I'm taking a break from reading about political discourse techniques because I have seen enough of that over the past few weeks. My internship held a rally where the legislation I have been working on was announced to have bi-partisan sponsorship. However one of the parties had already submitted a version of it the day before and "didn't remember" but then later said "we just needed to get it in the statute." That was a crazy and frustrating day. The unfortunate thing is that this legislator has been a huge advocate for kids in the past, and the move reflected poorly on him. To me it felt like someone took my cake out of the oven before it was ready and starting cutting it up and serving it while it leaked batter everywhere. Hows that for discourse? Also at the rally I had some less than ideal interactions with pervy men and then another person tell us that he would 'pray for us' after discovering we were from Jefferson County (Louisville). I also had a nice conversation with a Tea Party-er about advocating for children.
We've since gotten the bill settled for the most part with the very necessary amendments and it passed in its Committee (forgive me for being vague, I feel like its necessary) and is now moving along at a good pace. Other than the legislative drama things at the internship are going well. Everyone is super busy since the legislators are back in session and I've got so much to do that I was asked to come in an extra 10 hours per week. This means much less time at the coffee shop, but it comes with pay so I'm definitely not complaining, and I'm hoping its one foot in further to a full-time position when I finish school.
A few weeks ago one of the customers struck up a conversation and disclosed that he was a Masters of Social Work student at the nearby University. He then proceeded to tell me about how social work has helped him to really "find himself" (his words, not mine) and really empower him to become a better person. I told him that was great because it's important not to drag your baggage around with you when you're in a helping profession. He then asked me if I had ever heard about "Woman Within," which I thought was an odd jump but he then explained that a connected program called Mankind is what also really helped him to again, "find myself." He told me to check out the website but to ignore the other sites that talk about them (RED FLAG). So of course when I think about it again I searched for this organization. They use catchy words like "empowering" and "life's journey" and talk about a weekend retreat where apparently showing up late or learning early is very frowned upon. They used very general language and didn't specify exactly what happens during this weekend with strangers but building trust and finding yourself. It is not faith-based and in the FAQs they stated that they were not a cult. Well now, yes I am looking at other sources to see if they are the kool-aid drinking type or they are just Birkenstock wearing hippies that find their power animal. Several other sites talked about the exorbitant amount of money a weekend costs, their penchant for recruiting women that are questioning their sexual orientation and divorcees. Many of the trainings focus on finding your femininity, celebrating femininity, sexuality, etc. Apparently the brief conversation we had led him to believe I need help finding my femininity. Thanks, bro.
Last weekend we went to Red River Gorge for Jason's 30th birthday. I understood the need for a hot tub after the near 4 miles of hiking. I now also have a love/hate relationship with hiking. It was nice to get out of town for a bit and hang out. I still ended up working on things, but less than most weekends. J had a really great time with his friends and I think the birthday bash was a hit. I definitely want to go back to Red River Gorge to hike and see the Natural Bridge again when the trees are blossoming.
I don't think I have been this busy since.....ever. Grad school is busting my ass with the extra studying for my Comps exam, work, internship, yada yada. I'm still figuring out that time management thing and would REALLY love to figure out a time to get regular physical activity thrown in there too. I suppose waking up earlier is an option I just need to mentally break my brain of the habit of pushing 'snooze' in my sleepy stupor every morning.
Things that are awesome:
Mentors
Counting down days until the end grad school
Sea Salt popcorn
Date nights (infrequent but awesome)
Sunshine in the winter
Natural Bridges
