I love New York in the springtime.

I think spring has officially sprung in NYC. The trees are blooming and people actually look like human beings instead of walking pillars of down and wool. Unfortunately, on this particularly lovely spring day, I am stuck inside working on all my final papers. I have three more weeks in the semester, with at least one major project or paper due during each one. It is nice that they’re a little spread out and that I don’t have any actual exams. Besides, once it’s over, I have almost four full months of summer to enjoy. I intend to spend every possible minute lounging in Central Park, taking Tanner to the dog run, reading (for pleasure!) on our sun deck and drinking white-wine sangria outside. Granted, I still haven’t found a summer job, but that’s a concern for another day.

So, to catch up. . . .

Mexico was FANTASTIC. Between the beach, the weather, the food and getting to catch up with Richard, I never wanted to leave. Tulum is a wonderful little town, completely free of the awful Spring-Breakness of Cancun. I was able to completely separate myself from school and New York and totally relax. I saw the ruins at Chichen Itza (which are the most famous in Mesoamerica) and Tulum and swam in two cenotes- Dos Ojos and El Gran Cenote. I would go back in less than a second.

The beach at Akiin. There are literally hundreds more pictures where this came from- let me know if you want to see them.

Since getting back to New York, I’ve been caught in a whirlwind of schoolwork, mostly due to the fact that I didn’t really do anything over Spring Break- though, can you blame me? My mom was here for a week while my aunt started her recovery from spinal surgery. She’s doing really well, but still has several weeks of inpatient PT at Rusk. Between all the work and family time, it’s been kind of crazy since I got back. The semester is over in about 5 weeks and I have a lot to do between now and then. However, it will help me fill the time waiting to hear where my field placement will be next year.

I want to take a second to plug my fabulous roommate, Jessie, who just launched her first blog-

Check her out!

In like a lion. . .

Here we are, the first of March.  Two days ago, it was near 60 and I was running around in jeans and a cardigan, too warm for even my fleece.  Now, I’m sitting here waiting for the 5-8 inches of snow we’re supposed to get tonight, not to mention the additional 2-4 inches tomorrow.  I am becoming increasingly focused on the fact that I will be sunning myself on a Mexican beach in less than 2 weeks.

Origami Shoes

My original thought process behind this blog (and its name, specifically) was my growing awareness of how much faster time seems to be moving.  Starting this was less an attempt to document events or keep records (though that was part of it) but more of acknowledgement of the increasing brevity of every day.  Now, it’s been almost a month since I posted anything.  I don’t know if that makes me a blogging failure or if it proves my point, since my days have been so jam-packed of late.  Probably a little bit of both.

On a totally unrelated note, I discovered this tonight.  The actual store is in Greenpoint, but they have so many cute things, like the mini rainboot gardens, the hot dog tote, and some very creative ear buds.  But I think this is my favorite:

If my fine motor skills were better, I’d be all over this.

First Week In Review

Since I’m about to start my second full week of the semester, a review of the first full week seems in order.  I’ve been back at my field placement since 5 January, but classes just started again this past Wednesday.  Field is still pretty good- I love the kids I work with and my supervisor is really awesome, but part of me still really wishes I wasn’t in a school.  Between my experiences at JCB last year and the fact that I’ve never really wanted to be a school social worker, I feel like I might not be getting as much out of this year’s placement as I might be.  But, since I’m not actually placed with the DOE, I have access to all of the resources and that trainings that Safe Horizon offers, which is really phenomenal.  (No, seriously, click the link and see how freaking awesome my agency is!)  Next year, I plan on doing something wildly different, but for now I am going to enjoy the people and clients I work with and the opportunities I am getting.

And then there are my actual classes.  Wednesday kicks off with my Social Work Research class, which I was dreading.  Granted, I’ve only had one class, but it seems like it won’t be as deadly boring as I was anticipating.  My professor is quite dynamic and she’s keeping the lecture to a minimum.  We’re using the bulk of class time to work on our group proposals, which will hopefully limit the amount of times we have to meet as a group outside of class.  I don’t know who’s in my group yet, but so far that class seems to be shaping up well.  My Wednesday afternoons are HBSE (Human Behavior and the Social Environment), which I had some pretty major issues with last semester.  It is team-taught and every few weeks we get a new professor and a new topic.  The professor we have now is awesome, so I’m hoping the second part of HBSE will be an improvement over the last one.

Thursday mornings I have Direct Practice with Individuals, Families and Groups, which is the follow up class to Foundations of Social Work Practice from last semester.  This class and this professor are much more my style- working from the basic clinical theories and then applying them to micro social work practice.  And, finally, Thursday evenings I have Advocacy in Social Work Practice, which I’m pretty sure is going to be my favorite class.  It’s focused on macro practice and social justice.  My professor is a social worker and a lawyer and is so brilliant and passionate about everything he does.  He is involved in so many fabulous projects and causes, which hopefully I will find a way to get involved in.  And, on a not-so-academic note, he looks like a more attractive version of Baltar.

Second semester is shaping up nicely.  Although ask me again around midterms and I may have a different opinion.

Living In An ObamaNation

Yesterday, I took off from field and stayed on the couch all day watching Obama’s inauguration.  At the risk of sounding horribly cheesy, I have never been so proud to be an American.  For the first time since I can remember, I have real hope for this country, both in the international and domestic arenas.  To see everyone so fired up about a politician and so involved in the process has been truly amazing.  Even people who didn’t vote for him and don’t necessarily agree with his politics are supportive and hopeful.  The world literally feels like a different place than it did when I went to bed on Monday night.

OK, enough cheese.

But don’t even get me started on how much I love all the Obamas.  Malia and Sasha are just darling and Michelle. . . . oh Michelle. . .  Simply put, I want to be her when I grow up.

Finally, my favorite image from yesterday- (Yes, I was taking pictures of my TV.  My dad the same thing while watching the Apollo 11 landing and I always thought it was a cool idea.)  I happened to catch the perfect frame on CNN:

First Post Of ’09

Long overdue update.  Again.

Christmas in Vermont was fantastic.  Great food, lots of booze, Mario Kart on the Wii and, of course, a visit from Santa.  Followed it up with a lovely Christmas day at Mary’s.  Spent the rest of the week in Connecticut hanging out with the JCB folks and up in Manchester with Kelly.  Came back to the city just in time to throw a New Year’s Eve party.  The crowd was small, but we had a blast.  Josh came down from Boston, which was fabulous, since I hadn’t seen him since last February.  The was a massive Taboo tournament and incredible amounts of champagne consumed.  A very nice way to start off the year.

I have a few New Year’s Resolutions:

1. Take fewer cabs.  Especially when out in Manhattan and not completely wasted.

2. Get both my Blackberry and computer address books completely updated and synched.  Expect messages begging for phone numbers, addresses, e-mails etc. sometime in the near future.

3. Find a way to get my knees to agree to running on something other than an elliptical.  I want to take advantage of the fact that I live 2 blocks from Central Park.  Also, Tanner needs to take a few pounds off. . . .

4. Be better about updating this thing!  Seriously.

I think that’s about it.  2008 was a pretty good year, all around.  No major complaints.  Looking forward to seeing what ’09 has in store.

Also: I’m on Twitter now.  Finally gave in.  Username: stunes.  Find me.

Finally On Break

The time between my last post and now is a little fuzzy.  Finals are a total blur, though they definitely went much more smoothly than any of my 8 conference weeks at SLC.  The week after finals, my brain was pretty much total mush and I went out every night.  This included a date with a nice young man, whom I had met the weekend before.  He’s very sweet and I think I will see him again, though I’m not sure how far it will go.

Now I find myself back at my mom’s house in Connecticut.  There are several inches of snow on the ground and some sort of sleety-slushy crap is coming down now.  My holiday shopping is pretty under control, though I’m planning a trip to the mall tomorrow to tie up the rest of my loose ends.  As much as I hate leaving the city, being back in Connecticut for a bit without any work hanging over my head will be nice.  Things are so calm and quiet here, though I can realistically only handle it for a week at the most before the stir-crazy sets in.

Happy Chanukah!

Our menorah tonight.

Jessie and my Christmas tree.

College Walk decorated for the holidays.

Excellent Time Management Skills

I think going to Barnes & Noble and Magnolia instead of getting ready for finals was definitely the best use of my time.

I went to get Pete a birthday present and came back with these.  Technically the top one is a Christmas gift for Mary, but I might have to flip through it first. . . 

Thankful

So, I’ve been a bit lax about updating over here.  The week leading up to break was crazy, but I did get to spend a lovely 24 hours in the city with Stacey, including introducing her to Magnolia.  Once Thanksgiving break hit and I was back in Connecticut, I was in full veg-mode.  It was one of the best Thanksgivings I’ve had in a long time, even though I never quite achieved my goal of “Get a lot of schoolwork done”, but I think that’s OK.  I am happy to back in the city, but getting to see the Natchaug crew, as well as my ladies from Wilson’s was awesome.

Making one of my annual contributions to Thanksgiving.

The “Secret Ingredient” to my cranberry sauce.

Our Thanksgiving spread, minus my Caesar Salad and the multitude of desserts.

I came back to New York last night and was back at my field placement first thing this morning.  I wasn’t expecting an especially easy day, since the holidays (and the immediate aftermath) can be hard for the kind of kids I work with.  I wasn’t expecting anything like today turned out to be.  It started out with little things like my coffee pot freaking out, mopping up a miniature lake of coffee off my white tile floor and then waiting 15 minutes for the stupid 2 train (which also decided to stop running this afternoon).  This all paled in comparison to the session with one of my favorite students that ended with my first call to ACS, among other things.  It was one of those days that simultaneously makes me wonder why I want to do this kind of work and reminds me why I need to.  Sometimes watching what these kids have to live through on a daily basis and how little is being done to support them is worse than heartbreaking.  And often there is little or nothing I can do to “fix” it.  Though, sometimes, like today, just being able to listen and help them get what they need has to be enough.