Party time. Excellent.

The girls hosted a bachelorette party for me last night in Manhattan. It was so much fun to see everyone again and to hang in the 'Ville. I can't believe the wedding is 13 days away!

I think it was Wednesday of this past week that was National Talk Like a Pirate Day. As I was driving to work that day, I saw a pirate walking down the street. This pirate was decked out in all of the typical pirate gear, and he was carrying a gigantic Jolly Roger. It was quite the sight to see at 7:00 AM in Lawrence. Arrrrrrg.

I'm also super excited that the Geelong Cats made it the Grand Final (Australian equivalent of the Superbowl)! The big game is next weekend so I'll have to break out the jersey and sing the Geelong fight song. Too bad I can't find a meat pie slathered in tomato sauce to complete the celebration.

Take a break.

And the train conductor says
Take a break, driver eight

Aaaaaah, sweet relief. The first rough draft of my thesis is complete. I have some revisions here and there that I"ll work on this week, and then it's off to the committee so that I can give my prospectus on October 1st!

Driver eight, take a break
We can reach our destination
But we're still a ways away


Last week was eventful. I did five intakes at work and then on Thursday I traveled to Osage City for a look at rural mental health with the cohort. We also attended an ethics workshop at Emporia State University, which was... well, at least there was free pop and a certificate with my name printed on it at the end. The trip involved a large chunk of time trying to figure out which direction we were headed in Emporia, almost running out of gas, and a curious series of power outages in various battery-powered accessories.

I thought I'd let you meet Liz, as it was her internship site that we got to tour (Mental Health Center of East Central Kansas).

We've moved into the teens with the wedding countdown. I think I'm still remaining relatively calm... We'll see how long this lasts.

(Lyrics from "Driver 8" by REM, of course)

Going on a Picnic

As expected, there were no adults playing in the moonwalk this afternoon at the Ogden company picnic. I enjoyed the "petting zoo" and the random donkey who wouldn't agree to be a part of the enclosed zoo and so just wandered around. We also had excellent food catered by Local Burger, which then quickly won a spot on my "reasons to live in Lawrence" list.

I have to write this paper and a big proposal thing by Monday, so I think I'll go watch a movie or something...

72 items to do. 10 items overdue.

You and I could quit this scene
Build a town and then secede
Like and Adam and an Eve

The Knot tells me that I'm falling behind in my wedding-related duties today. I'm not too worried about it, until I realize how quickly three-ish weeks can go. The closer it gets, the more excited I get, and the more excited I get about the big picture, the less little stuff I want to mess with. It's a vicious feedback loop.

'Cause to the dreamers go the dreams
But the leaders have the lead
It's a frightening, frightening thing

Life is going quite well here. I'm starting to do intakes and diagnoses and treatment plans, which is good but mentally exhausting... Jonathan is still working, which is always good. We're going to his company picnic tomorrow. I heard a rumor that there would be a Moonwalk. I bet the adults there think they're too cool for the moonwalk though, so I might have to conform to the social norms. Silly adults. Moonwalks are awesome.

(Lyrics from "Manifest Destiny" by Guster)