The Lazy Philosopher

Feels like this day has already been crazy long, and I’ve still got laundry to run and a couple other things to catch up on.

I had NB for the morning and afternoon – with a short break for my CCC interview… People always ask how interviews went, I never know how to answer.  I wonder what would happen if I always asked as I left the interview?  ”Um, since I know people are going to ask me, would you mind telling me how this all went?”  So, I’ve no idea how it went, other than that I’m glad I’ve lived a good clean life – answering some of those questions would have been interesting if I hadn’t.

Gave NB, A2, and PJ5 haircuts today.  NB while he was with me during the day, A2 stopped by for a quick buzz just before dinnertime, and PJ5 when he came for his late afternoon regular visit.  Most of his therapy was preempted by the combination of getting his haircut and me abruptly finding out that I needed to go to the fundraiser tonight.
So nice to do the boys’ haircuts today.  I was thinking about how much they have improved since the first time I did their hair.  I researched for days and watched videos and read articles on how to best accommodate Autism when cutting hair.  And it was an ordeal and a half the first few times, especially with PJ5, and several times it took two of us to distract him or curtail flailing limbs.  But today?  Each of the three boys stood quietly and watched in the mirror while I completed the entire routine.  It made me happy to see how they’ve progressed.

He was antsy about standing still for his picture because he was running to take his turn for the haircut - he was excited to go!

Mom was supposed to go with T1 to the Calm Waters 20th Anniversary Celebration & Fundraiser tonight but ended up with homework which prevented her attending.  So I took her place.  Went to the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club over in Nichols Hills and had a few (mysterious) hors d’oeuvres and a nice dinner along with speeches, presentations, videos, and information about the Calm Waters organization.  It was nice to see the staff again – it’s been almost a year since I last led a Divorce Group.  Plus, I had the opportunity to meet several people who have connections in the field I need a job/supervision in! And I was introduced by people who know (and mentioned) that I just graduated and am looking for a position.
I dripped coffee, dropped a fried green bean, couldn’t figure out what to do with the towel in the bathroom, wanted to take a picture of an awesome enormous antique writing desk, and almost had a head-on collision with the guy standing at the corner serving hors d’oeuvres.  Pretty interesting evening overall.  I could have hung around and met some OKC Thunder people, but I left after the program – I really don’t want a career in professional basketball anyway.

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One more day.  Training Saturday, I’m excited!

Naturally, since I just graduated with a degree in marriage and family therapy it’s to be expected that I’ve already received an offer for a “lucrative position” as “an IT Manager and sales professional”.  I’m not really jumping on that job just yet – which is crazy since I’m beyond broke and have student loans that give me heart attacks when I start adding them up.

For now I’m looking at night jobs doing cleaning and security and other uninteresting things.  And panicking because they aren’t really lining up for me to choose from.  I think I’m deciding to be depressed, I’ve got three degrees now and people assure me that’s all it takes to get a job… but I really can’t believe that it’ll be happening for me anytime soon.  Due to other obligations I’ve got to survive the summer without a job unless I can find one that will make allowances for my already scheduled absences.  Trying to have hope!

I’ve moved from school panic mode to camp panic mode.  It’s kind of nice that I had to put it off for so long this year, usually by now I’m quite panicked.  Now I’m just starting the panic, and looking at it as just another paper to write, albeit with many more calculations and estimations than my recent papers.  Right now I’m working on figuring out travel and shopping and places to stay – none of those things have worked out smoothly for the last few years and I would really like to change that.

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Also hoping to get back into this blogging thing, I really do love my blog and writing it – it’s just been something that I pull up and stare at for a few minutes and then either feel extreme guilt for not doing homework or fall asleep mid-thought.  Hopefully I can now apply some specific time to getting something written on a more regular basis.

I took some of my favorite littles (and a few others) on a trip to my childhood this past weekend.  I’ve been talking to them about it since January and didn’t tell them where we were going!  We drove to Tahlequah and spent the day swimming and playing (and throwing rocks) in Baron Fork Creek, showered at Uncle Garnie’s church, then had a perfect pizza dinner at Sam & Ella’s and drove home while we watched the moon rise.

So they came over Friday night, spent the night (with a late bedtime and very early wake time), and rolled out of bed so happy and excited.  I didn’t even let them start guessing where we were going until we were almost there – and apparently I’m really bad at clues because two destinations guessed were “a faucet!” and “a kitchen sink!”  Yeah, that’s not where we went.  But we had a blast, Jenn joined us partway through the day, and we all came home exhausted and a little bit sunburned, and can’t wait to do it again!

People you own: yourself

Things worth fighting over: so very few

Things worth rejecting people over: even fewer

Things worth fighting for: more than you’re willing to admit or engage

Now that I’ve survived the last few days of school, I finally have a chance to pay some attention to my blog.  And the first order of business here is to share a bit about some products I’ve had sitting around waiting for a review.

I received an amazing bundle of fun things to review from Dayspring this month, and I love each piece – though a few more than the others.
As you know, I’ve survived the last month of final papers and presentations and extremely stressful interviews only with the liberal application of coffee and tea.  Guess what they sent me to write about! (no, not coffee)

This made me smile!

A coffee mug, and a lovely little teacup!

Tea!

This amazing teacup has a lid for steeping which flips over to become a coaster once you’re ready to enjoy your drink.  It’s a nice delicate cup, yet sturdy enough for everyday use.   I’m contemplating finding a few more and having a complete set of tea cups from this collection.

And as if that were not enough, they also sent me these two samples from the stationary and gift collection…
The gift bag design matches the outer cover of the Memofolio and both include the Bible verse theme of the Redeemed Collection.  The folio includes seven different sizes of sticky notes and notepads – I’ve already given it away to someone who fell in love with it when I was showing it off!

I love this collection and the items I received are absolutely perfect for sharing as gifts.  I especially love the message on the two mugs, combined with a classy design these would make excellent Ladies Ministry gifts and outreach items.  Overall I love the collection, and of course I love the coffee mug the most!

_{Disclosure of Material Connection: I received these items free from DaySpring through the (in)courage website. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255} 

Do you suppose it’s too early to start my list?

My phone was in a part of the house with no signal this evening, so it didn’t ring when this call came in. I just got a voice mail alert sometime later.

It’s a funny sort of window into another person’s life to hear such a thing.  Someone’s been fighting, several are hurt, the relationship isn’t healthy.

I wonder what my voicemails would sound like to a stranger?

I am totally supposed to be writing, I know.  But I just had a…unique experience I felt the need to share.
While looking up publisher information for a book I was citing, I inadvertently clicked on an ad and found myself redirected to the “male advertising network”. Which informed me that men spend an average of almost three years of their lives “standing and doing nothing” in public restrooms.  It was illustrated by a large picture of a (thankfully) empty men’s room with  ”your ad here” framed above each urinal.

I feel well-informed.  I guess.  Except now I’m curious to know how many years women spend in public restrooms, I’m just definitely not going off on that research jag.

Frustrated and annoyed by the latest addition to our classroom. She joined the group a couple classes ago, transferred from another group for some reason. I think that if she had been here throughout my entire program I would have been very frustrated, tempted to drop out, or been in many many verbal altercations. She is a self-described “spiritualist” who resents the fact that her parents assure her that their whole home church is praying that she will return to faith. She quite boldly interjects her philosophies and disagreements when a professor makes a Christian reference or begins a discussion of ethics as based on traditional Judeo-Christian values. Most of the professors have been silent, perhaps startled by her really random insights into discussions, but a few have responded to let her know that moon goddess fears aren’t really going to be the most common problem she encounters in counseling families.

Today she told us all about the Maiden/Mother/Crone Triple Goddess and how it helps to understand senior citizens’ emotional health. I barely kept my mouth shut.

Things I learned today…

1. Gorilla Tape is very very sticky.  (My fingertips are slightly sore this evening.)
2. Bicycles are excellent motivation for boys to speak in full sentences. (Cerys, I ride bike today?)
3. Jr. High girls mystify, frustrate, and amaze me – every week.
4. The lesson you taught a 4-year-old about appropriate apologies is also relevant for previously mentioned Jr. High girls.

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I took my daily boy to visit a good friend Tuesday afternoon.  A good time with good talks and lots of fun for NB.  He played with blocks, colored a picture, played with a talking robot toy and a Nerf gun, tried every seat in the room, and helped clean up the blocks when we were ready to go.  He also joined his new friends DL and H in climbing a tower of boxes before they could be caught!  All was well, he had fun and we pulled them down before any damage occurred.   And! He said “blocks” and “bye” during the visit – it was a good time and we’re planning to have the boys come visit us someday to play at my house!
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I am in an utter panic about my CCI.  I’m really really sure that I cannot possibly complete it.  I have less than a month and can’t get the assessment tools I need from the school secretary – I’ve called, left messages, emailed, and had someone else who was going to the office take a message.  She just does not respond to anything.  And she’s the only resource the students have for these assessments.  And I’m quite occupied during her (brief) daily office hours so I can’t really sit outside her office until I get what I need.
I can’t even start with my client until I get them.  Trying not to  be angry or panicky.

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My nightly stolen few minutes of reading after I crawl in bed (around 0200) seem much more precious at 0530 when I add them up as missing minutes of sleep.