Archers, fletchers, and bowyers, oh my!

Hello guys!

Look, look, I'm posting again! Go me. :) It's a good day - I went through my 'Clinical Completion Checklist' for this term's clinic, and I ticked off all of the boxes - done! What a great feeling to have all of those loose ends tied up. Tomorrow is CUP's Community-Based Research Workshop #2 - Doing CBR Well: Ethically and with Rigor. I'm presenting a morning section on the traditional/conventional ethics system, and I'm going to have to spend some time this afternoon going over what it is that I want to say. I'm looking forward to it - these workshops are very cool, and I've enjoyed every one that I've been to. And come about 4.30, when it's all wrapped up... then CUP will be done, too - at least until July. *grin*

On Tuesday, we had some "Auntie, Jason, Jacob" time, and we took ourselves down to the Sherwood Park Archery Lanes. I cannot recommend this place enough. We showed up knowing pretty near to nothing, and they were so helpful. The gentleman set us up with rental gear, showed us how to do everything, and let us try it a few times to get started. Then he came back over, made things a little tougher (but better!), gave us a few more tips, and let us try it a few more times. He continued to do that throughout the evening - give us something new to try, then go away and let us try it. He was so patient and so kind - a truly excellent teacher. Also, when Jason turned out to be too big for the rental bows, he allowed J. to use a non-rental bow (whether it was his own or perhaps a store model?) that was worth about $1000. After about 2 hours, I went to pay, and they only charged us for the rentals and ONE hour, saying that they were just glad we'd come out to give it a try, and they hoped to see us again. Jason had eight zillion questions about the different types of bow (compound vs. recurve, men's vs. women's), and the man answered every one of them patiently and intelligently, and he never pushed us to buy a thing.

Jason and I went to our respective jobs on Wedensday, and we both were telling our co-workers about our evening's activity. My co-worker said "Awesome - old school bad-assery!" Jason's co-worker said "Hey, I want to go! Are you free Friday?" So we're going to check out a Spruce Grove Archery place tomorrow night. I'm pretty pumped! Jason (of course) caught on to the whole thing really fast, and he was pretty darn accurate after a couple hours. I wasn't nearly as good, but the vast majority of my arrows were on the target (let's not discuss how close to the middle!), and I really enjoyed it. And Jake, despite having a bow that was a bit big for him (they must not rent to very many kids), did a great job, too. It was such a fun time, and I'm excited to go again tomorrow. Jason and I are even batting around the idea of buying our own bows - we'll just have to see!

But that's tomorrow - and first there's tonight! We're having a CUP girls' night, starting at the Chocoholics' Buffet at the Sutton Place Hotel. Mmmm, chocolate. Good thing I've been running and weight-training again! Then we're going to play video games, which should be lots of fun.

Well, I'm off to practice my workshop presentation - wish me luck!

Ela

It's only been 24 days!

Really! It's only been 24 days since my last post. I'm certain I've gone longer than that before... and yet my silent stalker has raised her voice and asked for more! Makes me feel kinda special, actually *tear*.

So, more! Hmm. More... More what? Not a whole lot happens in my life these days that is terribly bloggable, some of that due to confidentiality (no client stories here) and sheer uninterestingness (I think it's sad that Jason managed to cut my toe the other day when he stepped on me, I'm not so sure anyone else cares). But I shall endeavour to tell you... more!

Thesis. I successfully defended my thesis proposal on 29 February. Since then, I've been working on my ethics application. It's currently a completed draft, sitting with my supervisors. Once they give it the thumbs-up, it will be sent in to the Health Research Ethics Board. Once approved, I can actually commence my focus groups and such. Sadly, until they give it the thumbs-up, my thesis is on hiatus. Not much happening there. Not that it stops hovering at the back of my mind and nagging me, or anything. There's just not a whole lot I can do about it. :)

Clinic. It's our last week of clinic at Corbett. This means tying up loose ends: writing reports, evaluating the experience, evaluating our supervisor, etc. We're going to have a princess party on Thursday, which will be fun. There will be balloons and bubbles and an obstacle course. Woot! I am also required to be evaluated, but happily for me, I got that out of the way last week. My final evaluation went really well, and my supervisor's and my opinions about my strengths and challenges were nicely parallel. She's an excellent clinician as well as an excellent supervisor - I think that I will miss her.

My next clinic experience starts on Monday, 31 March - which is not so very far away. I'm feeling a little nervous about the change, to be honest! It's in Wetaskiwin, which means that I'll spend M-F there, living with my parents, and the weekends here in Edmonton. I'm not too excited about the driving, but I think living with my folks will be pretty mellow. They're pretty cool, when it comes down to it, and hey, who can say no to free food? :D The neat thing about this placement is that the only treatment I'll actually do in Wetaskiwin will be with pre-schoolers at the health unit. Other than that, I'll be working at schools in Millet and Hobbema.

Hobbema presents an interesting challenge, because traditional language tests normed on white children are often inaccurate for Aboriginal children. English is used differently in the Aboriginal community. For example, longer pauses in between people speaking is considered normal in thier community, where in ours it likely would create awkward silence. Also, the Aboriginal culture tends to give more credit to the listener's intelligence - so the speaker might talk around his/her point, expecting the listener to be smart enough to figure out what the point is for him/herself. In our culture, talking around the point means that the speaker is unable to get to it, and is considered a bad thing.

Given these challenges, I was feeling a little worried about this portion of the placement. I want to provide good quality treatment to all the kids I see, and that means knowing how to conduct a good assessment. But we don't learn very much about assessing minority cultures in our program. What was I to do?

Go to work, of course! My research assistantship has NOTHING to do with speech-language pathology. It's not affiliated in any way, and the work that I do for them is not speech related either. Nevertheless, sitting at my cubicle one day, I overhead co-workers talking about 'culturally sensitive language assessment in the Aboriginal community.' I was out of my desk like a shot! I flew through the maze of cubicles, stuck my head 'round the corner, and said "Hi, I was eavesdropping. Tell me more?" Turns out that several of my co-workers (who are on a different project than I am) have been working on this issue for a while and had quite a few resources to offer me. How awesome is that? I'm feeling a lot better about things now, and I am really actually looking forward to next Monday.

Work. I'm wrapping up work at CUP this week, too. Tomorrow is preparing for a workshop and tying up the loose ends for where I'm at on the article I'm writing, and then Friday is the workshop, and I'm presenting part of it. I'm going to be sad to leave this job - the work was interesting and the people were wonderful.

So wonderful, in fact, that my supervisor has invited me back to work there full-time for July and August! This is such a sweet deal. Financially, I knew it would be best if I were to work during the two months in between my two placements. Logically, I knew it might be tricky to find a job that paid reasonably well that would be willing to take me for only 60 days. I'm never sure how to handle that situation - it seems best to me to say up front that I'm only available for two months, but then many people don't want to hire you. CUP hiring me back for that time allows me to finish working on some projects, as well as to have an income. Yay!

Life. Other than that, life has been pretty quiet. Jason and I had beer and wings with some friends last Wednesday, which turned into playing SuperSmash Brother till midnight, and that was very fun. I had Easter dinner with my folks in Wetaskiwin on Saturday, and that was lovely. I especially liked the part where my dad filled an Easter basket for me! :D And last night Jason and I had dinner with his mum and some of her friends. She has the most interesting group of friends ever. You just never know who you'll meet at her house, you just know that the conversation will be jumping!

Oh, and I got to go and see a premiere of Run Fatboy Run. I loved it! It was much sweeter than Sean of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, yet managed to be just as funny. It helps immensely that Dylan Moran has a bigger role in this one - I just love him to bits. I give this movie three thumbs up and recommend you see it!

Cheers all!
Elizabeth

"Boys," she said with disgust.

Just a quick anecdote for you tonight...

The other day I walked up behind Jason just after he'd finished changing his shirt so we could head out somewhere.

"Oh, honey," I said. "I think you need to put on a different shirt. This one reeks."

"Really?" he asked. "That's weird - it's clean, right off the shelf."

"Are you sure?" I queried, knowing his tendencies to (a) leave dirty clothes lying all over his place, and (b) pick stuff up off the floor to wear.

"I'm sure. What's it smell like?"

"It smells like...." I took a deep whiff. "It smells like...." Another deep breath in, and "It smells like rank a**, to be honest. What did you GET on this shirt, Jason?"

"I don't know," he replied, pulling it over his head. Pressing the shirt to his face, he inhaled. "It smells fine to me, Ela."

He tossed it over to me, and I too pressed it to my face and breathed in. "Weird - it smells fine now..."

"JASON. YOU JERK!! YOU FARTED, DIDN'T YOU? You STOOD there and FARTED and let me stand behind you and SMELL IT!"

Jason burst out laughing. "I didn't mean to! I didn't really even realize I'd let one slip. It was tiny, I swear!"

Boys!

Baby it's cold outside...

Yuck. The weather has been so yucky lately. I know that I live in Edmonton, and I know that comes with some chilliness, but -47*C (-53*F) with the windchill is a little much. "My" car (as in Jason's car that I drive) won't start and doesn't have a blockheater, so I'm carless again. Oh, ETS - how I didn't miss you. At all. On the other hand, I'd forgotten how fun it is to wear ski pants (*vwip vwip, vwip vwip* all the way to school), and how neat it feels when your eyelashes freeze together. Luckily, it's warming up, so I don't have to worry about freezing any exposed skin in less than a minute!

In other news, everything else is going really well. Clinic continues to be both fun and challenging, work is interesting and enjoyable, and I'm getting work done on my thesis (ethics application and presentation for my proposal defence). These things are what the majoirty of my life is based around right now, and that's Ok by me. I'm finding this term to be just the right amount of work, and I'm feeling pretty balanced. (A little more exercise is needed, but once it warms up a bit more I'll get back to the gym with B.).

Jason and I have been hanging out with our couple friends lately, which is fun. We played Settlers of Catan with Al and her husband two weeks ago, and then we went to Kathie and Brandon's this weekend for dinner and a game of Zombies!!! As gross as it is, I kind of like this game. :D Jason and I also hung out with Jake on Tuesday, which was lots of fun. We played some video games, a round of Zombies!!! (I won!), and then some WoW. Good times were had by all (thank you Minnie Johnson of the Wetaskiwin Times Advertiser). Tish and Larissa have been trying to catch us to go out for wings with them, but we haven't managed to line our schedules up yet. And B. and her boyfriend want togo out for dinner and then learn how to play Settlers, so that's going to happen sometime in the near future too, I think.

It's kind of weird to be in a place in my life where I have couple friends. This weirdness obviously needs to be counteracted with individual friend time! And so, I had breakfast withTegan (whose real name I will use from now on, as she no longer has the same schedule as me, and you cannot stalk her via my blog) last weekend, dinner with Robin and Caitlin the week before that, and dinner with Rachel (the newest friend in my life) last night. All in all, very satisfying.

So that's where things are at right now. Hope you're all keeping warm and drinking loads of cocoa with those little mini-marshmallows.

Love,
Ela

Happy New Year!

Hello friends!

A happy 2008 to you all - it's been good to me so far, and I hope it continues that way.

New Year's Eve in Jasper was a really fun getaway. Our first day, the four of us (Jason, Aaron, and Megs) sat in the hotel room and played the Wii's Big Brain Academy. It was sooo addictive. And it was really funny - As long as the teams were 1 boy and 1 girl (didn't matter which), we were evenly matched. However, girls against the boys meant that the girls lost. :) My one criticism of the game would be the lack of language tests - I think a big brain is one with a good vocabulary! Some definitions, synonym/antonym pairs... things like that would have made it better.

Our second day was the day on the hill... and let's just say I didn't do too well. My inability to carve really bit me in the arse... or more acurately, my quads. Trying to heelside my way down the whole mountain didn't work out so well. The time has come for me to learn to carve, and this will require me to get over my fear. Think I could find a psychological snowboarding coach? :) If it isn't too cold tomorrow, maybe I'll hit the hill again.

Our third day, the boys hit the hill, while we girls lazed about, wandered the town, and relaxed. As it was New Year's Eve, we went out for dinner at the Fiddle River, and it was lovely. I had lobster for the first time - wonderful! We then crashed back at the hotel and watched Hot Fuzz. An excellent film. We had a champagne toast at midnight, and it was such a nice way to ring in 2008 - sitting with good friends, watching a good film, and drinking champagne.

We drove back the next day and attempted to find somewhere to eat some lunch. Not much was open, so I suggested the truck stop in Hinton. Jason says "are you sure they even serve food there?"

"Um yes - see the giant knife and fork on the sign?"

"Well, I've never really eaten at a truck stop. You're such a small town girl!"

Hard to argue with that, really. :)

My semester has been going incredibly well so far. Mondays and Wednesdays I'm at CUP, where I'm working on various projects and am developing an idea for a possible publication. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'm in clinic, where I'm working with 3 little girls (all under 4) who have language delays. This is different from my client this summer who had speech difficulties, but intact language (can't remember the difference? Look here.) These little girls are darling, and I'm already enjoying working with them. Fridays are free for thesis work.

Some extra nice things? (1) My clinic partner, B, is fabulous. I just love her. She's hard working and efficient, and a complete pleasure to work with. (2) B and I are going to the gym together Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings, which is lovely. (3) My proposal draft is completed, and is under final edits. I'm hoping to defend it by early February, and then get cracking on my actual research. Whee!

One sad thing is that Jason agreed to take social dance classes with me once a week (waltz, foxtrot, etc.)... but the class was full. :( There's only one class a week offerred late in the evening, the only time that Jason is certain to be free... and the wait-list is 6 couples long. Oh well... maybe next semester!

That's my update for now - have a lovely weekend!

Elizabeth

Progress

Hi friends!

When last I left you, your darling Ela was in tears at the bottom of the Snow Valley bunny hill. Since then, Jason took me for a second lesson, which was slightly better. There was a lot more standing, some controlled 'floating,' and even some appropriate stopping. There was not, however, a whole lot of fun. I was still really frustrated with my inadequacy, and Jason was doing a very good job of being patient with my cranky attitude. Leaving the hill after 4 or so hours of up the carpet down the hill, I was starting to regret agreeing to learn.

The Christmas season then leapt upon us, and I was kept busy writing finals and getting gifts together. My finals went really well - even the one that I wrote in 35 minutes. *grin* It was the last final, and I was SO ready to be finished. We had a really nice 'graduation' banquet,' where the girls looked lovely and the boys looked handsome, and one of my classmates delivered an absolutely perfect poem about our experiences as the class of '08.

Christmas was wonderful. Christmas Eve Jason and I were with my family at K & B's house. We ate a nummy dinner, exchanged gifts, and played with Jake's new Wii. Big Brain Academy? So much fun. Sadly, Jason wasn't feeling 100%... and he started feeling worse as the night wore on. Christmas morning we opened our presents for each other - I got him symphony tickets, Starship Catan, and Carcassone: The Castle. He got me Mulan, Finding Nemo, and Leonard. Who's Leonard? Leonard is a Warm Buddy sheep, and I love him. He is SO cute. SOOOOOO cute. And I love him deeply. He's wonderful. He's the best gift ever. :) I also got PJs and Christmas socks from mum and dad... and snowboard pants.

My old ski pants didn't like to stay up, as they didn't have a belt or drawstring, and the slid down off of my yoga pants all the time. My new ones are gorgeous, and they have an adjustable waistband. Well, you can guess what new snowboard pants mean... they mean it's time to try again. I mentioned that I was heading to the hill today, and my uncle asked if I'd like to take my two cousins along with me. These two Californian boys are both natural athletes, and had been once before, so I readily agreed. If it had required me to attempt to teach them something, I would have said no way. :) Jason had to work, which is too bad, so it was just the three of us who went out to the hill. And you know what? It was GREAT! The boys had a couple rough runs to start, then figured it all out. By the time we left, they were going off a jump on a slightly more difficult hill... one that I'm so not ready for yet. :) They looked fantastic.

How did I look? Well, not quite like them. I'm not a natural athlete, and I have a healthy respect for what gravity can do to me. That being said, I did a pretty good job. My drifting (the bit where you go down the hill from side to side) is looking good, especially heel-side. I need to continue working on my toe side control - it's hard to move from side to side when I'm so worried about mowing someone over. Dangers of going down the hill backwards, I guess. :) I'm also getting a lot better at standing up from a seated position. And the coup d'etat of the day is that I can get off the carpet, strap in my 2nd foot, and snowboard the more level portion of the hill. It used to be that I'd get off the carpet, UNSTRAP my 1st foot, and walk over to where the hill is steep enough for me to get going when standing perpendicular to the hill (the easiest way to control your speed). Now I can board that part of the hill by switching from being parallel to perpendicular. Because it's so level, I can control my speed while I'm doing this. The next step is to practice switching from parallel to perpendicular while going down the steeper portion of the hill.

It was so great to go out and spend 4 or so hours on the hill and to really enjoy it. I'm sorry that Jason didn't get to share my first day of enjoyment - given that he had to put up with so much crappy attitude earlier on. But at least now I'm feeling more ready for Jasper for NYE. I'm going to go tomorrow morning, too - and continue with my practicing. After that, I'm going bowling with my cousins which should be very fun. Possibly also painful, given how my arms are feeling after pushing me up onto my feet a zillion times today. :)

I am really looking forward to our New Year's Eve in Jasper. Turns out the hotel has a hot tub, which will come in wildly handy after a day on the slopes. :) Our NYE reservation is at the Fiddle River Seafood Restaurant, and it sounds like the food should be really good. Plus, the day that Megs and I spend reading and lazing (while the boys board the harder runs) is going to be excellent. I can sense it from here. :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and I wish you the best in 2008!

Love,
Elizabeth

Wherein Ela is something of an idiot

As an attempt to apologize for the lack of posts (given the hectic semester), I thought I would share some entertaining stories with you regarding my various spectacular talents.

Ela is a Spectacular Skipper
A few weeks ago I was in thesis crunch time. My supervisors were strongly encouraging me to get a substantial (Ok, Ok, they wanted the whole thing, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to swing that) portion of my proposal turned in for edits, and there were quite a few demands from other classes as well. In light of this, I chose not to attend one of my 8am classes, and instead committed that time to wrapping up some loose ends on my draft. When I got to school, it was about 10 am, and the class I had skipped should have ended 10 minutes previously (8-9.50). As I came up the stairs, I could hear the professor still lecturing, so I headed down the hall to the washroom. On my way there, I bumped into one of my supervisors, and she pulled me into her office so we could quickly discuss an email I'd sent her the night before. We're chatting away, when all of a sudden I can hear the instructing professor's voice coming closer and closer.


Oh yes. Can you say awkward moment? In comes the instructor - she's demoing an amplification system to the entire class, carrying a microphone around to show my classmates how, if you forget to turn the mic off, people can hear everything you say. Everything. Including things like "Oh, Ela! Why aren't you in class?" Yeah. Uh huh. Hm. That was awkward. When I walked into class about 5 minutes later, my face turned as pink as my pashmina as all my peers howled with laughter.

Ela is a Spectacular Snowboarder
Jason loves snowboarding. Loves it. Every beautiful day we've had this November, he's complained because it isn't snowing. So when he heard that Snow Valley had managed to get enough artificial snow down to open, he decided it was time for me to learn. We went to Totem and bought me some used boots and bindings (the bindings have a little stick figure on them... and he's peeing. I think it's because the brand name is Liquid, but still! He's peeing!), and he had a board for me to use, so we headed out to the hill.

Those of you who know and love me know these two things about me: 1) I have no athletic ability whatsoever, and 2) I'm afraid of things that involve falling and hurting. Therefore, this whole thing of 'learning to snowboard' seemed a little daunting. Nevertheless, I was determined to be a trouper. Off we went. Snowboard on? Check. Waddling through the snow, dragging said snowboard, to get to the carpet up the hill? (It's like a conveyor belt in the snow that you stand on to get to the top.) Check. Buckling other foot into snowboard? Check. Standing up? Not check. I can't get on to my feet from a bum-sitting position. Jason pulls me up. We commence down the hill. I fall a lot. Only it isn't really falling, because I never get going fast enough to actually fall. I just sit down every time it feels like I might be going fast. Which is frequently the case. Jason is very patient, and encouraging, and holds my hands the whole way down. Yes, you read that right. He snowboarded down the hill in front of me, holding me up. He is amazing. I.... I.... I suck. Let's just be honest.

Next time up, I realize that I'm really quite good at standing up from a kneeling position. This, however, means that I'm facing UP the hill - as in I'll have to snowboard down it BACKWARDS, since I don't know how to turn. Also, I'm afraid of falling, so I'm hesitant to stand up straight. Therefore I'm sort of scooting down the hill, butt in the air, hands on the ground. The bonus is that I can look through my legs and make sure I don't hit anyone. Jason tells me that this is not adequate. I cannot, he assures me, snowboard in the mountains for New Year's Eve on my hands. Darn. I practice standing up. Now I'm getting Ok at going backwards down the hill. Can't really see anyone, have a hard time going straight (lots of weaving), and I can't stay up for more than 10 seconds before I panic and kneel down, but I'm Ok.

Time to practice getting up off my bum, right? I need to be able to go down the hill facing forwards. I try. And try. And try. And my legs are burning, and my butt is wet (my ski pants kept sliding down), and I am SO FRUSTRATED. I can't do it. Jason hauls me to my feet, and we head down the hill. I can now stay up for about 12 seconds before panicking and sitting down. Impressive, I know. We get to the bottom, scoot over to the conveyor belt, and the man in front of me says "first time snowboarding?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, I could tell. You're quite a sight up there."

.... Um... thanks? Geez!! Way to boost my confidence, mister!

"You should try... (insert litany of advice here)."

Yes. I'm so sure that I want to try your advice, part of which included 'floating down the hill like a leaf.' I'm not really a floater. I'm more of a 'tumble down the hill like a rock' kind of girl.

Back at the top, I'm trying to get up to standing from my bum, and it's still not working. I'm cold. I'm wet. I hurt. My ego is seriously bruised from leaf-boy (I had myself convinced that everyone was too busy focusing on themselves to worry about the crazy girl in the red coat with the peeing men on her bindings). And I can't. Get. Up. I am very frustrated. Tears spring to my eyes. But darnit! I AM BEING A TROUPER. Jason pulls me up, and we head down the hill. Towards the end, I lose control, and snowboard over top of him. My knee gets slightly twisted. Just a bit. Not very much. I cry. I try to stop. I AM BEING A TROUPER, DAMNIT! Nope. I'm not a trouper. I'm frustrated and I hurt and I'm tired and I'm crying and Jason is saying...

"Want to stop for today?"

Oh thank the Lord. Do I ever want to stop! Hurray for stopping! I'm totally Ok with stopping. Yes, yes, I'll try again, but we can be done for today! Jason has told me that he can teach me to do this in three days, and this is one day down...

"So that was two and a half hours."

What?? That doesn't count as a day??? Oh shoot, what have I signed up for?

I'll keep you posted.

Ela

So it's a little more 'bumpy' than 'gentle'

Hi friends,

I thought the wind up to the term would go a little more smoothly than it has, which was highly optimistic of me. :) I'm still in four classes, my thesis still needs work, and I'm still putting in at least 15 hours a week at work. I managed to go head to head with some sort of flu-thing this week, and that's got me a bit behind.

But Fridays - lovely Fridays - are now a semi-free day for me. I'm going into school at 11 to practice using the PERCI-SAR system (which used to be called PERCI-SARS... at least, until the SARS outbreak!) and to figure out where the protocol for using it came from. (You always get clients to say 'pee pee pee' and I need to know why!) Then I've got a hair appointment this afternoon, which I'm really looking forward to. I always find them so relaxing, and I like having fancy hair. It's time to do something about 67 different colors that in there, so I'm thinking I might be a slightly darker brunette come this afternoon at about 4 o'clock.

Tonight we're going to pick up Jason's new car, which is tres exciting. I am especially excited because he is allowing me to drive his old car. We've made the switch on the insurance (I'm now the primary driver), and we're going to look for a new bumper and hood for it this weekend (it's a little beat up, but a perfect about-town car for me).

I'm feeling a little behind in my schoolwork these days, given how much time I've given to my thesis recently, but I'm hanging on to the fact that I usually wind up feeling this way at the end of every semester, and I've always made it through before! I'm really enjoying resonance (a class that is the 2nd half of "Voice and Resonance"), and since it's the topic of my thesis, I'm feeling slightly ahead of the game.

The rest of this month is looking a little hectic. There's still lots to be done on my thesis, my workplace is holding another workshop, and this time I will be one of the presenters, there are school projects and such.... And then there are the social things! It was Jake's birthday on the sixth, so we're going to his house for some cake and celebration tomorrow. Then it's Jason's and my six-month anniversary on the 17, so I think we'll probably go out for dinner. Jason's good friend Tish is getting married on the 20, so that should be a fun evening... all in all, I think the next three or four weeks are going to fly by!

Well, I should go and get cleaned up and head into school. Corks up my nostrils*, here I come!

Love you,
E.

*It's how you use the PERCI-SAR, I swear. And if I were you, I wouldn't ask too many questions unless you want to come and try it out. ;)

And so begins the gentle descent.

Morning my friends. It's Friday morning, 8 am, and I'm not at school. I'm not skipping, I'm not sick, and no one died. It's just that we wrapped up our Augmentative/Alternative Communication class last Friday, and it's now done for the term. This leaves my Fridays open for me to get other things done, which is fantastic!

Today, for example, I'm going to an elementary school in Riverbend to give two presentations on hearing protection. I'm looking forward to it, actually. Our prof warned us to be prepared to engage with the kids about how hearing is important to us, so I was trying to think of examples that students in my classes might be able to connect with. Obviously, announcing that hearing my boyfriend tell me he loves me is going to make them gag, and telling them that hearing my profs teach is going to make them think I'm an obnoxious keener. ;) As I puttered around this morning I came up with two examples I think the kids will like. One, when I'm playing World of Warcraft I need to be able to hear the rogues stealth. For those of you who don't play (i.e., the 98% of my social circle that is sane and not uber-geeky), a stealthed rogue is character who's almost invisible, and who is probably going to kill you. Two, I like being able to eavesdrop when I ride the bus. It makes those long trips so much more entertaining! I'll let you know how those presentations go.

My thesis is coming along slowly but steadily. I feel quite good when I realize that I've worked on it just about every day now. I feel like I'm staring into a black abyss complete with a balrog when I realize that I'm meant to be done this draft by 'the end of the month' and today is 26 October. Someone needs to get cracking!

Yesterday was one of my CUP co-worker's last days, so we all went out for lunch. Over the course of the meal, my supervisor called down the table to ask me where my hometown was.

"Oh, I grew up in Wetaskiwin," I replied.

"So did L-----!" my supervisor said.

"Neat! Did you know Dennis Huebert? He worked at the high scho--..."

"Dennis Huebert? Like MISTER Huebert?" L----- asked, incredulously.

"Yeah, he's my da-..."

"Oh I knew him. I knew him well. I spent a ... fair ... amount of time in his office!"

It was so cute. You just never know where you're going to run into someone that your dad had to pinkslip these days!

Aaron (Jason's best friend and Megan's boyfriend) flew into Edmonton yesterday to spend the weekend here for his sister's wedding. He and Megan and Tish and Larissa all came over to Jason's to spend the evening just hanging out. Those three boys together are utterly ridiculous, and I do believe that Jason just about laughed port out of his nose while Tish came close to aspirating a large chunk of pepperoni pizza. Now that's the mark of a good evening. Larissa, Megan and I were much more subdued. ;) There was some talk of the six of us going to Banff for NYE, something the boys have done frequently, and that Larissa did last year with them. It sounds like it could be a lot of fun... let's hope that I learn to snowboard by then, so I'm not stuck in the lodge, by the fire, with a book, and a hot chocolate.... Wait. Wait just a minute. Not learning to snowboard is starting to sound like the better option here. :D

Unbalanced: A Question of Priorities

I'm feeling frustrated at the moment. Yes. Frustrated is a good word. Frustrated in a vague general sense at our society's "live to work" attitude (I wish I were in Italy: "work to live" baby!), and more specifically, at being in a career where many of our instructors, mentors, and role models give lip service to 'balance' in their lives, but model a workaholic's existence.

I'm not even sure where to start, my head is so a-jumble with ideas and frustrations. Hm... It seems like the English 10 'funnel' of 'start general, end specific' might be a good way to go. So here goes!

Generally speaking, I believe that work is just one part of our lives. I believe that if I sign up for a 1.0 FTE position, I should be working 40 hours a week, not 50, or 60, 80. I fully understand that there will be exceptional times and circumstances wherein it will be necessary for me to stay. I'm Ok with that. What I'm not Ok with is being expected to work a 1.5 or 2.0 consistently after having been hired for a 1.0.

I feel similarly about school. YES, school is a priority. YES, it's important. YES, unlike a career, it is time-limited (as in, your program only lasts so long, be it 4 years or 2). That doesn't change my belief that school should not be the 'be-all, end-all' of my existence while I'm a Master's student.

Many members of my program have priorities that look like this:
1) SCHOOL
...
...
2) family/friends/significant other
3) hobbies
4) themselves

Their priorities are, of course, their choice. What concerns me is when I see a number of these women exhibiting clear symptoms of emotional and mental unwellness because of their obsession with their schoolwork. It concerns me to hear classmates talk of never getting enough sleep, of never seeing their friends, of having no time to do the things they love. How is this healthy? At what cost are they doing their very best in the program? Is it honestly, well and truly worth it? Is it truly their 'very best' when they're exhausted and frustrated?

I believe the answer is 'no.' Research shows that our degrees will be obsolete in 3 years - what will matter most is our experience in the field. CASLPA (our national college) explicitly states that it expects new graduates to be generalists, not specialists. And one or two of our professors have acknowledged that what really matters is a solid grounding coupled with the ability to know where to look when you have a question. With all of that in mind, why are we worry ourselves sick about cramming every morsel of knowledge into our heads, knowledge that most of us will have forgotten by the time we get to our first jobs? Why isn't our focus on grounding ourselves in the field, and becoming familiar with the resources available us?

Our focus is on being over-achieving excellence monkeys because a) we're SLPs, and most of us are Type A overachievers to begin with, and b) because that's what our role models show us. I have heard several professors in my department discuss the high burnout rate in speech, advocate for balance, then be in their offices from 7am til 7pm 5 days a week and be editing student work over the weekend. I have heard ONE clinician advocate for balance and actually demonstrate it in her career - and the whole time she was telling us about it, her tone was so apologetic that I'm convinced she gets very little respect for what I believe is a wise and healthy choice.

Today it was suggested to me that perhaps I might find it necessary to put Jason 'on hold' and 'see what he's made of' during this heavy semester. This comment stemmed from something that I had said about it being difficult to have a boyfriend who works an 8-5, and has evenings and weekends generally free. Jason wants to spend much of that time with me, and I would like to spend that time with him as well. My priorities look quite different from those above:

1) Me and my health (including faith, physical and mental health, etc.)
2) School, friends, family
3) Hobbies
4) Other commitments (e.g., junior church)

I consider my family and friends to be just as important as school. Quite often I don't get to see my friends as much as I'd like because of school commitments. Conversely, sometimes I don't do all of my readings because meeting with Al for a coffee is more important. It's a difficult balance, but one that supports my number one commitment: me and my health. It's distressing to me to be told that for four months, I should put everything on hold and go 100% all out on schoolwork. Firstly, I'd make myself crazy doing that. I need the social part of my life in order to be sane. I need to walk away from schoolwork, and not just once or twice a week. I need some time every day where I can be just Elizabeth, not Elizabeth-the-student. Secondly, it would do a lot of damage to the relationships in my life. It's hard to maintain a friendship when you give no time to staying in touch or being available. I'm not asking to maintain 36 different friendships - I'm thinking of three that are vital to me, and that I have no interest in 'putting on the back burner' just because school is heavy. Thirdly, I have no desire to implement unhealthy, unsustainable patterns in my life. If I do nothing but school for the next four months, either I'll be burnt out or I'll be well-practiced to do nothing but work for the next four. I never want to be a workaholic, and I've no desire to practice being one now.

Clearly, my schoolwork is important. I love being a speechie, even if it is a lot of work. I know that sometimes Jason's going to get to go off and have fun while I'm sitting at my desk, writing yet another draft of my proposal. I know that sometimes I'll get a little bit less sleep, or only run twice in a week, or not get to soak in the tub and read a novel. All of this I know, and can accept. What I'm not going to accept is not seeing my friends, not growing my relationship with Jason, not hanging out with Jacob, not going to church... just because it's a heavy term. Some readings aren't worth it, some assignments can be done quickly, some extra credit can be skipped. The people in my life are just as important to me (moreso!) than this degree. And I believe that I can have both in my life. It's just a question of priorities.

Ela

Back, Back in the Grad School Groove

Hi friends!

Well, it's September 6, and that means that I've officially completed Day One of the last semester of classes for my Master's. Very exciting. :) The first day went well (even if it was a little long): great professors, interesting courses, and of course, sitting next to Megs.

Our schedule is roughly 8-6 Mondays and Wednesdays, and 8-12 Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays are reserved for clinic (practicum). 8-6 (5.30, really, since Dr. C let us out early!) was a long day for a first day. I hate change, this semester is looking busy, and I was tired. When I went to Jason's for dinner, I cried the whole time I did the dishes.

"Ela! What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," I snivelled, dripping tears into the sink. "I'm just tired and overwhelmed and there's no way I'm going to be able to do everything this semester. There are projects and papers and assignments and my thesis and my RAship and I want to work part-time since I don't have to do clinic til January."

Watching me cry still, Jason asked "are you sure that you want to do this? I mean, if you honestly think that you can't manage it?"

I sort of laughed through my tears. "My Master's? Am I sure I want to do my Master's? Of course I'm sure! I'll be fine tomorrow, I'm just overwhelmed and overtired tonight."

"Well, Ela, you know that you have Tuesdays and Thursdays and Friday afternoons to do your homework, so if you just manage your time..."

I started crying harder. "Jason! I'm too tired to be rational right now. I just need to feel overwhelmed tonight, Ok?"

"Well, Ok, but I don't understand why you would CHOOSE to be out of control!"

I dropped the spoon I was washing back into the sink and started to bawl. I went and sat in the bedroom on the floor with my head on my knees and sobbed. Jason figured it out quickly. He sat down next to me, put his arms around, and said nothing. :)

Sure enough, when I got up this morning I was feeling wide awake and ready to tackle the world. I went and bought my last few books, organized my student loan, and got my UPass. That was followed by organizing my bookshelf, getting the semester's binders ready, arranging a meeting with my RA supervisor, and reading an article and outlining its subtitles for a group project meeting tomorrow. I am feeling confident about this term, and am looking forward to it!

This afternoon I want to spend about an hour on my thesis and get started on the term's reading. I was all set to only do the vital ones, but Megs has resolved to do all of them. Can't let her be the only one who does! We'll see if I can keep on top of them. ;)

I also have a job interview tomorrow at 1.30. If you're thinking of me, you could pray. :) It's an RAship that's 12 hours week working on a knowledge mobilization project. The opportunity sounds fantastic, so I'm hoping the interview will go well.

Also exciting is that I obtained a 3hr/wk. RAship through the department. I'm back with Dr. R at COMPRU. As I volunteered there over the summer, I've actually been with them for eight months, and have spent all of that time doing transcription. I go in, I put on head phones, and I write down the 50 words and 20 sentences. I score these for intelligibilty, and file them. I like the job because it's a nice balance of mindlessness (the job isn't difficult) and focus (you have to pay attention or you'll screw it up). As much as I like it, eight months is a long time. :) I asked Dr. R if that's what I would be continuing with, and yes, it is. HOWEVER - I get to split my time between transcription and analyzing modified barium swallows!! This is watching a video x-ray of a person swallowing radioactive barium in order to determine if there are any abnormalities in the swallow (e.g., delay or misdirection). This is so cool. I'm so excited! Dysphagia (problems in swallowing) is an area that fascinates me, and this is a fabulous opportunity for me. Yay!

Well, my 10 minute break is up - it must be time to start reading. I'll catch you all later!

Love,
Elizabeth

Sneaky Stress

Hi guys,

Ever notice how stress can sneak up on a girl? Y'know - you trundle along, thinking everything's all good, you're on your month off, life is sweet... then you send a cover letter with two colours of font in it (d'Oh), lose your wallet (find it again, thank goodness), stick the wrong stickers on the new tokens for Settlers of Catan, Cities and Knights (cry in the bathroom), and burn your finger on a PopTart. That's when you realize that, despite your month off's best efforts, you're stressed anyway.

Guess where I'm at? Yeah. Stressed. Worried about school starting, finding a part-time job, writing my prospectus, fitting everything into a new schedule.... It's kind of been eating away at me over the last week or so, and I didn't really realize it til today. I guess that I need to get organized, even though it's my time off. Tomorrow afternoon I plan to sit down and map out a schedule for this week, in order to feel that I'm making productive use of my time. I'm hoping to accomplish two things with this: 1) actually get stuff done (e.g., going into the lab, writing my thesis), and 2) actually relax during my time off. We'll see. :)

Today was a pleasant day, even if I DID cry over putting the wrong stickers on the Settlers' tokens. ;) Jason and I met up with Kathie and Brandon at an auction house, to check out the goodies. Katie and Jason got bored before the auctioneer made it around to the stuff Brandon was semi-interested in, so we picked up what we'd purchased (K&B: ramen noodles, Cheezies and apple juice - a well rounded meal!; Jason: 3 pots for $12.50!) and headed out. J. and I went to West Ed to pick up Cities and Knights, and spent close to an hour just trying to find a parking spot. The mall was stupid busy! I guess that's what happens when it's back-to-school time and the weather is awful. :) We finally got our game, and headed of to play with K. and B. The game was pretty frustrating for me at first, because I didn't understand any of its subtleties. About 2/3 of the way through it started making sense, and I really started to enjoy it. It's more complex than Settlers, and also longer, both of which combine to mean that it's easier to catch up if you fall behind. I'm excited to play again - I think that I can do a lot better next time.

Tomorrow I'm teaching Jr. Church - it's all about Noah, so I think we're going to build an ark out of chairs and pretend to be animals, and then I think it might be a lazy afternoon. Jason's encouraging me to explore sculpting, since I enjoy baking bread so much (I love manipulating the dough!), so maybe I'll give that a shot. His flat is lacking a backgammon board, so he said that if I made the pieces, he would make the board. I think it's a nice idea for a first attempt for me - something simple, and fairly craft-like (as opposed to art-like). We'll see how it goes.

And to end this post, a semi-funny, semi-painful story. (The best kind, really!)

Those Bloody WingDings

Wednesday evening, about 7 o'clock, Jason and I are hungry.

"The Stonehouse does Wing Wednesday, hun," I say. "Why don't we go there?"

Jason readily agrees, and we head off to the pub. Once there, we take a couple stools at the bar, as the tables are all full, order a couple of pints, and start chatting with the bar staff. After glancing over the wing section on the menu, we place our order.

"We'd like an order of the Greek wings, an order of the Cajun Salt and Pepper, and an order of your WingDing hot wings," Jason says.

The bartender raises an eyebrow. "The WingDing hot wings?" he asks. "You sure about that? They're REALLY hot."

"That's fine," Jason shrugs. He eats hot foods all the time, and is rarely phased by anything a restaurant refers to as being 'really spicy.'

Grinning, the waiter replies "Alright then, I'll bring you the waiver to sign."

Jason and I both laugh, but it's cut short when the waiter lays a two-page waiver form on the bar in front of us. It turns out that if a person can eat all 12 hot wings in a reasonable amount of time they'll win free wings the next time, and a chance at winning a hundred bucks.

"Might as well give it a shot," Jason says as he signs his name. I mostly ignore him as I read the warnings about death, doom, and diarrhea at the foot of page one.

The waiter hustles off to shout in our order, and the two regulars on the stools next to us begin throwing their two cents in.

"They are REALLY hot," the first man says. "I only made it through two before I had to give up."

"Whatever you do, DON'T touch your eyes after eating 'em" chimes in the second man.

"Yeah! That's fer damn sure," the first one replies. He pauses, then adds "And wash yer hands BEFORE you take a leak. Learned that one the hard way." He nods sagely, then takes another swig of his beer.

Not too much later, our wings appear. Jason grabs his first WingDing, and chows down.

"How is it," I ask.

"Not bad," he says. "All heat and no flavor - just like I suspected."

"Can you finish them all?" the bartender asks.

"Yeah, no problem."

Two more wings in and the tears are running down Jason's face. I've seen him eat a lot of spicy food before, but I've never seen him cry doing it.

"You Ok, hun?" I ask.

"Yeah, but these are THE spiciest wings I've ever had. They don't taste like anything though - they're just HOT. I wonder if they're seasoned with something synthetic."

I keep eating my wings (the more ordinary ones), and am disappointed with how flavorless they are. I glance over again at Jason, tears streaming now, looking somewhat ashen.

"Jason?" I ask. "You Ok?"

"I can't eat anymore," he says, pushing the plate away. "I'm feeling really sick."

He gets up and heads for the washroom. The bartender clears the plate away, and returns to ask "Do you think he'd like a glass of milk?"

"He's lactose intolerant," I reply. "A glass of milk would only make things worse."

Jason returns, looking a bit better, but still not so good. "The heat didn't get to me," he says. "It's just that whatever's in them is really making my stomach rise."

We finished up our regular wings and headed for the door. About a block into our 4 block walk, Jason suddenly stops, grabbing his stomach.

"I thought I was feeling better," he gasped, "but suddenly I feel awful. How far to your place?"

"Just a few more blocks," I say, worried.

We hurry on. Another block into the walk, and Jason drops to his alongside the grass. "I think I'm going to be sick," he says, turning an awful shade of puce. He kneels there, heaving, for a moment or two, before he staggers to his feet.

"I can't do it. I feel awful, but I can't be sick."

We hurry along for another block, when Jason suddenly stops again. "How much further to your place?" he asks.

"Just another block, sweetie. C'mon, let's hurry."

Halfway through the last block, Jason suddenly gasps out, "Ela, will you still love me if I s**t my pants?"

I pause, think about it for a moment, and say "Yes, Jason. I will still love you, EVEN if you s**t your pants. But there's only 1/2 a block left - you can make it!"

In the end, we DID make it back to the condo in time, and poor Jason spent a very agonizing evening being unable to either throw up or to be tormented by Montezuma's Revenge. Instead, he got to lay perfectly still and drink nothing. The slightest movement or the smallest beverage made his stomach explode into agonies of pain. Eventually able to sleep, he awoke the next morning feeling much better, if not 100%.

Watch out for the WingDings.

Ela

Exciting

Hi guys,

I heard back from DriveABLE today, and am going in for interview on Friday morning at 10 (the delay was due to their HR woman being on holiday). If you have a moment, you might say a little prayer that I'll be calm and not chatter their heads off. :D

I had a lovely birthday last week, with lots of birthday greetings from friends (yay for Facebook), time spent with family, and a trip to the horse races with Jason. "Dover! Move yer bloomin' arse!" We made $3. I won't tell you how much we lost. ;) A good time was had by all! Last night we had dinner with his mum and grandparents, which was lovely. His granny and grandfather gave me Godiva chocolates as a gift... and I'm doing a TERRIBLE job of rationing them out.

Given my inability to hold onto chocolate, I went out for a run this morning. My endurance isn't as good as it was, but I managed to get in a good thirty minutes, so I'm feeling pretty fantastic. I'm planning to go again tomorrow - provided my legs don't hurt too much. * grin *

I'm off to turn on the oven and throw in a roast. We're having it with mashed potatoes and green beans/spinach sauteed with garlic. Nummers.

Love ya,
Ela