A Summer Story

When I was eleven, I went to summer camp for the second summer. There was a girl there named Amy who was a few years older and had a kind of junior counselor role at camp. She had a beautiful smile and the kind of personality that lit up a room. She was incredibly talented musically and would often sing or play piano with a small group of younger girls all gathered around, singing with her.

On one such day we all gathered around her at the piano to sing. We happily belted out song after song until it was time to leave. As we all headed to lunch, Amy pulled  me aside. I was nervous about being singled out and was concerned I had done something wrong.  

"I just wanted to tell you that you have a beautiful voice," she said to me, "so keep singing." I remember just staring up at her, my idol, the young woman I wanted so much to be like someday, and being completely at a loss for words. I had always liked to sing - it had always been a part of my life - but this person was telling me that I was good at it and was encouraging me to make sure to nurture that talent. 

A feeling washed over me - a feeling I had never felt before. I was so honored and proud to hear those words of encouragement from her, and yet also somewhat overwhelmed. At a time when I was starting to feel the awkward insecurities of my pre-teen years, those words meant so much to me, and I found myself getting choked up from the emotion of it all.

I walked back towards my friends with tears streaming down my cheeks. They saw my tears and asked with concern why I was crying, and I shrugged because I didn't know. They asked if I was sad, and I found myself laughing through my tears and telling them that I was pretty sure I was crying because I was happy. 

I never saw Amy again after that summer. And I never became a professional singer. But I did carry with me the memory of how significant it was to be reminded of talents and strengths that I didn't even know existed.

This morning I received an email appreciating me for my honesty and caring and willingness to speak and act openly when many others do not. These are traits that are so a part of me that, like singing, I forget sometimes that they are strengths. The email spoke of the beauty that comes from making oneself vulnerable and the rewards that can come from being open to possibility, and as I read it I found myself full of that same mysterious feeling I felt 19 summers ago, with tears in my eyes and joy in my heart. Full of gratitude for all that is good in this world, and for the people who help me remember to appreciate it all, I share this with you now:

Still Waiting for that Bus...

No luck on the job front, so the hunt continues... This weekend will be spent researching and applying for jobs, as well as studying for my licensing exam. 

Not much else to report, so I'll leave you all with a question:

At what point in a relationship with a new person should one share one's blog? Assume that as the relationship develops, it is a close and trusting one. Follow-up question: Is the answer different if it a romantic relationship vs. a platonic one? 

The "Big Dig" Nears Completion

Though I could pretend that the reason I haven't been updating this blog is because I've been so focused on my "Big Dig" project, the real reason is that I've been traveling and working so much that I'm rarely in front of my computer enough to check email, much less write about my adventures.

A few quick updates:

1. No word on the job yet, but they have told me they're hoping to make a decision early this coming week. I have also applied to a few other jobs, so I'm not just waiting around for this one (but still, keep your fingers crossed).

2. After 3 looooong weeks, C is back in my life. I had no idea how much our Thursdays together meant to me until he was gone on vacation. I have been with this kiddo every week for nearly a year now, and we were both absolutely giddy to see each other on Thursday after so much time apart. I didn't stop smiling all day. 

3. The "Big Dig" is nearing completion, after multiple phases of progress:

Phase I (June 2008): Fibby sorts through all of her clothing and shoes, putting some aside to donate and saving others.

Phase II (7/11-7/12): Bed and air conditioner are moved with the help of LTB members. All other furniture moved by Fibby.

Phase III (7/17-7/21): Fibby goes on vacation to Maine. Just before going on vacation, she realizes that her new roommate (the one who is moving into Fibby's old room) is arriving on the 22nd).

Phase IV (7/21): Fibby arrives back in Boston at 1pm and throws all items from the floor of her old room to the floor of her new room. Fibby and Roommate (not the new one) spend the next 7 hours steam cleaning carpets in 3 rooms and 2 staircases. One of these rooms is Fibby's study, which means that the explosion of books, papers, and junk that has been accumulating for the past 6-12 months must be picked up off the floor. All of the above-mentioned items are re-located to the dining room floor until the rug in the study dries.

Phase V (7/26): Fibby follows her self-imposed rule and sorts through every box and bag and envelope on her floor, rather than just shoving it all under the bed. This takes all day. And night. Much trash and recycling is accumulated. Dusting takes place.

Phase VI (7/27): Fibby moves the "Big Dig" to the study, where another day is spent sorting, storing, and throwing away. Clutter is transformed into order with the help of storage bins and tupperware containers. Much trash and recycling is accumulated. Serious dusting takes place. Sneezing takes place.

No photos yet, because I am waiting until I put things on the walls, but let me tell you that this is the best gift to myself I think I've ever had. 

     Total number of trash bags full of donated clothes & shoes: 3

     Total number of trash bags filled: 4.5

     Total number of trash cans filled: 2

     Total number of boxes filled with paper to be recycled: 3

This post is dedicated to two of my former SF roommates, whose ability to sort and purge inspired me throughout this adventure.

Weekend Adventures

This past weekend was the first weekend that I did not travel in well over a month (perhaps two?), and I made the most of it.

Friday night found me at the Lizard Lounge watching the Laura Thomas Band and The Grift. I managed to rally a good number of friends to go including some college friends, a grad school friend, and a former camper (actually "counselor trainee" but "camper" is a more universally understood term). Fun reunions and conversations were had all around. Also included in the Friday night festivities was the most awesome wingman job ever. Plus - because I hosted the LTB at my house on Friday evening, I got in free. Awesome.

Saturday morning found the LTB members and GT playing on the futuristic playground in my neighborhood. Entirely stress-free and entirely fun.

Saturday night I attended the Sox game with my aunt. Not only was it a great game, but we had phenomenal seats.

Not the view from our seats:

The view from our seats:

We also invented "kettlejacks" which involved kettle corn and peanuts (for eating purposes, we did remove the shells, but it made for a funnier photo with the shells on).

The game was short, and I was home by 10:30pm, which seemed to me to be a reasonable time to move lots of heavy furniture. The big, strong men of the LTB had assisted me in moving my bed and my A/C unit, but there was a dresser and many shelves to be moved as well. It wasn't until all the furniture had been moved that I remembered that my landlady's bedroom is directly below my old bedroom. Apparently she is a deep sleeper, because I didn't hear any complaints the next day.

Yesterday I continued the moving and sorting and dumping and put new bedding on my bed. I also managed to whack my knee against the corner of my bed three times before giving up and padding the corner with with bubble wrap and packing tape. I then drove all around the greater Boston area returning unwanted bedding to the stores. No photos of the new room yet, but I'll get one up soon. Bottom line is it has heat and floor space and it's nicer and more organized than any room I've ever had.

I finished off the weekend with a first date last night that was not the result of an eharmony match. And though it's a little early to tell for sure, he seems like I guy I'd like to continue to get to know - the kind of guy who wouldn't stop for red lights.

No word on the job yet, though they are checking references. Thanks to all who gave advice/input. Still not sure what I'll say if they offer me the job, but I'm trusting that I'll know what to do if/when that situation arises.

Considerations

So I have now had two job interviews for the position I blogged about last week. This job is at an organization about whose mission I am extremely passionate. It would allow me to provide support to grieving family members and would also give me the opportunity to create my own projects based on my interests. The benefits are great, and the team I would work for seems wonderful.

A drawback to this position is that all of the support that I would be providing would be over the phone. It is also a position that does not require a masters degree, and therefore as much as it would be challenging on some levels (especially if I could create my own projects), it might not be challenging enough or different enough from past jobs and experiences for me to feel like it is an upward step rather than a sideways step professionally.

I keep going over and over this in my head, and I can't tell if I'm trying to talk myself out of the position or into it. The truth is that I was really excited about this position when I saw it posted online. In fact, was the first position I had seen that got me excited since not getting the fellowship. My excitement decreased a bit after my initial phone screening interview when I was told that the position was all phone support, but I still wanted to interview. Since then, I have found an equal number of positive aspects to the job (great supervisor and coworkers, mission about which I'm passionate, interesting job, starts at the right time, good benefits) and negative (lack of other MSWs means lack of on-site social work support and potentially lack of supervision, all phone support means no face-to-face interactions, perhaps not making the most of my new degree) and am just not sure what to do if I get offered the job.

In speaking with a friend last night, she reminded me that if it doesn't feel right, then it probably isn't right and that I need to trust my gut. But my gut seems to be rather confused about how it's feeling, so what do I do? Do I take this job, knowing it's in a field I'm excited about and doing work with a population I'd like to be working with, even though the work isn't exactly the kind of work I want to be doing? Do I pass it up, and then hope that there's a better fit in the future, knowing that there's a good chance that I might end up working further outside my field of interest due to lack of job opportunities doing what I want to do? Is there even a

Bargaining Power

I'm not very good at bargaining. In fact, I'd say for the most part I avoid it when possible. I never try to bargain while shopping, and have recently told a friend that he's going to have to buy my next car for me because he's so good at it, and I'm just not. Historically, I have never tried all that hard to negotiate a higher salary. In some situations, it had to do with not feeling confident enough in my skills to feel I was worth more, and in some situations, it had to do with not wanting to hear someone say "no" and feel they were refusing my value as a human being, rather than my work value.  

Today I had my first job interview since the slew of fellowship interviews I had in April/May. I found the job posting online last week and it was the first posting I had seen since starting to look that I actually got excited about. So I updated my resume and cover letter (hadn't written a cover letter since 2002!) and sent it in.

A week later, I found myself squeezing in an interview between two babysitting gigs (thank goodness the woman's schedule was relatively open). As the last time I had applied for a job (a "real" job, anyway) was in 2002, I realized just before walking in that this is the first interview I've had where I've been totally confident in my skills to do the job. It made me much more confident and willing to say things that I would not have said 6 years ago.

For example, after the woman told me more about the job (including the fact that none of the other employees with the same position have masters degrees), she looked at my salary requirements. 

"Oh," she said, "I see you've put down X for a salary requirement. Did Sue tell you that the salary is actually a bit lower than that?"

"Yes," said I, "I am wondering, though, if the salary that you are offering is factoring in my MSW?"

So of course the salary wasn't factoring in my degree, and the woman tried to point out that an MSW was not a requirement for this position. She then tried to argue that I didn't have any experience as an MSW, and I countered that my two years of internships were absolutely MSW experience. 

I didn't make a big stink about the salary or my experience, but I did stand up for myself in a matter-of-fact, I-know-what-I'm-worth kind of way (well, as much as a social worker can do that - of course we're (almost) all worth way more than we'll ever get paid).

I left feeling good about the interview, and confident in my professional skills and abilities in a way I haven't felt in a long time. 

Graduate school tuition: $49K

Confidence in your professional knowledge, skills and practice: Priceless

Power of Love

Sorry for the short notice, but please send lots of positive, healthy thoughts to San Francisco today starting at 5pm EST, as that's when Rosie will be having surgery.

Tell Me More

Tonight, when the bar closed after spending the night celebrating a good friend's 30th birthday, we went to everyone's favorite late-night/early-morning dining establishment. 15 of us crowded around a big round table and ate as though we hadn't eaten in weeks. It was a great end to a really fun night.

When the fortune cookies were passed around, I eagerly took mine and broke it open, only to find a "fortune" whose top line had been cut off. The line that was left said:

"itself known through your words."
(Lucky Numbers: 7, 14, 17, 28, 34, 42)

Here's my question to you, dear readers: What did the first part of the fortune say???

Strength in Numbers

Rosalie was 21-months-old when she was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor. She had surgery to remove the tumor, then went through 14 months of chemo and radiation. Seven months ago, Rosie finished her treatment protocol, and she has had clear MRIs ever since. She has re-learned how to walk and talk and sing and dance, and has won over the hearts of many doctors, nurses, child life specialists, and all of her physical, occupational, and speech therapists in the proccess.

I lived in San Francisco when Rosie was diagnosed, and was volunteering at UCSF where Rosie was treated. Each week, I'd go early to volunteer and visit with Rosie and whichever parent was "on duty" that day. We'd play with Elmo and sing and giggle. Over the months that Rosie was in the hospital, I not only built a relationship with her, but also re-kindled my relationship with her mother (a friend from summer camp). I looked forward to those Wednesday afternoons, and was sad when it came time for me to move across the country to Boston.

Since then, I've managed to get back to San Francisco almost every six months, and I have been able to see Rosie and her family each time. Those visits have been highlights of my trips and I always look forward to seeing how many more things Rosie can do since my last visit (painting, standing, walking, talking...).

Yesterday, after a routine MRI, Rosie's family got the horrible news that there is a new tumor growing in her spine. I feel so overwhelmingly sad and frustrated, both at the news, and at the fact that I can only lend my support from afar this time, instead of being right there with them. So I'm keeping them in my thoughts and sending them lots of love and strength, and I'm begging all of you to do the same.

Rosie & Mommy & Miss Kitty Spring 2006

Singing with Mommy, Spring 2006

Rosie & Daddy, Spring 2006

Rosie & Mommy, Winter 2007












Susannah & Rosie, Spring 2007

Rosie & Susannah, Spring 2008

Swimming Rosie (no more tubies!)
Fall 2007

Dr. Rosie, Halloween 2006

Illin'

Those of you who have been following my status updates on Facebook lately know that I had a lovely bout of what I thought was food poisoning on Sunday night. I spent all day Monday in bed recovering, and then worked all day yesterday. Was working a full day after being so sick a good idea? Perhaps not, but there are no paid sick days when one is a babysitter, and I couldn't stand the thought of watching another full day of bad daytime television.

So off I went, first to sit for the 2.5 year old girl (M) I sat for last year and her 6-month-old brother (Z), and then to sit for a 5-year-old boy (J) and his 3-year-old sister (M), both whom I had also sat for last year.

Despite having no appetite, I was relatively functional at my first home - kicking a ball around the yard, playing with play-doh, having an in-depth conversation about the difference between sticks and roots and branches (M: "You can pick up sticks, but you can't pick up roots!" - brilliant, that child is).

As I headed to the second family's house, I wasn't feeling quite so hot, so I picked up some saltines and ginger ale (lunch of champions) on the way. Munched on those while older brother T and his friends ate birthday cake, and then hung out with J & M while T and his friends went to see a movie.

After walking to J's favorite ice cream store, J telling me he felt like he was going to throw up, getting their ice cream to go, and then walking (a little faster) back home, we got inside just as the thunder began. Unfortunately for J, the thunder in his belly was also doing some work, because he ended up as I had a few nights before. Poor kiddo.

So I finished babysitting around dinner time and was amazed at how much better I was feeling (though exhausted after not a lot of food and quite a bit of energy output caring for these kiddos). On the way home I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up some chicken soup. Ate the soup for dinner, watched the game, and fell asleep happy and optimistic that I was moving past this illness...

So imagine my surprise this morning when I woke up and opened my eyes and immediately felt dizzy. At first I chalked it up to not enough sleep, so I rolled back over and fell back asleep for another hour. But when I woke up the second time, I experienced the same thing - a generally woozy feeling that increased the more I tried to sit or get out of bed.

After another sick day in bed, I went to see my doctor at the end of the day (Sidenote: Special shout-out to TG, as I am 100% convinced that getting to the doctor would not have been possible had it not been for a tip I received that anti-nausea medication might help my woozy body. I took some a few hours before my appointment, and by doing so, gave myself the strength and ability to get to there in one piece).

Because I was able to report to my doctor that the anti-nausea medication had helped to make me less woozy, she determined that my sickness earlier in the week was probably a virus and not food poisoning, and that it had traveled around my body and landed in my ears, causing the dizziness. The technical term for this: Labyrinthitis. The name makes it sound so cool and interesting, but it really REALLY isn't.

Really.

Here's the best part: it can last for a few days, or a few weeks - so there's no way of knowing just how much fun I'm in for in the near future.

For now, I've stocked up on some "less-drowsy" anti-nausea medication and ginger chews and am hoping for the best...

"If You Were in an Accident..."

I have a blog post floating around in my head about this, but for now I'm just going to post the video. It includes what might possibly be my favorite Josh/Donna moment ever on the West Wing.

Scooperbowl Tuesday

Tonight I had ice cream for dinner, and I did not limit myself to just one flavor.

Apparently, every year the Jimmy Fund holds a 3-day fundraiser. Individuals pay $8 and receive a spoon, and then go around to tents to taste-test ice creams from New England vendors. Not sure how I missed this day last year, what with my ice cream radar being what it was, but this year I was prepared.

By my count, I sampled no less than 11 flavors of ice cream (indicated by "*" below). For what it's worth, the cups were (relatively) small, and I didn't always finish my sample, however that doesn't mean that I didn't come away feeling just a little bit ill.

Lessons learned from this evening:

1. It's fun to eat ice cream for dinner.
2. Nobody does cake batter ice cream like J.P. Licks, so don't bother trying any others.
3. The hotter the weather, the faster your ice cream becomes soup - eat fast.
4. Breyers Mint Chocolate Chip is damn good (and worth seconds)

26th Annual Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl Vendors:
Ben & Jerry's
*Cake Batter
ONE Cheesecake BrownieTM
Imagine Whirled PeaceTM
Strawberry

Breyers®
Vanilla
Strawberry
*Mint Chocolate Chip
*Cookies & Cream

Brigham's®
*Quack TracksTM
Mad Fish Mud
*Coconut Almond Fudge
Xtreme Razberry

Cold Stone Creamery®
*Shock-A-ConeTM
Coffee Lovers Only®
*Founder's Favorite®
Chocolate DevotionTM

Doriti Gelati
Lemon Sorbetto
Orange Sorbetto
Mango Gelato
Vanilla Bean Gelato

Edy's®
*Birthday Cake
Cookies 'N Cream
*Mint Chocolate Chip
Orange Cream Sherbet

Élan Frozen Yogurt®
*Coffee
Chocolate
Vanilla
Black Raspberry

Garelick Farms/Gifford's®
World's Best Chocolate
Maine Wild Blueberry
World's Best Vanilla
*Maine Lobster Tracks

Häagen-Dazs®
Raspberry Sorbet
Belgian Chocolate Chocolate
Pineapple Coconut
Vanilla Honey Bee

HP Hood®
Red Sox Green Monster Mint
Fat Free Vanilla Pomegranate Swirl Frozen Yogurt
Light Martha's Vineyard Black Raspberry
Bear Creek Caramel
Cookies N Cream Itti Bitz

30

In approximately 2 hours, I will be 30 years old. 

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about where I am in my life, where I've been, and where I'm headed. In reviewing my life, I've realized that all of the major decisions I have made in my adult life have been based on one (or more) of three things: job, relationship, and/or location. I moved to Boulder after college because of the location (not Boston or NYC) and my relationship. I moved to San Francisco because of the location and my friendships there. And I moved to Boston because of a "job" (school) and its location (closer to family). 

For the first time in my adult life, I am finding myself completely at a loss for what to do next. Though I have a degree in a field about which I am passionate, I don't yet have a job. I don't have a significant other with whom to consider potential future plans. And though I do enjoy living in Boston, I don't feel particularly tied to this place. It is an interesting position for me to be in, and one that has left me feeling both excited and overwhelmed.

So now, on the eve of my 30th birthday, I look back at my accomplishments thus far, and look ahead to all that awaits me. I think of how right the decision to return to school felt, and trust that other such major decisions will also feel so good and right. I trust that despite often feeling as though I will never find someone with whom I can share my life, there is in fact such a person out there to be found, and I look forward to finding him. I trust that despite not getting the fellowship I thought was made for me, over the next few months a new path will become clear, and I look forward to discovering where that path leads. And I trust that the next 30 years will be filled with just as much joy and laughter and challenge as the past 30, and I look forward to sharing that joy and laughter and challenge with friends and family, old and new.

Fill in the Blank

It's been a rough week.

Despite the high of graduating last week, I think the low of not getting the fellowship has followed me into this week. Couple that with slow days at work and too much time to think and it makes for some not-so-good headspace. I have been left feeling like I no longer know which way is up. The trajectory I thought my life was taking is no longer an option, and I am overwhelmed at the infinite choices that are before me.

I was at a friend's house the other night and when I went into the bathroom, I saw words written on the bathroom mirror. At the top was the phrase "_______ is my antidepressant" and below was a list of items and activities. Each day, my friend would write something new, and focus on that, plus the items on the rest of the list, to keep from sliding into a funk. I liked the idea, but hadn't made time to put it into action for myself.

Today, in an effort to keep my life in perspective, I began my own list. Coming up with something today was admittedly tough - a long day of work followed by a night of babysitting that may or may not be a positive experience, depending on the older child and whether or not he's willing to refrain from wrestling with his baby brother (who is not even one and most definitely cannot fight back). But I did finally come up with something, and today, "walking to work" is my antidepressant.

I've already got tomorrow's picked out: on Thursday, "G" is my antidepressant (because "N's beer" probably shouldn't be featured on this kind of list).

The Big Dig

As promised, this is the post where I share a truly embarrassing bit about myself and trust that those of who who are my friends out there will love me despite the horrors to which I am about to expose you.

I have a very small bedroom. My bedroom is where I sleep, eat breakfast, surf the internet, and do homework, so it requires that I have the tools/space with which to do those things (bed, computer, text books, etc.). Because there is such limited space, I am usually good at putting things away in a timely manner so that my room doesn't get too cluttered. However, when I get stressed everything gets thrown on my bed, and when I'm really stressed, I eventually can't find my bed through it all. Lucky for me, I sleep on one side of the bed and don't move around much, so it doesn't much impact my sleep, however it does make me dread walking into my room.

Today, I reclaimed my bed. But before I show you the end result, let's play a few rounds of "find the hidden objects":

Can you find...?
- 2 purses
- 1 new shirt
- 2 jackets
- 1 recently finished box of Trader Joe's candy cane Joe-Joe's
- 1 book
- 1 Jumbo Super Lint-Buster
- 1 wedding invitation
- 1 sewing kit
- 1 photo of my dad, circa 19__
- 1 Christmas "Ho Ho Ho" wall hanging that was only just removed from my door two weeks ago


That was taken a week ago. As my week got crazier and crazier, with graduation approaching, the pile grew...

Can you find...
- 4 purses
- 2 Red Sox t-shirts (1 red, 1 gray)
- 1 letter from the Direct Loan company telling me I need to start repaying my undergrad loans next month
- 2 final papers
- 1 shoebox
- 2 jackets
- 5 plastic bags
- 1 Elvis mug


Today I am proud to say that I have reclaimed my bedroom. I went through all of my school stuff and filled an entire paper shopping bag with papers to recycle. I collected no less than 13 recyclable bottles and cans from near and far corners of my room. I vaccuumed. I dusted. I did laundry (including my sheets).

Slowly, but surely, I think I'm returning to normal after the past few weeks of intense grad school finals/graduation chaos. And it starts here:

Not My Bus

(There's a tiny bit of my brain that thinks I may have told this story previously on this blog, but I don't have the energy to find it, so if I have, I'm telling it again.)

A few years ago, a friend was visiting me in San Francisco. We were headed downtown and needed to catch the bus. I lived half a block from the bus stop, and as we stepped outside, we saw the bus barrel past. I groaned, as I still had to lock my door and I knew there was no way we'd make it. I said with despair, "That was our bus!" and as we watched it continue down the street, my friend replied simply, "No, it wasn't."

Perhaps it was meant as a joke, but those words resonated with me. How many times in our lives do we lament a missed opportunity, rather than see the positives that might come from it? And so "not my bus" has become my motto whenever things don't turn out as I had hoped or planned. Because if I don't end up catching the bus I had hoped to catch, then it must mean it wasn't my bus to catch in the first place.

Many of you know that I applied for a very competitive fellowship earlier this spring. It is in a field about which I am extremely passionate, and would keep me at this hospital which I love working in so very much. The team of people I would work with would be incredible - leaders in the field - and the work would be more rewarding than anything I have done before.

Today I received notice that I did not get this fellowship.

And as sick and as sad as I feel right now, I have to believe that this fellowship was not my bus... that there is something else out there I am supposed to be doing... that there is some bigger reason for this not working out as I had planned or hoped.

And so I trust in that. Despite my disappointment, I trust in that. And I look forward to discovering the bus out there that is mine, and seeing where it will take me.

Alaska: The State I Love to Eat

So my friend Kate received a gift certificate at Christmas from the family she babysits for and we decided we should have a date night. That was nearly 6 months ago, and last night we finally made use of it.

We hadn't made reservations and the restaurant was surprisingly crowded for a Tuesday night, so we sat at the bar. The bartender Walter was quite nice and gladly poured our celebratory flutes of Prosecco. We toasted to finishing the year, ordered dinner, and caught up on each other's lives.

It's hard to do justice to the experience we had with the man sitting next to us and his daughter, but I'll try:

Man: What is your name?
Me: Phoebe
Man: That is a beautiful name! What a beautiful name! Beautiful.
Me: Thank you
Man (to Kate): And what is your name?
Kate: Kate
Man: Kate!? Don't you feel simple next to Phoebe?

(I can only assume he meant doesn't the name Kate feel simple next to the name Phoebe, but we'll never know.)

He asked if we were celebrating something, and we shared that we had just finished grad school. When he found out we were social workers, he spent the next 10 minutes telling us why social work was such a great field and why the work we do is so important even if we don't get paid much.

Later, after the man had shared part of their second bottle of wine with us, and after repeatedly calling Kate "Nancy" throughout the night, he and his daughter left. The daughter came back because they had forgotten something and as she left said, "Just think - he's increasing your number of future clients every day!"

Our evening ended with Baked Alaska. Neither Kate nor I had experienced this dessert before, and all we could say was WOW. Coconut ice cream and passion fruit caramel. We rolled ourselves out of there full, happy, and feeling like we had properly celebrated the culmination of the past two years of our lives.

Food for Thought

A friend of mine just wrote this article and now I share it with you.

Stay tuned for The Big Dig post - in which I dig my bed out from the piles of clothes, books, and other debris left over from finals.

Show Me the Way to Go Home...

I'm tired and I wanna go to bed.

I had a drink about an hour ago,

And it went straight to my head...

Somehow I got that old camp song in my head while I was walking from the bar where I was having my one celebratory drink (and potstickers! oh, how I love thee, potstickers!) to my car, and it stuck.

Tonight, dear friends, I handed in my last grad school paper EVER. I can't say I'm officially done, because I still have one class to attend tomorrow night at 5, but I can say that I do not have anything left hanging over my head, and that is not a feeling I have had in a very very very long time.

More later. Sleep now.

By the Numbers: an update

Past:
2 - papers written today
1 - hour of babysitting a screaming 5-month-old with his 2.5-year-old sister saying, "Call Mommy and have her get him."
1 - powerpoint presentation created for tomorrow's adventure
5 - enjoyable hours spent on Friday night not thinking at all about school

Present:
3 - classes left
1 - presentation to do
1 - policy paper to be written
1 - group project paper to be edited
1 - take-home test about death and dying to be finished

Future:
1 - week until I (hopefully) hear about the much-desired fellowship
2 - sleep-deprived nights left before the end of my grad school career
12 - days until graduation