Wahoo!

I’m doing my happy dance! Late yesterday afternoon, around 4 PM to be exact (sort of), my training director gave me the great news that our proposal to have me continue at my current pre-doc site for 2007-2008 had been approved by my school. Yay-yay! The guy from my Field Placement Office (“FPO”) left me a voicemail at 4:10 PM (precisely) confirming their approval.

My relief was/is great and my shoulders immediately felt lighter – such a weight off of them. This approval means a lot at this stage in the ‘earning-this-degree-and-moving-toward-licensure’ game. I will not have to be keeping my attention and energy out there hoping that I receive invitations to interview at some/or all of the eight sites to whom I just mailed (this weekend) my application packets. There will be no anxiety and wasted energies driving all around Northern California for interviews and the stress of the interviews themselves will not be mine this year. And Monday, 4/2, can just be another day instead of the gut wrenching sitting by the phone between 8 AM (sharp) and noon, waiting for calls from sites to see which one(s) extend an invitation to join their team.

Plus, now I know for sure where I’ll be – well as much as we mere mortals can know anything “for sure” that’s in the future – this coming year and can plan accordingly. I’ll get to go home to Alaska for the summer and that means the world, and at least a sliver of the Universe, to yours truly.

And now my energies are really truly free to turn my full attention to my dissertation work. Last night I felt a big surge of hope that completing this degree is really within my capabilities and grasp.

I gave thanks to the Universe and my HP last night for this great turn of events. And this morning I continue to break into my Happy Dance every now and then…

Surrounded by my fave things

just like this handsome guy in this Flickr pic. I’m very happy to report that Lily Pod is home with me now. She didn’t come in my fave color black but instead is very silvery and sleek in appearance. My sister has a silver nano too so when Lily goes home with me to Alaska this summer, we’ll have to be sure and not get them mixed up when we’re GS’ing (if you don’t know what that is, you’re not as cool as I thought). I don’t think I’d want a steady diet of Toby Keith and I don’t think Kim would like my headbanger noise…

Did I mention that I love Lily Pod? ‘Cuz I do! I do! She’s playing a song thru my Bose earbuds even as I write this entry. She’s way cool.

I succumbed and purchased another 2-year warranty for another $29.99. The sales clerk said that she uses hers to switch out her Ipod’s color. I figure since I did use this one, even with the hassle and long wait, it was better than having to shell out the full price again but I guess if I think about it, I’ve now spent $60 on extended warranties and Lily was priced at $199. For those math minded folks out there, is that a good deal or did I just throw good money after bad?

Since I already had an Itunes deal on Toshi, one of my other fave electronic friends, the installation and downloading of my playlists onto Lily was painless and way fast. Yay! I didn’t even have to call on my daughter for help .

I also got to have a really great customer service experience with a Bose CSR. I called to order a black docking cradle for my Sounddock (yet another of my fave electronic friends) to accommodate Lily, since she’s the Second Generation Nano, and the cradle that she came with doesn’t really fit snugly enough (although it does work) and is white. Well within 2 minutes, the Bose CSR, had taken all of my info and then told me the very best part which was that they would send a universal docking cradle out via UPS to arrive no later than 3/9, and that the cost was – are you ready for this? – FREE. And then she said “thank you for calling us today and for giving us the opportunity to serve you.” Nice

And now I have some bbq pork ribs cooking away in the slow cooker and I have already put together the homemade ‘tater salad and it’s mellowing out in the fridge. The SO is taking a nap and I am rocking out to one of Fleetwood Mac’s earlier albums (thanks to Lily).

Oh yes, I also purchased more hope for us in the form of SuperLotto (“SL”) and MegaMillion (“MM) tickets. The ML is up to $214 M and the SL is $43 M. Now that would make my week to be the holder of the winning ticket(s) for one or both (why not?) pots!! I promise I will share when that glorious event happens.

So Lily Pod

will soon be coming home with yours truly later today (hopefully). The Best Buy gift card arrived on Thursday night and I am planning on trundling over to the nearest Best Buy and picking out a new Ipod nano. I am thinking of a regular sized Ipod – at least looking at one to see what the differences are. I don’t really care if it is tiny like the nano and in some ways it might be nice to have a larger screen. But that all aside, I do believe that the new electronic member of the famdamily will be christened Lily Pod, thanks to a friend’s (and you know who you are) creative suggestion.

It’s a relief to have the pre-doc internship applications off of my to do list. The last two go out in the mail today. I ended up sending out eight instead of the original chosen ten as I eliminated two of them based on additional information and thinking that I wouldn’t be a great match for their site.

So now with this freed up energy I am going full steam ahead with my dissertation research. I have been working steadily on it but didn’t have as much time or energy to expend. However, now I am up for the task – once again.

I am also researching for and preparing a two-hour training seminar that I will be present in May. The topic I’ve chosen is viewing racism as a trauma inflicted on the receiver and treating it as such in the therapy room. The DSM-IV, the diagnostic Bible for the mental health field, currently does not include racism in the trauma section. Many naysayers of this idea believe that the import of trauma for experiences such as rape or domestic violence, would be diluted with the addition of racism. I obviously disagree and will be including the reasoning behind my belief in my seminar. This will be my first professional seminar presentation and I am excited to do a really outstanding job with a powerpoint deal and lots of good handouts. I’m beginning work on it early enough so that I can do it justice.

Later this morning, I am going grosh shopping and bringing home some pork ribs to cook up some bbq for this evening’s meal. I think I will go whole hog (pun intended) and make up some homemade ‘tater salad. But I have to exercise self control and commonsense and make up just a little and not a whole tub of it like I usually do because if it’s here, I’ll for sure eat it – ALL. I wish all of my loved ones could belly up around our table tonight in the old Attic and sit a spell with us.

Margaritas, anyone?

or shake, rattle, and roll. You choose the terminology or question but that was quite a jolt we just experienced here in the old Attic just a few minutes ago. Yikes!

I hate it when the earth shakes for so long that I begin to think ‘oh my gawd, this is the BIG ‘un.” Everything seems intact here and nothing fell off the walls or shelves but it was a whopper. Even the SO said “wow, that was a big one.”

Go forth into the light

and find your way through the postal service into the hands of the recipient. Those are the words and wishes I told each of the six application packets I put out for mail pick up today. I sort of sealed them with a big kiss. Well not really. But a big “Good luck and God speed!” That’s kind of a kiss, right? I know. Not really.

I was really hoping that my school would let me know their decision about my bid to stay on at my current pre-doc site this coming year prior to my having to prepare and send out these application packets. But once again, I seem to be living in the land of fantasy and wishes when it comes to this school. I have really tried hard to put aside my resentments and bitterness toward this institution while I worked on the letters, essays, etc. today as I didn’t want to taint them with negative energy. I am a firm full believer in energy being very real. I have some more to put together that will be mailed tomorrow and then I will be finished with this part of the process. March 5th is the deadline for applications to be received and that week will begin calls for interviews. There are only three weeks for the interview process with match day being April 2nd this year.

All of this will mean next to nothing in just a few short years, but for now in my life at least, these dates and deadlines and hoped for matches are a big deal on my way to earning this degree and future licensure.

Think, think, think,

in circles

going around

in

side.

one thought leads to

another

and then back

around

to the next,

thought, that is.

circle back.

that’s what animals do sometimes to throw

a human tracker off

their trail.

circular thinking

isn’t as clever.

at least that’s what I think

in this

moment,

right before

I circle

back.

It’s beyond me

why a casino would put on a special Chinese buffet in observance of the Chinese New Year which began this weekend and then not have ANY chopsticks. What’s up with that that? Go figure.

The SO and I still managed to horf down our share of the food offerings and most of it was tasty.

Up close and personal

or at least as close as inside of our car (aka Harvey) while driving at speeds between 25-50 mph by California’s infamous Happy Cows. We saw many of these black and white bovine beauties (and I do not mean of the pill variety for any pill poppers out there) happily chewing grass and cud.

Our vacer into the Sonoma Valley wine country is now a thing of the past and we are back at our Attic, both working away at our respective desks.

And my life goes on. Mooo-ving on down the road…

We’re on vacer!

Tomorrow morning we head out for our vacer since Monday is a holiday for me and the SO; something to do with white men. Oh yeah, the nation is celebrating the presidents of the United States of America.

We’re going to check out the River Rock Casino in Geyserville, CA, in wine country. We’re planning on overnighting at the Geyserville Inn which is situated “within 5 minutes” of the casino and within a half hour of the little village of Healdsburg that I’ve been wanting to check out for a while.

So cross your fingers that either the SO or yours truly will strike it big on a slot machine or win one of the big lottos, okay?

As for me, I’ll be thinking of all of you and wishing that you could come with us. We’d have a blast don’t you think?

Take three per day

and make sure they’re big ones. Okay, I finally convinced myself that I need to supplement my diet with calcium in an attempt to ward off osteoporosis. I am told that short Asian women are the most endangered among older women of coming down with this horrid sounding bone loss. And did I mention that I turn 50 this summer? Not old. And even when I am old, I am learning to embrace the age… But back to my recent decision to ingest more daily calcium.

My SO being the loving partner that he is, brought home a bottle of calcium pills for me. They are manufactured by the Naturalist company and the pills were made from Natural Oyster Shell with the recommended dosage of three tablets per day, taken with food. Okay. This company uses the word tablet very loosely because when I opened the bottle I discovered nickel-sized oyster shells in the rough, urrr I mean, tablets. My commitment being still new, I managed to choke them down two days in a row before I decided to keep looking for a different brand of torture, urr I mean, health.

Today with further help from the SO, I chose “Nature’s Bounty Absorbable Calcium” softgels thinking they would be easier to swallow PLUS the daily dosage called for two pills per day versus the three full-sized oyster shell/tablets. Okay, I open this bottle and I kid you not that the softgel pills looked like oblong white footballs! Even the SO said ‘what the hell?’ or something to that effect. We’re talking bigger, if smashed down into circles, than the aforementioned nickel-sized Naturalist brand.

But I figured I had paid $13 for the bottle and that I should at least take one and see how it went. Okay, that was several hours ago and the softgel of hell is still lodged, sideways in my throat!! Ouch. and ouch again. Plus, it upset my stomach and I still feel queasy.

So I might not shrink anymore (not that I’m admitting that I may have already shrunk) or break a bone by just opening a jar, but in exchange I will have a big fat lump in my throat for here on out as I attempt to choke down two of these humungo flying footballs of pure evil per day.

Oh by the way, there is a gorgeous sunset happening even as I type this entry. The sun looks like a huge firey orange dipping behind the hills across the bay. Oh how I love the westfacing window and skylight here at the Attic!

Okay, that lovely view took my mind off of my physical discomfort for a minute or two…