New Blog

Soon, I will be ending the life of my wordpress blog. You can find my new blog here: http://fostercarefieldwork.blogspot.com/

Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Christmas

This year my parents and myself went to visit my sister in the Chicago area for Thanksgiving. She had to work Friday, and I didn’t, and since my parents are retired it made more sense to go to her. We had a lovely Thanksgiving meal and then went to see The Muppets. If you are wondering, it IS good, and I felt that Jason Segal managed to keep with the spirit of the Muppets.

Yesterday, while my sister was at work, I hung out in her apartment watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and doing what I do every Black Friday: looking at Amazon lightening deals and browsing other sites. It allows me to avoid the crowds and shop in my pajamas. I managed to walk away from Black Friday with Season 3 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a bluray of Inception, and (my biggest purchase) a 40 inch Samsung LED HDTV. Now I will be able to watch films in my apartment the way they were meant to be seen. Dinner that evening was at The Cheesecake Factory and my sister and I then went to see Like Crazy. That was also a good film.

Today we’re watching the Michigan-Ohio State game. I’m upset that we’re one point down, but hoping we’ll get it back. We head home tonight and I intend to listen to Christmas music on the way. I love Christmas, it’s my favorite holiday. Tomorrow I will decorate my apartment for the season and post pictures soon. Ignore the hole in the couch…I ordered a slipcover, but it hasn’t arrived yet.

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving and will enjoy preparing for any holidays you celebrate this time of the year!

My Car Saga

Okay, to fully appreciate the story of my car issues over the last week, you have to understand that I have only ever been in one accident. This was shortly after getting my license and during my first Michigan winter. I slipped on black ice and my car slid off the road. No report was made due to the damage not being bad enough for a report and the cops arrived on the scene from another accident and left the scene to go to another accident. It was a bad night. I consider myself a decent, if not good, driver. I also love my car, who is named Mohinder. He is a 2007 Ford Focus that my family has had since December of 2006.

On Monday of last week, I was rear-ended. It was a situation where someone was tailing me and the person ahead of me slammed on their breaks. The situation was one where there was nothing I could do to avoid it and I actually braced myself for the inevitable bump. Luckily, it was nothing more than a fender bender and Mohinder just got a little scratched up.

Wednesday, I was going to lunch with a coworker when I noticed my battery light came on. I began to slow down when I realized the light then turned back off. After playing around with my speed for a bit, I realized that when I went above 40 mph the light came on and it turned back off when I went below 35 mph. However, it did not do this on the way back to the office or when I went home, so I didn’t worry too much. I figured, since it rained that day, it must have gotten wet.

Thursday was the day that everything happened. It started when I was rear-ended for the second time in a parking garage. Once again, just scratches, but it was incredibly frustrating. Then, on my way home, the battery light turned back on and had more issues turning back off. I had class that night, but I called a friend and asked for a ride because there was no way I was going to use my car when I had no idea what was going on.

Finally, on Friday I took Mohinder in for a check up. Luckily, my multiple rear-end collisions did not hurt my car at all, but my alternator was running at 83%…apparently that’s bad…I know nothing about cars, though. After spending a good chunk of money on my car, Mohinder is now safe at home.

Hopefully, soon, I will post some pictures of my apartment…first I have to take pictures of my apartment.

I know, I know

I really need to work on updating this more, and I realize that. I actually do have things to say and stories to tell, but I have a hard time actually getting on here and writing. So, this is just to say that I need to do more writing and I hope all is well with all of you. I still keep up with reading some blogs, even if I don’t keep up with writing…

I’m Not Dead, I Promise

I realize that it has been an exceptionally long time since I posted anything. Life has been busy, but I thought I would give you a quick update.

I finished training and passed my test on July 15th. The following Monday, I began having an official caseload, and now my caseload is full. I currently love my job. Everyday is something different and all the families I work for are completely unique. It’s fantastic. There are so many stories I have, however they will not be shared on here, since there’s that whole confidentiality thing.

My Summer semester was done at the beginning of August. Next week, on Tuesday, the Fall semester will begin. I only have four credits left to complete my MSW, and I managed to plan my classes so that these last four credits are all electives. I’m taking a class on Interpersonal Violence and another class on Attachment Through the Life Spans. Should be interesting. In December, I will finally be done with grad school.

And as of yesterday, I have moved into my own apartment! Obviously things are not yet set up completely, but I’m getting there. I still have to move some things from my parents’ house to my new apartment, but I already love it here. Earlier I sat in silence with the window open and the breeze coming in. It was beautifully peaceful. I am happy.

Hopefully I will be able to write more now that things are beginning to slow down, but I make no promises. After all, there are a million bloggers that have stated they would write more who eventually just die. But I will try, that much I can say, and hopefully my updates will be interesting.

Real Quick Update

Okay, I don’t have much time and will write a better update on Friday or Saturday, but I just wanted to say I’m switching from Post a Day to Post a Week. I think this will bring better updates from me (with the exception of this one) and less stress on me. When I have time, I’ll write more than once a week, but I will at least once a week.

Celebrating Valentine’s Day with Geoffrey Chaucer

Many people believe that Valentine’s Day is a made up holiday started by the greeting card industry to make money. This is not so. The reality of the day of romance is far more complex.

The day began based on religion. It was to celebrate the many saints who had been martyred who were named Valentine. Not so much of a romantic feeling. While this is typically well-known information, there are many stories as to how the romantic aspect came about. Most of these (the ones involving St. Valentine) are myths. However, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Parlement of Foules and alluded to birds meeting to mate on the day of St. Valentine. And thus began a tradition of romance on Valentine’s Day.

If you’re interested in the medieval work that began this holiday, you can read it here.

Missed Two Days

I’m incredibly exhausted. I feel as though I’ve spent the last few days running around and my brain has turned to mush. So, yes, I missed the last two days, and I apologize, but sometimes those things happen. I was too tired to write anything intelligent. To be fair, this may also not be very intelligent, but I felt it necessary to write something.

I’ve been working at the video store and working at my internship. I worked with the families at the latter. I am tired…and I actually don’t have anything to say. Terribly sorry about that. Hopefully I’ll have something good for tomorrow…

Finding Warmth in One Degree Weather

It is cold outside…I can’t officially say freezing, but it is definitely cold. I had to wait for the bus for twenty minutes in this weather. My body was going numb. I was rubbing my hands together for warmth and it actually hurt. I called my mom while waiting to see if she could check online for a bus update. Since she knew how cold I was, I arrived home to a pot of boiling water for me to make tea. She then reminded me of the fact that there’s a jacuzzi in the house that I could use. I am grateful for an awesome mom who takes care of me when I’m cold 🙂

A Fun Video

A nice break for the beginning of the week (because some of us do need a break when the week starts). Check it out here.