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Holy cow, where'd the week go?

Hi friends,

I have no idea where this week went. One minute it was the holiday Monday, and I was lazing around playing crib with a friend (whom I skunked!), and the next, it was 6.10 Friday night and our CE meeting was wrapping up.

Clinic is crazy busy, but slowing settling down. You start with doing a session of pre-assessment, then one, two or three session of assessment, and then approximately 10 weeks (20 sessions) of therapy. We're just wrapping up our assessments, and sort of finding our groove. I had the pure pleasure of reading Jillian Jiggs to an adorable four year old. Every time I'd ask her what they were doing in the pictures, she'd say "they making a mess." Not they're flying, they're dressing up, they're being monsters, they're being chickens... just "they making a mess!" *dies from the cuteness*

Friday night I went to Marble Slab with a friend, and then we were at a total loss for what to do next. We decided to check out On the Rocks, a bar that typically has live, local rock bands. This is not something that's usually overly appealing to me, as rock is the one kind of music that I don't usually listen to. However, they had this great cover band playing (Morning Wood), and we stayed for all 3 sets. I didn't get home til after 3am!

Yesterday I slept in, and then was lazy, which was great. I met up with a friend at around 3, and we drove out to the Blackfoot recreation area (by Cooking Lake) and hiked around with his dog for the afternoon. He'd brought a picnic for us, but the mosquitoes were so bad that we had to eat inside!! Luckily, he'd also brought bug spray... but it only held the majority at bay. The few, the proud, the strong... kept biting my legs... (Tangent! When I worked at Hanson's Paint back in high school, one of the contractors - Roger - came up to me one day and said: "I wish I were a mosquito, Elizabeth." "Why?" I asked. "So I could bite your legs." It was a little weird, given that he was in his 50's, and I was 15...)

Today is church, wherein I am teaching the junior church lesson on sharing. Then I'm coming home to try and get a few things done around the flat before it's back to school tomorrow morning. A friend's coming over for supper, and we're going to do some BBQing (provided it doesn't rain), and maybe play some board games. It should be fun!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Woah-oh, we're halfway there...

So, I made the deal with myself that if I ran 3 times/week and strength trained 2 times/week for six weeks, I could pierce my naval. Today is the half-way point, and I'd like to show you something:


It's a bit hard to see, I know. But all those little purple circles? They are enclosing the letter S, R and/or B. S = strength training, R = running, B = biking. And those purple circles say that I am right on track! Whee!

I haven't seen any change in my weight in these last 3 weeks, but I am seeing changes in muscle definition in my arms and legs, which is very cool. I motivate myself to strength train by looking at my cute little muscles that I haven't had since the height of my ice cream scooping career last summer. :) And get this: I'm ready to upgrade from the 3lb. weights that I do my 4o minute workouts with to 5lb. ones. Go me!

I've been biking to and from school and church as much as possible, although the rain held me up one day, and my hair did another. My helmet doesn't fit when my hair's in two buns, and I was too tired to problem solve that morning. :D

I've been seeing quite a bit of my friends lately, and in doing so, have come across a couple funny stories for you. We went out for dinner at Padmanadi's (I hope I spelled that right), and it's over kind of in Cromdale. As I was walking from the bus stop to the restaurant, I passed the "Mildly Chinese Herbal Centre." Next time I apply for my passport, I think I'll put down that I'm mildly caucasian.

On Thursday I went to MEC to get a bell for my bike, and I noticed a little placard in an apartment building's flower bed. It said "Thank you for not peeing your pet on our grass." Owch! I feel terrible for these people who are peeing their pets - how excruciatingly painful to have to pass a small mammal through one's urinary tract! And I know that this is what they meant, because three steps down the road there was a SECOND placard, with exactly the same admonition on it. Does PETA know that this is happening??

Bed time - fresh sheets and a good book await!

E.

Going Crazy

This is my 2nd post today - so if you missed the first one, scroll down!! :D

There's this really fun SheDaisy song called "Don't Worry 'Bout a Thing." It's kind of how I think my peers and I should be thinking about clinic. And then I got carried away... and re-wrote big chunks of it. *blush*

Ever been misunderstood, misused, or misled?
Ever knocked on the sky and had it fall on your head?
Well, don't worry 'bout it
Don't worry

Ever lost your assessment, your treatment, your plan?
Or tried to teach with Dora when they wanted Peter Pan?
Ever been accused of jargon in the treatment room?
Or used the BDAE, such complete and utter doom?
Oh no!

[Chorus]
Clinic’s funny, it’s a mess
Sometimes a curse, always a blessing
Don't worry 'bout a thing
Don't worry 'bout it

It gets sticky, it can bruise
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose it!
No matter what it brings
Don't worry 'bout a thing!

Ever met a client, and then forgot their name?
Or found out that your kid completely hates that game?
Don't worry 'bout it,
No, don't worry

Ever lost your agenda, ever lost your clipboard, too?
Or found your adult client wand’ring through the Corbett zoo?
Or been stuck in a tangent like crazy glue
Or scraped your kiddo’s gum off the bottom of your shoe?
Boo hoo!

[Repeat Chorus]

[Bridge:]
We all got a little junk in the trunk
And when you're feelin' good as sunk
Remember, practicum will be just fine
If I laugh at yours then you'll laugh at mine!

[Repeat Chorus]

If you'd like to hear the song that this is based off of, let me know, and I can hook you up!

G'night!

Ela

Other people say it better...

I've only been in clinic for a week and 2 days now, but I've already learned a lot. I'm so tired by the time I get home, though, that I don't feel particularly lucid or articulate. The following are a few quotes that caught my eye...

We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones. (Francois de la Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680.)
- Clearly, this man has worked in groups, and groups in the 17th century weren't so different from the ones we have today!! We all (myself included!!) do this: own up to something little ("man, I really stacked a couple of those questions" ) to try and avoid something worse ("man, that interview went badly!").

I am not in this world to live up to other people's expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine. (Fritz Perls.)
- This is an attitude that I'm still working on! But come on - talk about the ideal way to function in a group!! :D

You probably wouldn't worry about people think of you if you could know how seldom they do. (Olin Miller.)
- Again - the perfect attitude towards group work. :P

The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well. (Joe Ancis.)
- It's true. :) But it's also true that people become much cooler and more interesting as you get to know them.

I wish people who have trouble communicating would just shut up. (Tom Lehrer.)
- No! No, I don't!! I just sniggered when I read this - this speechie's black sense of humour is rearing its head. :)

So. Clinic. It's busy, it's tiring, and it's really, really, REALLY hard for an independent kind of student like me to adapt to having to do everything with a partner or in a group. BUT. The people are amazing. I couldn't have chosen a better group if I'd had the option. Our clients are incredible. The opportunities for this summer are endless. I just might need to be a hermit on the weekends to try and recharge. (Introversion! Ack! And here I thought that I was becoming an extrovert!)

Final quote for the day: She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit. (W. Somerset Maugham.)

Ciao bellas,
Ela

Swiper, no swiping!

Recognize the quote in the title? Yeah, me neither. Apparently, it's from Dora the Explorer, an extremely popular TV show for little kids (kind of in the 3-5 range, I think). I also think that it's mostly a girl thing - and therefore something that I missed out on with Jake. The problem? Our little girl in clinic loves Dora. Like, wearing the t-shirt, carrying the back-pack kind of love. And I don't know it! Caillou, Sponge Bob, The Weekenders? Blues Clues? I know the quotes! I know te characters! I can SING THE BLEEDING THEME SONGS! But Dora? Dora, I know not. I may have to rent it this week to get myself caught up... ;)



Also, me and change? Not a good couple. It's like change is a 5'4" guy with halitosis and a momma's boy complex. And he's needy. And has bacne. And, and... did I mention he's short? And skinny! Yeah, real skinny. Anyhoo. Last semester, I was typically done school at about 3. Today, our meeting didn't wrap up til about 6.15. Have y'all heard the term 'hangry' before? It's when you get 'angry' when you're 'hungry.' I had a serious case of the hangry today. Also, a serious case of the "my brain shut off at 3, I kept it going til 4 because I had a client, but now I'm done." I couldn't quite yawning in my meeting with my clinical educator. I felt awful... and am contemplating sending her an email apologizing! Riding my bike home was nice, because it's so sunny, but it was also tough. The wind blows straight down the bike path... and there's a big chunk of it that's uphill. I almost couldn't pass a guy out running... *blush*

I mentioned meeting our pediatric client today - and she's a dolly. So adorable, and you can totally tell she's spunky. I bet my sister was a lot like this little girl when she was small. Willing to cooperate as long as what you're doing is interesting, but lose her attention, and you're in trouble. :) Luckily, Katie is the pro-star with the kiddos, so we're going to have wicked cool sessions. I'm looking forward to it!

So now I'm home, and I should really be doing some strength training, but I can hardly keep my eyes open. I'm thinking that going to bed with a book, or laying on the couch watching poker sounds good. I'll be... strength training... my... eyes. Yeah. THAT'S it. :P

Ok. The horizontal position is calling my name. (Damn right I'm good in bed... I can sleep for days!)

Laters!
e.

Balance

Yeah, yeah, I cut the top of my head off. YOU try and take a picture of yourself standing on one foot. (Please ignore the empty wine bottle and the garbage that needs to go out... I'll be dealing with those later! And yes, my shirt *does* say "does not play well with others." I think that forewarned is forarmed!)

Anyhoo. This is actually not the kind of balance I'm talking about. I just thought it'd be cute. I'm talking about the kind of balance where your life doesn't consist of going to school, cleaning your apartment, watching TV, and reading books. *coughcoughthelifeIlivedayearorsoagocoughcough*. I was running through the river valley on Friday morning when I suddenly realized how much happier I am now than I've ever been before. (This seems to be a theme for this year. It's a good theme. It could stick around for as long as it wanted, and I'd be pleased. Thematically pleasing, that's my life.) And I think a lot of it is just that I'm so much more balanced than I've ever been before.

At heart, I'm an introvert. Being with people uses up my energy; being alone replenishes it. Lovely. Fine. Not a big deal. But I used to spend absolutely obscene amounts of time alone. Sitting next to someone for 50 minutes in a 300 person psych class really doesn't count as time with others. ;) The weirdest part is that, in many ways, I was convinced that I liked spending so much time with me, myself, and I. I have very 'happy' memories of puttering around the apartment for a whole weekend, never really seeing anyone else, except my roommate.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?? I would go INSANE if I spent that much time doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING now. When I think of all the time I wasted in front of the TV... yuck! And I was lonely all the time, because I never spent any time with any people! (Was that sentence good English? I think not. But you get the idea.)

Anyhoo. I was running in the river valley, and I realized that now, even when I'm by myself, I'm a lot happier than I used to be. Now, when I'm alone, I'm usually doing something productive, like running, or reading, or cooking, instead of sitting on the couch, letting my brain cells ooze out my ears. (I also sleep. Sleep is good.) And I value that alone time so much more because I spend a lot of time with great, great people. Megs and I are together a lot, I'm going for dinner with Chris tonight, Katie and I will be attached at the hip this summer... and yes, I'm still dating like a 'floozy' (as Adrian so nicely put it! *grin*)

So I'm taking care of myself socially, spiritually, physically (I love riding my bike. My brother tells me that I'm the kind of girl who takes something totally geeky, and rocks it. Hence my Cool Cat sunglasses, and my sexy bike. That's its name, by the way. One of my classmates christened it!), and intellectually. It's such a great feeling!

Also a great feeling: I'm officially able to make conversation with a rock now. I know, I know - you're all thinking "E., you never STOP talking. Why is this exciting??" The truth of the matter is that, yes, I can talk the hind leg off a rhino... provided that I already know the rhino, and am comfortable with him. But I really, really stink at making small talk with people that I don't know that well. This was probably my biggest weakness as an ESL teacher - I found it really difficult to stimulate natural conversation in the classroom without using some sort of paper prompt (a game, a story, etc.). I was a bit worried about this being a problem in my clinical life, as well. Then, well...

Then I started dating a lot more than usual. And seriously - one or two dates where no one says anything, because neither of you can think of anything to say? HIGHLY MOTIVATING. My use of open-ended questions, and "tell me more" has increased exponentially. ;) I feel a lot more comfortable in odd little situations, like talking to people at church whom I don't know well, chatting with the staff at school that I don't interact with very often, etc..., and I'm really hoping that it carries over into clinic. We'll see!

Well, this is a long and introspective post. (AKA - really boring for anyone that isn't me.)

Cheers!
me

Ugh, change

Hey dudes,

I imagine that at least one or two of you is wondering how my week has been so far. Two words: totally overwhelming. However, I've learned how to deal with that emotion. You just let it be! I'm giving myself til tomorrow afternoon or Saturday morning to just be overwhelmed, and not do anything about it. Then, Saturday morning at the latest, I'm going to start with the to-do list, and get myself organized and on-top of things.

That's a quote from September, describing my feelings about the first week of my Master's. It's also pretty apt regarding the first week of clinic/practicum. A completely different schedule (far from having no class on Friday, I'm in class at 9, and have a last meeting at 5.30), information overload ("you need to meet with your partner all the time, your consulting partners twice a week for an hour, and with your clinicial educator twice a week. "), and a few nerves about the fact that we're going to be dealing with REAL PEOPLE (no more video case studies!!). It's all a bit... well, overwhelming. But I've just been going with the flow for now, and I spent Wednesday evening organizing everything, so I'm feeling better about where I need to be and when.

My direct partner, Katie, and I are getting along great. It turns out that we have really similar styles of organizing ourselves, and similar levels of confidence in our abilities as therapists. I'm really enjoying working with her. Our consulting pair, J & N, are very different from us, which is great, because they'll be able to give us feedback on things we may not even think about.

This week we got our clients' files to read, in order to prepare to meet them, and to get ready for assessing their communication abilities. I was going to tell you a little bit about them just in general (nothing that would ever enable you to identify them), but I've decided not to. It just seems a little risky to put that kind of info out there on the web. Suffice it to say that both of our clients appear to be friendly, bright, and highly motivated. We're really excited to meet them! One little tidbit: it's really difficult to develop an interview that includes an adult who only has two words in his/her spontaneous speech. I'm just saying. (Katie and I have come up with some fantastic ideas!)

I'm continuing to learn how much my past experiences are going to support me as a therapist. It's pretty cool to have those moments that are "Oh! This is just like when I did __________ at _________________ (previous job)." I'm so excited to start being a clinician - to learn my strengths and weaknesses, and to be a part of my clients' lives.

Speaking of clients' lives, we had CPR today (ba dum dum). We have to have the healthcare providers' CPR, which is a bit more intense than the typical one is. I can do perform CPR on infants, children and adults, and I learned how to use an AED (automated external defibrillator). That's one of those zappy packs that you see on the hospital shows, y'know: "Clear!" *ZAP* :D They've made a small, idiot-proof version, and I learned how to use it. Very fun. If you're going to have a heart attack, make sure you have me around! (I jest! I jest!! I'd really like to go through life having to NEVER use my mad CPR skilz).

So that's where this week is at. A lovely friend of mine gave me a MEC gift certificate, so I'm going to head over there tomorrow to get a bell, a new lock, and a basket. It's going to be great!

Laters,
e.

Back to School

Hey all,

so I've been back at school for two days of spring session. Today, I had to have a nap when I got home. *blush*

I was feeling a bit worried and stressed about this whole 'clinic' experience, and had really put off thinking about it for quite a while. Yesterday was an "orientation and jumping in with both feet" kind of day - a day that a few of my peers found disconcerting and a bit stressful. For me, it actually calmed some of my concerns. We finally sorted out some of our schedules, and got a sense of what the spring would look like. Today we continued in that vein, and learned about what our clinical educators (the SLPs who supervise in the clinic) expect of us. As we talked about it, I realized that I'm in a wonderful position: I have done a LOT of this before!

Being observed and critically evaluated while practicing a professional skill? I spent four full weeks doing that in September '06, during my teacher training. I can handle that. Communicating with someone where communication is difficult? Eight months in Prague working with non-native speakers of English. Legal documentation for confidentiality, monitoring contact, tracking treatment? Six months working for the Edmonton John Howard Society. I am feeling much, much better about my ability to do this. I'm also smiling to myself, and thanking God for the circuitious route I took to get to speech!

One of our textbooks this term is Counseling Persons with Communication Disorders and Their Families. This book is wonderful, and is inspiring a new interest in me. A few of you know that, during my fourth year of uni, I had some serious doubts about becoming an SLP. I was also considering law or clinical psych. Eventually I decided that speech was really the place for me. This textbook, along with our assessment class, is showing me that speech is a field that is slowly beginning to incorporate more and more counseling strategies. This is so exciting! It appears that I'm going to have the opportunity to pursue my interest counseling alongside my interest in speech and language. Sweet! (Hmm... PhD in clinical psychology...)

So school and my excitement are both a little tiring. I think I'm also tired because yesterday I got up and ran for 45 minutes before school, and this morning I got up and did an hour of strength training. THEN... I rode my 'new' bike to and from school!


Ok, so 'new' is stretching it. It's actually older than I am. But it's comfy, the tires hold air, and it gets me from point A ("downtown") to point B ("school"). Let me tell you - pedalling home in the wind is very tiring! But it's fun to be out with all the other cyclists, and I get to school a bit faster than I do when I take the LRT. So huzzah!

Well, that's all that's new... bye for now!
e.

PS - What did the Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?

No Excuses

So I practically abandoned my blog there for a while, and I really have no excuse. Was I in the middle of finals? Yes, but that didn't stop me from doing 800 other things that didn't need doing. Was I very tired? Yup, but I still managed to catch up on most of this past season of CSI:NY as well as a whole bunch of movies (Stick It, anyone? So great!). So, no excuses. In fact, I even logged into my blogger account a couple times, stared at the blank page, and gave up. Not this time! This time is:

An Update.

School. I wrapped up my first academic year of my Master's as of April 26. Yay! This wasn't my best semester ever - I did a lot of procrastinating, and I feel like I could've done better on some of the assignments. I was carrying an extra class, though, and a thesis, so I had a bit more on my plate this term than last term. But - no excuses! Clearly, I need to continue working on my organizational and motivational skills. :)

Work. I finished my RA-ship at COMPRU the 2nd last Friday in April. There's no budget for me to have a summer RA-ship, but I am hoping that my schedule this spring allows me to continue at COMPRU, just in a volunteer position. We'll have to see. Our department chair has a PhD student from the U.S. who is looking for someone to help digitize some files for her dissertation. The pay is quite good, though they don't know how many hours it will be for. Obviously, I applied, and I have an interview on Monday or Tuesday. I'm really hoping that I can get the position, as it would be nice to have a bit of extra income over the summer.

Friends. There's been quite a bit of socializing going on, including a tea party at Chris' place last weekend. The food was fantastic, per the usual, and Robin and Chris (my two male friends!) got to meet each other. Megan and Robin also met for the first time, which was pretty cool. Look at me and my interacting friends! I've also been getting to know another of the thesis girls pretty well - I'll call her Harley. She and I have been kicking around the idea of going for dinner one night this week, and I hope that we can make that work.

Running. As if you're all not wondering if I'm keeping it up. I'll admit, I slacked a bit during finals, only running once or twice a week, instead of three or four times. But I'm getting back on track. My weight management counsellor and I decided that my goals are to run 3x a week, and strength train 2x a week. Hopefully I can keep up with that! I had set a reward for myself - if I lost a certain amount of weight, I'd pierce my naval. However, I think I've plateaued, and I'm not sure I'm ever actually going to get down to my 'goal' weight. So I've changed that goal. Now it says that if I can run 3x/wk and strength train 2x/wk for 6 full weeks, I can pierce my naval. We'll see where I'm at on the 2nd Saturday in June. :)

Well, I'm off to have a bath. It was too cold and rainy this morning to run, so I stayed in and did a cardio workout (Turbo Jam - it's geeky, but I like it) instead. It totally counts!! Anyhoo, now I'm a little tired, and I smell a little funky, so I think a bath is a good plan. :D

Laters!
Elizabeth