Pandas Are On Sale at the Zoo

I came down with a cold one week into the semester. This is not good. I am attributing it, although indirectly, to working out. :) I decided that in order to make working out happen consistently, I should switch it to mornings. So I got up earlier all week. The only problem was I didn't get to bed and earlier, and just ended up sleep deprived.

Along with the sleep deprivation, it was a busy week. I got overwhelmed on Tuesday, which is a little early in the week to be overwhelmed, but Thursday was our first day of clinic. It went well! I started with 2 of my clients, mostly just getting to know them. One of my kiddos did tell me how he bought a panda at the zoo (on sale!) and keeps it at home in his bed. That was pretty awesome.

Somehow, before the craziness of the semester started I was able to finish Book #7 of the year, City of Tranquil Light. It was good, engaging, but not earth-shattering. If you're into books about far off places and very sincere missionaries, I'd recommend it.

Seriously....

Ah, so ready for this day to be over. I am officially overwhelmed. I kept looking at this week on my calendar, and knew I would be overwhelmed. I kept looking at the space between Tuesday and Thursday, knowing I would get my clinic assignments on Tuesday and see kids on Thursday. All the staring at the calendar didn't help...

I made a decision at Christmas to not be overcome by trying to control things. So maybe this is a chance to work on that. All I know is that I'll be much happier 2 or 3 weeks from now when everything is underway.

It Begins

I think right now I am equal parts excited, terrified, and motivated. We start clinic this week, which means I'll be treating my very first clients all by myself. The terrifying part is I'll look at their files tomorrow, and likely see them on Thursday. Oh, and there's school and a church meeting and some other obligations...nothing like a full week.

Although, maybe it's good for me that I have limited time. When I'm starting something new and don't know how it's going to go, I overprepare. Every first day of school as a teacher had me spending hours on lesson plans, materials, etc., probably more than necessary. Having a limited amount of time freaks me out, but maybe it's a blessing in disguise.

Maybe because I didn't have enough going on, or because I know I NEED to fit it in this week, I've decided to move my exercising to the morning. Which means I'm feeling a little sleep deprived today, but hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Day 1, Semester 4

Today was the first day of my fourth semester as a graduate student in a speech language pathology program, and it was great. Last semester was...well, horrible. But if today is any indication, this semester is much more promising.

Today I have 2 of my 3 classes, Indian Education and Advanced Language Disorders. The Indian Ed. professor is kind of out there with his teaching style, so that could be interesting. He also isn't making me do any extra work even though I'm taking the class for graduate credit. He just said he expects me to take a leadership role. That's it? Done and done.

Advanced Language Disorders also sounds promising--we're going to cover literacy, adolescent language disorders, and autism spectrum disorders, all things I'm interested in.

Next week I'll start my Neuromotor Disorders class, and have a meeting about clinic. I'm so happy that I'm actually looking forward to things right now. I hope the interest sticks.

Prayer

Sometimes it takes my breath away to see how much pain people have to endure. And there are situations neither you nor anyone else can do anything about. Something happened like that today. Not something I can or want to share publicly, but something I feel the need to acknowledge. And when these things happen, although it doesn't change the events, I've found praying some of the prayers that people have prayed throughout the centuries helps. Today I've been praying this one from the Book of Common Prayer:

O merciful Father, who hast taught us in thy holy Word that
thou dost not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men:
Look with pity upon the sorrows of thy servant for whom
our prayers are offered. Remember him, O Lord, in mercy,
nourish his soul with patience, comfort him with a sense of
thy goodness, lift up thy countenance upon him, and give
him peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Chocolate stout in all its glory

There is a beef roast with Rogue chocolate stout in the crockpot right now, smelling delicious. I didn't want to waste the rest of the bottle, and it's a little early for me to be drinking the stuff, so I'm trying these brownies too. They are currently baking in the oven, and if the batter left in the bowl is any indication, they might turn out to be delicious too.

I also reordered cable this morning. It's been nearly a year and a half since I canceled my cable, and I'm ready to have it back. I miss it. And, I think after going without it for quite a while, I will watch it a bit differently than I did before. I'm used to long stretches of silence, and actually really appreciate them. What I am looking forward to is watching some of my favorite shows when everyone else does, and having more options for working out at home (Fit TV), and having more options for watching when I'm on the bike trainer. And reality shows. Of course. :)

Vacation: Day 6 and Beyond

And then...I got too lazy to post pictures daily. Let's just say that it was an interesting, fun, sunny vacation. Some of the highlights for me included snorkeling, getting to ride a bike again, and hiking to the Nakalele blowhole with my brother and nephew.

We had done the hike about 5 years ago, but for some reason the landscape felt completely different this time. We didn't really remember it being so steep, so we're wondering if erosion or weather has changed it since last time. Being a photo hoarder, I found a picture from 5 years ago to compare:

Dec. 2005

Dec. 2010

Dec. 2005

Dec. 2010

Dec. 2005

Dec. 2010

I'm not sure it's super convincing, and of course these pictures are taken from different angles and with a wide-angle lens, but I'd like to think I wasn't being a total wuss in thinking it was steeper and rockier.
The trip was also strange in some ways. My grandfather passed while we were gone. We knew it was coming, it was expected. But, it was still hard to see my mom get the news. It was also difficult for my parents to get flights out of the islands, so that complicated things.
When things weren't weird, we did our daily vacation thing, which is mostly lounging by the pool. My nephew figured out how to snorkel and loved it, which warms my heart. I love snorkeling! I bought him a pair of fins to use while we were there, which I'll give him for his birthday. My niece is too young (1 1/2) to really swim, but hung out around the pool most days. One day she scared the crap out of all of us by falling in. I happened to be closest so I grabbed her out, and I have to say I can still picture her floating there. She was fine.

Speaking of falling in the pool, I lost one of my favorite things to the chlorine/saline combo. I had been sitting on a boogieboard on the side of the pool, with my legs dangling in, reading. I had just started The Hunger Games, which was amazing, and didn't want to stop. I went in the house to get a drink, and when I came out, my dad was holding my Kindle and said he had knocked it in the pool. I literally just stood there for a moment, sure he was kidding.
He wasn't kidding. This is what a bricked Kindle looks like. Hey Jane Austen. The worst part wasn't even that it was broken, I knew he'd replace it. In fact, that was the first thing out of his mouth. The worst part was that we had nearly a week left in our vacation, and I had lost my books!!!

Before my Kindle took the plunge, I had finished two of Lauren Winner's books, Mudhouse Sabbath (Book 1) and Real Sex (Book 2). The day it happened, I had started the Hunger Games (Book 3), and was reading voraciously because it was so good.

So, the first step to reading recovery was going to Barnes and Noble, where I got a paper copy of the Hunger Games and Mennonite in a Little Black Dress (Book 4). I had the first book of the Hunger Games done that night. It's good. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress was interesting...the best word I can think of for the author is caustic. Most people who write a memoir about going home have at least some fondness or appreciation on some level for their home or upbringing. I didn't really see that here.

After finishing the Hunger Games, I couldn't not read the next one, Catching Fire (Book 5) But, B&N didn't have a paper copy...so, I bought it on Amazon, and read it on my computer. I tried bringing the laptop out by the pool, but the sun made that impossible. So I stayed up late reading it in bed. Then reading Mockingjay (Book 6), the last book in the series. I was less impressed with the final book than the first two, but definitely worth it.

Now I'm home, and trying to make good use of my time before school starts. I don't really do New Year's resolutions, but I have sort of thought about what I want to keep doing and start doing. I want to continue the workout routine I've gotten into, and eventually add strength training. I also want to read through the entire Bible in a year, so I've found a plan to do that.

I also want to keep cooking, something I've really grown to enjoy. It was hard not being able to cook totally my way for 2 weeks while I was gone, so I've been overjoyed to do it this week. In between doing that I've been cleaning out cupboards and organizing, and trying not to hyperventilate when I think about school starting. Okay, not just school. Clinic. And it's not like I don't think I'll be good at it, I think I will. But I have dreaded every first day of school/class, and this is no exception. I can't wait until I am 2 or 3 weeks into clinic. Oh, and then there's that whole grade thing. Yeah, not freaking out about that this semester. I'm going to keep telling myself this. Over. and Over.