Un Día Fantastico

Howdy folks. Today has been a glorious day. I woke up at 8:00ish (and listened to the radio for about 45 minutes) and contemplated what I wanted to do for the day. So as opposed to laying in bed until 10:00, I decided to shower and go to work early today. Have I mentioned that I love setting my own hours? So I went to work and worked on creating another database for tracking clients. It was uneventful, but I got to meet and associate with some of the second year graduate students. In the mean time I also had to look up an article for my supervisor. I found the link to search for articles useful, so I sent it home. Then, apparently the second years were meeting early to watch a therapy session given by one of our professors. Now this is unheard of. A professor actually leading a session? So they snuck behind a one-way mirror to view the professionalism and insight of our professor. And . . . since I was there I got to sneak in as well. It was interesting seeing him practice what he has been teaching us. Admittedly, I know little to nothing of the theories or practice, but at least I got to see him in action. And he pinned the problem on the head and the entire family was in tears. Wow. I can't wait to make people cry.

So I come home and play around on the computer for a while, call and harass a few people in Salt Lake, then I start looking for articles that will help with a paper next week. Remember me mentioning that link I sent home? Well, apparently since I connected from one of the University computers it shows that I have complete and full access to every article on the system. If I were to 'attempt' to log on from my home computer, I wouldn't have access to any of them. Hurrah! So I found 7+ articles, and a book that I will check out tomorrow.

Later my roommate comes home and I grab the mail key. I go out and lo and behold what is in the mailbox? A movie I ordered. Brigham City. I found it for a good price and have been wanting it for years so I'll watch it tonight after my studies. I also got my 2 X-file DVD's from Netflix and . . . something from Wells Fargo (my new bank) that offered me three free downloads from iTunes for taking a 'credit card counseling test.'

So I took the test, passed and got the three free downloads to get some songs I've loved for so long and now I can legally obtain them. I love it! Today has been simply fantastic. So if you listen carefully you may be able to hear one of the songs I got.



Also, here's a few more pictures for ya.

This creature lives in a tree touching my back fence. Here he is acting like a lawn gnome.



Once again trying to blend in with the scenery.



Also in driving back to Utah a few weeks ago, I saw Herbie for sale. (It really was white, not yellow. I was trying to be inconspicuous in taking the photo from my car.)



And this struck me as funny. I was walking to class and I saw these sprinklers running for hours in this field. By this point, isn't it a lost cause?

Talk Like A Pirate

Well, things have settled down. My 300+ pages of reading for this week are complete, I'm feeling better about my aunt, and I now have a weekend off. So Tuesday was international 'Talk Like a Pirate Day' and I found this video if you need a lesson or two. It takes up a lot of space, so I'll be removing it after my next post. Maybe next time I'll have a real update.

Here is the 'Talk Like A Pirate' instructional film.

A Look Into My Soul

Well, apparently as I was making my last post my Aunt passed away. She was too young. The sibling just barely older than my father. I know the circumstances were not common and I also know that life does go on after this one. It is just sad. In a sense, it was something that I feared. Other than grandparents, nobody close to me has died. I was quite content knowing that I had all of my aunts and uncles. Since my father was the youngest, to me that means that since none of his siblings had died that he would be living for a long time. I hope that this continues to be the case. Unfortunately death reminds us of our own mortality. I am not worried about mine, but the thought of my parents comes to mind. Being the youngest, there is a chance I will see everybody go before me. I hope that's not true either.

Some Bad News

I just received an e-mail from my father telling me that my Aunt is going to die. I didn't expect this, not in the least. She's not old enough. My grandma died within the past year and she was 80+. My aunt isn't even close to that. Sometime before last Christmas she had an auto accident which she never truly recovered from. No physical injuries, but her mind was effected. This in combination that my family is more susceptible to Alzheimers didn't help. I'm honestly not sure what to say. I guess I could go down for the funeral.

I just didn't expect for anyone in my family to die so soon. She was doing well, or so I thought. I guess I never have expected her to die because she is so kind, polite, and loving. I have never seen her speak a mean word to anyone. Because of this I have seen her children and they are such wonderful, happy people.

She has influenced and affected many people in her lifetime. She will be missed.

La Vida Despacita

No pictures this time, although there are many I could include. This is just an update regarding my schedule. Pretty much, if you call me from Monday through Thursday, I may not answer. This past week I have been completely focused on school, reading the hundreds of pages of papers, and been starting the fellowship up here. So because of this focus, I have not had time to call or talk to anybody. If however you call me on Friday through Sunday, it would be a great time to talk.

Aside from that I am getting to know some people in my classes and more importantly I'm learning some of the theories. It is quite a challenge and unfortunately I'm having to learn to speak up. We had a session where we went around asking circular questions to each other. I felt like everybody was grilling me for five minutes, but it will be useful. Basically a circular question is just asking somebody else how they believe another person (say their parent, sibling or spouse) would respond to their action. For example: How have your parents expressed their encouragement toward you since you left for graduate school? (Now, I'm not actually asking the question, just giving an example.) The reason it is a circular question is because it is making me think about how they are responding to me and if it is encouragement in the way I need/interpret it. Well, if you're not lost yet, congrats.

So tonight after school some of us went out to dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant and I had Gnocchi and a lavender dry soda. Interesting, but quite wonderful. Aside from finding a part time job, everything is great up here. Until next time . . .