoping to get some work done on it Friday night and possibly Monday morning. I'm losing a few days for my trip home around the time of my case study, so I want to be sure that I am working on it. I've reviewed a lot of my tape and know what clips I have so I think I'm going to start by putting together an outline of information and clips that I want to use, just to get started. Phew. lots of stuff happening up in my brain. I think I will disengage and noodle around on my keyboard for a while before consuming my TINY PIE! loving that.

Happy Canada Day!