Showing posts with label Therapized. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Therapized. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
...add a dash of new adventures
...and my year is off! During my national conference in December, I was inspired by many of the music therapists I have known for several years. They're amazing men and women who are pushing the boundaries and sharing their knowledge with the world. So I decided to throw my hat into the ring, as well. Since I spend so much of my time in the world of research, I decided to see if there was a niche out there for me. *Poof* I have created a new website that will hopefully allow me to share my experiences and (limited) expertise with those who can benefit. And so "Notable Musique" is born. We'll see how long it lasts, but I have had so many ideas going through my mind for posts that I've got at least a few months worth of writing (and lots of drafts saved). This will still be my own, personal site for expression but I think it will be great to have another, more professional outlet. It will take care of some of that "Clutter" I've had building up.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
I'm channeling...
I'm trying to channel my energy to things that are more productive. Of course, I started this months ago, but it's something that's easy to do and it makes me happy, so why not?!
Last year, I went to a meeting for a group called The Preemie Project. Okay, it wasn't really a meeting, but they got together and sewed for the entire weekend. I hadn't had a break in, oh, forever, so I took advantage. We made over 200 blankets and I don't even remember how many sleep sacks, but I think we got close to running out of material. I learned how to do more with my sewing machine and got to spend time with some fabulous women. This year, a call went out for pumpkins. Hats, booties and other fall-flavored items for the mini-munchkins in the NICU. Being, well, me I went nuts. First, I thought I'd try to cross-stitch a bunch of onesies with pumpkins on them and cute phrases. Three hours/nights into the project I realized the chances of me getting more than 2 done before Oct 22 were pretty slim so I started on other pumpkin-themed ideas. I found a pattern for hats and I was off. Once I'd made 18, I tried to find the best way to make booties. That was going to be a bit more of a challenge for me because I didn't want to have to sew them. I wanted to be able to do them quickly. I finally found a pattern---here---and set to work. In total I made 23 hats and 20 pairs of booties; 18 sets to donate, 1 set for a new baby, three pairs of booties for friends. Of course, I failed to take pictures of them all, but I did get a few. Hopefully, I'd get photos of the little ones with their adornments, as well. In the mean time, it takes my mind off of the other things in life that keep me from smiling.
Last year, I went to a meeting for a group called The Preemie Project. Okay, it wasn't really a meeting, but they got together and sewed for the entire weekend. I hadn't had a break in, oh, forever, so I took advantage. We made over 200 blankets and I don't even remember how many sleep sacks, but I think we got close to running out of material. I learned how to do more with my sewing machine and got to spend time with some fabulous women. This year, a call went out for pumpkins. Hats, booties and other fall-flavored items for the mini-munchkins in the NICU. Being, well, me I went nuts. First, I thought I'd try to cross-stitch a bunch of onesies with pumpkins on them and cute phrases. Three hours/nights into the project I realized the chances of me getting more than 2 done before Oct 22 were pretty slim so I started on other pumpkin-themed ideas. I found a pattern for hats and I was off. Once I'd made 18, I tried to find the best way to make booties. That was going to be a bit more of a challenge for me because I didn't want to have to sew them. I wanted to be able to do them quickly. I finally found a pattern---here---and set to work. In total I made 23 hats and 20 pairs of booties; 18 sets to donate, 1 set for a new baby, three pairs of booties for friends. Of course, I failed to take pictures of them all, but I did get a few. Hopefully, I'd get photos of the little ones with their adornments, as well. In the mean time, it takes my mind off of the other things in life that keep me from smiling.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
So now...
I've had a lot of things going on in my mind. With Matt's recent trip to DC for the Air Force Band audition, I prepared myself to move and start yet another chapter of our lives. Since that didn't work, I feel like I'm rewinding a little and trying to figure out when and if we'll be making plans like that again. He wants to put all of his energy into his recital and get that out of the way and then go from there. In the mean time, my future has been on my mind a lot. I'm not sure what I'll be doing next, but I think that I'd really like to teach. In fact, when I saw a job opening last week in LA, I didn't just skim over the requirements and press delete, I actually read it and have given it some serious thought. My only personal limitations are that I don't think I've had enough teaching experience. The only problem is, I don't really have any avenue for gaining that experience and thus begins my internal dialogue. I'm still trying to figure out the whole PhD thing: what I want to do and if I want to go through with it. I think taking this class this semester will help me have a better idea of whether this is something I want to persue now or wait a while longer. With Matt not knowing what he's going to do or where he's going to do it, I feel like I should continue to think it through.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
oh my, to catch up...
So many things have happened and I have so much to share...
I am now up to week 33, which is pretty darn good and, yes, I'm getting big. As the floating baby (which totally freaks Megs out--teehee) shows, I have less than 50 days to go until the kiddo gets here and I keep getting bigger. This is probably one of the few times in my life in which I won't complain about an expanding waistline.
Two weeks ago, IC was hit with horrible, horrible rain and flooding. As a result, I spent that Monday moving musical instruments from the MT "closet" to the offices of Drs. A & G. The ironic part of it is that we were told it would most likely not be necessary to do only to be notified 3 days later that everything in the music building needed to be moved due to fear of 4.5 feet of water on the first floor, 4.5 FEET! So it was another time in my life that I'm glad I didn't listen to someone who was in charge because they would have been very wrong and it would have been a very expensive "learning experience" (as Dr A calls them). So we moved almost every single musical instrument out of that closet (except a few plastic things that would not be affected by water and could be cleaned with clorox) on a giant percussion cart, in about 5 loads via the freight elevator. We did sacrifice one guitar to the River Gods, but only because it was really broken and needed lots of work.
Thursday of that week I trekked down to Charleston, SC for a girls' weekend we had planned for months. The timing was just amazing. I left Thursday (they closed the interstate on Friday) and got to spend some great quality time with Bev and Amy. Friday we slept late, ate at IHOP, got massages and facials (oh, the happy memory), went on a Ghost Tour of the Charleston jail on Friday, the 13th mind you and ate yummy, yummy food. Saturday we went to see Sex and the City: The Movie. Though I never watched the show, I did enjoy the movie. Of course, it could have partly been the hormones, but I kinda wept through the second half of the movie. This is where the plans changed...
Instead of coming back to IC on Sunday and spending Saturday afternoon at the beach, I was stuck in the South for a bit longer. (Now, that's not such a bad thing and AirTran was super-fantastic about helping me get my tickets rearranged.) Because of the flooding, the interstate from the airport to IC was closed, which meant that I could either fly home on Sunday at my designated time and spend who knows how many days in a hotel until the road was opened or change my ticket. So after explaining the situation to the airline associate and stating I'd have to charter a boat to get home from the airport the same day as my arrival, my flight was changed to the following Saturday and I had to figure out what to do for the next 6 or so days. Luckily, Amy still lives in our hometown so after the movie, and a bit of shopping, we hopped in the car and headed to her in-laws home in Holden Beach to meet up with her cutie-patootie husband and little boy. We headed out of Holden at 3 a.m. for the drive home and 5 hours later rolled into town with a very unhappy 13-month old (he was ready to be out of the car). From there on, it was a week of quality time with Mom, Dad & Jo, Marc, Challen and Maddox, and other friends from home I have missed dearly.
Meanwhile, on the homefront, the flooding continuously got worse. My beloved IC and C'ville strip became a river, destroying many businesses that may not come back and university buildings that will needs months to be repaired. The pictures I was able to find online paled in comparison to the reality my friends back here were experiencing. I know that I will never truly understand how completely horrific it was because I was in NC and only had the "virtual" experience. In addition, my sweet, sweet Sydne tore her doggie ACL and had to have surgery to repair the damage, which sent pangs of guilt through my heart because I was so far away and unable, once again, to do anything.
This past Saturday, I finally got home. It has been surreal to see all the various businesses closed and muddied, to try to traverse the roads to work, to get everything else caught up, and take care of my husband and puppy. Syd-dog is slowly getting better. She has more energy, which means we have to encourage her to lay down and stay calm. Ice cream has been a good incentive. Dad and Jo are coming in for a baby shower this weekend so they'll get to see some of the remnants first-hand. It should be a good time especially when they haven't been here since 2006.
We also started our MT sessions with the kiddos at the Speech and Hearing Center today, which was fantastic! I love working with them and seeing all the progress they make over the course of 6 weeks working with us and the SLP students. It's a busy, busy time and I'm loving every minute.
I am now up to week 33, which is pretty darn good and, yes, I'm getting big. As the floating baby (which totally freaks Megs out--teehee) shows, I have less than 50 days to go until the kiddo gets here and I keep getting bigger. This is probably one of the few times in my life in which I won't complain about an expanding waistline.
Two weeks ago, IC was hit with horrible, horrible rain and flooding. As a result, I spent that Monday moving musical instruments from the MT "closet" to the offices of Drs. A & G. The ironic part of it is that we were told it would most likely not be necessary to do only to be notified 3 days later that everything in the music building needed to be moved due to fear of 4.5 feet of water on the first floor, 4.5 FEET! So it was another time in my life that I'm glad I didn't listen to someone who was in charge because they would have been very wrong and it would have been a very expensive "learning experience" (as Dr A calls them). So we moved almost every single musical instrument out of that closet (except a few plastic things that would not be affected by water and could be cleaned with clorox) on a giant percussion cart, in about 5 loads via the freight elevator. We did sacrifice one guitar to the River Gods, but only because it was really broken and needed lots of work.
Thursday of that week I trekked down to Charleston, SC for a girls' weekend we had planned for months. The timing was just amazing. I left Thursday (they closed the interstate on Friday) and got to spend some great quality time with Bev and Amy. Friday we slept late, ate at IHOP, got massages and facials (oh, the happy memory), went on a Ghost Tour of the Charleston jail on Friday, the 13th mind you and ate yummy, yummy food. Saturday we went to see Sex and the City: The Movie. Though I never watched the show, I did enjoy the movie. Of course, it could have partly been the hormones, but I kinda wept through the second half of the movie. This is where the plans changed...
Instead of coming back to IC on Sunday and spending Saturday afternoon at the beach, I was stuck in the South for a bit longer. (Now, that's not such a bad thing and AirTran was super-fantastic about helping me get my tickets rearranged.) Because of the flooding, the interstate from the airport to IC was closed, which meant that I could either fly home on Sunday at my designated time and spend who knows how many days in a hotel until the road was opened or change my ticket. So after explaining the situation to the airline associate and stating I'd have to charter a boat to get home from the airport the same day as my arrival, my flight was changed to the following Saturday and I had to figure out what to do for the next 6 or so days. Luckily, Amy still lives in our hometown so after the movie, and a bit of shopping, we hopped in the car and headed to her in-laws home in Holden Beach to meet up with her cutie-patootie husband and little boy. We headed out of Holden at 3 a.m. for the drive home and 5 hours later rolled into town with a very unhappy 13-month old (he was ready to be out of the car). From there on, it was a week of quality time with Mom, Dad & Jo, Marc, Challen and Maddox, and other friends from home I have missed dearly.
Meanwhile, on the homefront, the flooding continuously got worse. My beloved IC and C'ville strip became a river, destroying many businesses that may not come back and university buildings that will needs months to be repaired. The pictures I was able to find online paled in comparison to the reality my friends back here were experiencing. I know that I will never truly understand how completely horrific it was because I was in NC and only had the "virtual" experience. In addition, my sweet, sweet Sydne tore her doggie ACL and had to have surgery to repair the damage, which sent pangs of guilt through my heart because I was so far away and unable, once again, to do anything.
This past Saturday, I finally got home. It has been surreal to see all the various businesses closed and muddied, to try to traverse the roads to work, to get everything else caught up, and take care of my husband and puppy. Syd-dog is slowly getting better. She has more energy, which means we have to encourage her to lay down and stay calm. Ice cream has been a good incentive. Dad and Jo are coming in for a baby shower this weekend so they'll get to see some of the remnants first-hand. It should be a good time especially when they haven't been here since 2006.
We also started our MT sessions with the kiddos at the Speech and Hearing Center today, which was fantastic! I love working with them and seeing all the progress they make over the course of 6 weeks working with us and the SLP students. It's a busy, busy time and I'm loving every minute.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Oh, baby
Last week we reached our half-way point for BabyD to make his/her arrival. We had our ultrasound and aside from my child being less than cooperative, things were once again "perfect" (not my term, but that's what the pros said). All appears to be going well in the baby-cooking department. And, no, we didn't find out boy or girl, just that there is a shy baby with a beautiful spine a-growin'. We weren't able to get a profile shot of the kiddo, per the previously mentioned lack of cooperation. Instead, we have a full-on face shot, which I think looks a little like Skeletor (only cuter, 'cause it's my kid).
On a happy note, Spring has finally arrived and by "Spring" I mean consecutive days above 40 degrees and thunderstorms. Oh, how I love thunderstorms. Something about the rumbles of thunder, flashes of lightening, and torrential downpours soothes me. All I need is a tin roof next to a window and I could sleep/relax for hours. I do love the sunshine of spring, though, so maybe we could have the thunderstorms in the evening and the sun during the day... just not every day. Now to see if any of my tulips have survived the move...
-peace and love!
On a happy note, Spring has finally arrived and by "Spring" I mean consecutive days above 40 degrees and thunderstorms. Oh, how I love thunderstorms. Something about the rumbles of thunder, flashes of lightening, and torrential downpours soothes me. All I need is a tin roof next to a window and I could sleep/relax for hours. I do love the sunshine of spring, though, so maybe we could have the thunderstorms in the evening and the sun during the day... just not every day. Now to see if any of my tulips have survived the move...
-peace and love!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Holy Halloween, Batman!
Batman's probably the only character that didn't knock on our door tonight (except I live with him so no problem), but I did have Nemo, Squirt, Jeff Gordon and Dog the Bounty Hunter. There's something to be said for the creativity in this neighborhood. :-) Poor Syd-dog did not get a good costume this year like 2 years ago, but I don't think she minded too much. 
And I am definitely glad that the day is winding down. I went through a roller coaster ride of cortisol today. I had a presentation to give to at The Nest to prenatal and postnatal mothers (and fathers) and was given the age range of 15-30 for the parents. Yesterday, LJ was really helpful as I pulled the curtains away from my eyes and talked to people I knew were moms, including my own mom (duh! Why didn't I do that a month ago?!). Work also had a few additional stresses, with the deadline for the call for papers looming over our heads (it's tomorrow). We have 5 studies to submit and don't have all of our analyses completed, including mine, and no time to collaborate to make sure my submission is coherent. But, hey, as long as my p-values are less than .0001, I'm golden. We also have fewer patients right now and amazingly all of our current projects are up to date with a few new ones started. The databases have been scoured for inaccuracies and corrected and I am literally creating tasks and asking team members for questions they have in search of new projects.
Matt & Syd-dog's bdays are Friday, his parents are coming into town Friday night and his recital is Monday night. While I realize that sounds stressing, I'm actually excited for it and I think I represented Music Therapy pretty well today, which also relaxed the heck out of me.
On the NC Homefront, my sweet Sis-in-law (i.e. Preggers) is now in her 37th week and 1-1/2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Something tells me I might not have to drive home while in Louisville (week before Turkey-day) because Maddox will already be here. Otherwise, I will be making a trip during conference to home to meet my nephew.
Lots of excitement, lots of fun.
And I am definitely glad that the day is winding down. I went through a roller coaster ride of cortisol today. I had a presentation to give to at The Nest to prenatal and postnatal mothers (and fathers) and was given the age range of 15-30 for the parents. Yesterday, LJ was really helpful as I pulled the curtains away from my eyes and talked to people I knew were moms, including my own mom (duh! Why didn't I do that a month ago?!). Work also had a few additional stresses, with the deadline for the call for papers looming over our heads (it's tomorrow). We have 5 studies to submit and don't have all of our analyses completed, including mine, and no time to collaborate to make sure my submission is coherent. But, hey, as long as my p-values are less than .0001, I'm golden. We also have fewer patients right now and amazingly all of our current projects are up to date with a few new ones started. The databases have been scoured for inaccuracies and corrected and I am literally creating tasks and asking team members for questions they have in search of new projects.
Matt & Syd-dog's bdays are Friday, his parents are coming into town Friday night and his recital is Monday night. While I realize that sounds stressing, I'm actually excited for it and I think I represented Music Therapy pretty well today, which also relaxed the heck out of me.
On the NC Homefront, my sweet Sis-in-law (i.e. Preggers) is now in her 37th week and 1-1/2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Something tells me I might not have to drive home while in Louisville (week before Turkey-day) because Maddox will already be here. Otherwise, I will be making a trip during conference to home to meet my nephew.
Lots of excitement, lots of fun.
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