Done

Finals are in - classes are over. Break has officially begun. Now if I can just get rid of this pneumonia then I'd be in business. I can't wait to lay in bed tomorrow and watch The West Wing and then do nothing the rest of the day.......ahhhhhh.

Not losing momentum.....

I don't want to lose my momentum now that I've been posting again, but today this pneumonia is kicking my ass. I have a headache and I'm exhausted. So just for your listening pleasure is my latest favorite band.

Rediscoveries

Recently I rediscovered The West Wing. I had forgotten how much I absolutely loved this show - especially Josh Lyman. The writing was fast and smart and they talked about real things while showing us how ridiculous the people behind the real things could be at times.






This was one of the absolute best stories withing an episode I had ever seen. It's worth the 7 minutes out of your day but make sure you have tissue nearby.




Yes yes I should be writing my paper.....I know.

1996??? WTF??

I am so sick of reading articles like this about the VA. They were told in 1996 to update their computers to make sure that these people got paid and they didn't. That means that there was some tight ass bureaucrat who probably isn't a veteran sitting in an office somewhere saying "ohhhh we'll do that later" well guess what - it's later. Twelve years later jackass. The line in this article that makes me the most angry is "computer glitches often resulted in money being seized from the elderly survivors' bank accounts".

So I say again.....WTF?

That's some hell of a thank you.

The VA is so fucked up - I don't know if Barack's guy can help but let's hope he doesn't hurt. I do like the fact that he got kicked out of his job for going up against that jackass Donald Rumsfeld - so maybe that means he has a good head on his shoulders. We will soon find out.

Library Time

One more paper due - I'm at the library with my friend Laura who also has one more paper due. Somehow it makes it so much easier that someone else has work to do. Of course she is on facebook and I'm on blogspot so really how much work is getting done?? Not too much that's for sure.

Finally feeling a little better from this pneumonia although I just went up two flights of stairs and my chest doesn't feel so good. So tonight I guess I'll just rest. I think we are watching The Dark Knight. Please enjoy the photo.....

Yes I'm Alive

Ok so a couple of my friends (you know who you are) have been bugging me about updating my blog - so here I am. I am going to be better at updating - I promise. So my two faithful readers here you go.

I'm in the middle of finals week, it's been crazy. I ended up getting pneumonia which hasn't made finishing anything easy but I refuse to ask for any type of extension dammit! I just want to be done. This semester has been ridiculously stressful. The amount of work we have coupled with our placement which is three days a week make the work completely overwhelming.

My placement is at a hospital that has locked psychiatric units. These people are referred to as the "worst of the worst" and "the bottom of the barrel" (these are nursing and mental health worker terms not mine). They are difficult to discharge and almost impossible to place in the community because once they get out of the hospital they stop taking their meds and when that happens all bets are off. Overall though its a great learning experience. I have some interesting patients that I deal with, it's a place that really builds up my skill.

I've been totally stressed out this semester - and now I realize that blogging can probably help that.

Stess #1 - Living In A Dorm- Honestly I'm too old for this shit but it was/is the most cost effective way to do the whole grad school thing. All I can say is I hope I wasn't as annoying as some of the people in this dorm when I was their age. We also have a whole population of people who are majoring in Library Science...do I need to say more? Anyway that being said I have met some great people and have had a lot of fun.

Stess #2:The Amount of Work- Now I am no stranger to hard work, I just spent the last two years working full time and finishing my degree full time. But this is ridiculous. There is absolutely no way you can do this program and have any type of a job. The weekly reading list for each class is HUGE - most Professors will tell you what you have to read to be ready but some want you to read everything. Thank GOD I took two classes this summer or I would really be under water.

Stress #3: Feeling Disconnected- It's strange to hear about other people's lives going on while you feel like you are in a holding pattern. Although I don't miss my condo - I miss living in North Attleboro. I was having a lot of fun there and everyone was close. Even if I didn't have time to see them I knew they were close by.

OK that's enough bitching for now. There are a lot of really cool great things about Grad School too, but that's for tomorrow post.

Important

Hot stuff

And I don't mean that in a good way. I miss my AC - I didn't sleep well. It doesn't bode well for the rest of the day. It's hot and sticky and yucky already. I'm ready for it to be Fall dammit.


Frankly I prefer this kind of hot.












Say it with me now...YUMMMMMMMY!

Day 2

OK so I'm not going to count the days of the semester just this week - I promise! So I've slept here two nights had two of my classes already and decided that I pretty much like it here. The only thing that is very different is the fact the you hear ambulances 24/7. But for those of you familiar with Boston this would make sense because Simmons is right near the Longwood Medical area.

There are some things I definitely like about this experience so far: my bed is super comfy (I was worried about that), food is good and included in my dorm fees, people on my floor are nice, reading so far is very interesting and right up my alley, there are great lectures available right in the next hall, we are right in the area next to Fenway Park so there are a ton of stores (Bed Bath and Beyond/Staples/Shaws etc) and there is a movie theater close by. The biggest thing is that I really like my professors so far - for me that's huge.

A few things I don't like - being on the fourth floor (I'm getting good exercise though!), rooms that aren't air conditioned but our hallways are (???), my floor is very very quiet(lots of reading to be done) and well...I guess that's it. So all in all not bad!

Hope you are all well.

The Social Expirement Begins

So last night was my first night sleeping at "college". This is so hysterical - I can't believe I'm in a dorm room. Do you know what it's like to try to shove your 40 old year life into one room? Not easy I tell ya. The room is a decent size - if I was an undergrad there would be two of us in here (shudder). I desperately need my friend Kim to come and help me rearrange stuff. Until then here is what the room looks like semi-put together.



I've eaten in the dining hall twice - it's pretty decent food. Today is my first day of classes and of course with everything going on I haven't finished my reading (which is why I'm up and showered so damn early). Oh yeah, the showers. I just took my first of what will be hundreds of showers in a gym like stand up shower with that little space in before it to dress....now that's fun.

The people on my floor are nice I've met some other social work students so that's good. I've spoken to several second year students and then told me how much work the first year is.....yippeee!

The good news is car is sold - dropped it off yesterday
Condo is rented - signing lease on Saturday.

Now that I am here and moved in I should be able to update more frequently - kind of like I used to.