A 1,000 Ways to die and farmer's markets

This week was full of pleasant surprises. It was also a weird work week. Friday at 2pm was very welcomed after there were two fights in school before 8 a.m. on Friday morning. It hasn't been frequent but I was not prepared for it, which is like a one-eighty compared to the last job. Things at work are still going well, I'm really beginning to like the kids on my caseload regardless of how much they frustrate me at times. My coworkers rock and so does my boss, I got really lucky in that respect.
Class is going well and I feel mostly competent. Weeks here have been flying by and I can't believe its been 5 weeks of class. I'll be done with the semester the first week of December and haven't figured out what the plan is for next semester...or if I'm going to go full time or part time in the fall or work full time...decisions. My work schedule still does not fail to rock. I LOVE having nights and weekends off.
I was introduced to my first rude southerner at the gas station the other day. Haha, an older man got mad at me for being in his way when he was attempting to leave the gas station. My car and another kids car were blocking his exit so he rolled down his windows (mind of course already were) and said 'You're fucking everything up.' I cracked up and politely said 'Thanks'. I was attempting to move for him and said fuck it. Ha, that's the rudest thing thats happened to me since I've been here so I'd say thats a pretty good track record.
I drove to Lexington on friday to go hang out with a friend from college. The town is pretty cool, much more 'hip' than I expected and I had a lot of fun. Too much wine and food but totally worth the drive. Found some Oberon and walked around a farmer's market. I stayed entertained on the drive as well so...overall excellent trip. Came back to Nashville and started to feel relieved to be 'home' and thats the first time I've had that sense of home. I feel much more comfortable with the city and things are becoming more familiar. Hung out with some friends and discovered the ridiculousness of the show 1,000 Ways to Die. Oh man, cheesy and fantastic.
I'm happy. I miss my friends and can't wait for mid-October to get here quick. I'm also pumped for the holidays. Ohhh and Stars next week at the Cannery. My goal is to also make friends with someone outside of school or work...this should take some doing considering how awkward I am out of my comfort zone.
Things are good.

How come your dreams are always so bitter?

The week was relatively busy and I didn't have much down time to just sit and relax. I had a group meeting on monday with two of my classmates to discuss our paper and presentation. I usually really enjoy working with people and I have a tendency to kind of take the lead on things but I found myself getting heavily annoyed this time. Our presentation is on FAS/FASD and infancy, my job is to think of an activity to involve the whole class...who likes BINGO? ha. I have no idea what I'll be doing yet, we've got a month to figure it out. 
So, group presentation, a paper and moving. I officially have an apartment and will be moving in on October 16th, I cannot wait! I may also be taking on a babysitting job with two kids, one of which has recently been diagnosed with Asperger's. It works well because I could use the extra money and having a child with a diagnosis like that usually requires lots of extra help and support. Coincidentally my next paper is on observing a toddler and the parent, score.
Aside from work, which has been about the same, there were hangouts, football games, sushi with the family and fighting a cold. The driving skills of the people of Nashville still never fail to amaze me. There were at least 3 incidents of me being cut off downtown. I have developed an extreme case of road rage and a colorful vocabulary....well more colorful than what I already had. 
Today I went furniture shopping to look for a couch. I felt old immediately. Yesterday I also felt old at the Jonny Craig show. There were quite a few young people there. I've been wondering if there is like an age limit for things like that. The same kind of age limit there are for things like 'walks of shame', mini-dresses, dance clubs and swing sets. Not really prohibited, but just frowned upon after a certain age. The show was decent, not amazing. His voice is amazing and I think he has the very same opinion of himself. 
I have been informed my first visitors will be here during halloween weekend. My excitement level is at like an eleven. I know I've only been here for 5 weeks but I miss my friends like crazy and I feel so far removed from everything. I am still having trouble getting adjusted to the thought of this being very much my life now and my 'new' friends are the people I'll see more often and come to depend on and learn things from, so I just need to remind myself of that. Yesterday I attempted to talk to a guy at the show, actually I just asked him a question because I had never heard of the band. I don't know if I offended him or what but he answered and quickly moved away. I have leprosy? I'm creepy? Being that my limbs aren't falling off I'm going to assume he thought I was hitting on him...I don't hit on people and if he was attractive I would have not said a word to him at all. Meh. I am thankful that my TN friends understand or at least tolerate my sick sense of humor and foul mouth...I was a bit concerned about that. 
I bought a hot pink blazer with black piping and am DYING to wear it. The amount that I love fall is out of control and it's not coming soon enough. I want hot apple cider. My TN friend from Michigan and I reminisced about all of the wonderful fall things that we like to do. I'll be recruiting people for haunted houses and scary movies soon enough.
Next week will involve seeing Touche Amore, class, work, papers and reading. I'll also be alone for much of the week since Jill and Jason will both be out of town. I plan to be searching for furniture, throw pillows and the other crap that makes apartments feel like home. I also want to get some work done for class ahead of time and figure out what I'm doing next semester. We shall see.
Also, I want one of these:

Yes, thats a baby panda.

I saw 'Easy A' on friday, I have a bit of a girl crush on Emma Stone or her character in the movie, she was witty and had an impressive vocabulary especially considering the movie was produced by MTV. I thought it was funny and it taught me not to be a whore or pretend to be a whore, oh life lessons.

some seeds they just don't ever grow

The week went quite fast being that it was only a four day work week. Things were pretty typical. Talked to kids, called parents, emailed my boss about aggravating people and continued fighting for the underdog, though most of the time that's what I feel like. I loved class again this week and we're going more in depth with neurodevelopment and the brain. The material that we're required to read is usually pretty interesting and not toooo dry. My patience was definitely a bit shorter this week and I had a hard time not focusing so much on my feelings.
I felt super lonely this week. It's weird because it seems like the more I go out and hang out with my new friends I miss everyone else so much more. I guess over all just kind of a rough week. The nice thing about the South is I feel like people are more friendly, which everyone says, but also I feel like they are much more open and welcoming making efforts to make you feel more comfortable. I have not felt unwelcome or like an outcast the entire time I've been here. I've also noticed that stereotyping is more present and out in the open. My new clients and some of the other students like to imitate me when they say I sound 'white'....not really sure how to respond to that, usually I just laugh and agree cos I am white and am a huge nerd. I went out on Thursday and Saturday with the same group of people that I've been spending time with and the people that have kind of welcomed me in. One of my new friends is even making attempts to set me up with his friends...ha, I think I'm going to handle that on my own when I'm ready. I just need to remember that feeling lonely is part of being in a new place and not to make silly or uninformed decisions just because I don't want to feel lonely at that time. If that makes sense....I've also come to the conclusion that there's no way I'm ready for a pet of any kind. Not even a goldfish.
This upcoming week will be busy with trainings and a group meeting for class, we have a very large paper due in a month about infancy and FAS and I'm pretty psyched to research it.

Tell us your plan we're waiting eagerly drunk on the streets of some bad memory.

Since friday I've spent roughly 19 hours combined driving to, from and all over Michigan and it was totally worth it.I spent most of those 19 hours listening to The Banner and River City Extension and singing terribly. 
The work week was relatively uneventful; staff meeting, texting mean things, vanquishing evil, oh and you know, saving the world...or just yelling at teenagers for acting like dumbasses. I'm getting into the groove at work and feeling pretty good about things. I have a lot of trainings coming up so it should be interesting to figure out how I'm going to get in my hours with my clients...guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there....
Speaking of bridges, just before getting on the bridge to Louisville I got caught in a traffic jam and found this little gem:

it says 'I miss having a PRO-LIFE President'

It made me laugh really hard. Between Iraq and Afghanistan there have been over 5,500 American casualties, that's just AMERICANS, not considering our allies or 'enemies' casualties. That does seem relatively low considering that approximately 3,700 abortions are preformed daily in the U.S. I wonder how many of those could have been avoided were more preventative action taking with education. Just something to consider. And how can a person be 'pro-war' and 'pro-life'? Those seem to be conflicting ideologies to me. Back to less controversial topics... I missed my friends more than I even realized. Seeing everyone was awesome, I got to spend a good chunk of time with my three favorite people and that was all I needed. Sometimes I wonder if those people understand how important they are to me.
My stomach hurt from laughing so hard on Saturday night. Sunday involved a game of putt putt and some awful movies. I shouldn't be allowed to play mini golf if there is water nearby, without fail my ball goes in the water EVERY time I play. I'm terrible. I'll be glad to have more time the next time I visit though I fear that the larger the gaps and the longer I'm away there will be less people to see each time.... I know that's growing up and moving on there are just some people I don't want to grow apart from anytime soon.
This week begins tomorrow morning and will hopefully involve some productivity on my part. Lots to do.

You don't have to be sincere just tell me what I want to hear.

Week two was filled with all sorts of new things. I'm beginning to get a better handle on my job expectations and I've already set up a contract with one of my clients, my boss seemed relatively impressed so that's good news. I've been able to talk more to my coworkers as well and have realized I don't need to censor myself as much as I thought I'd need to. Whew! They all kind of give each other shit and are pretty sarcastic so I seem to fit in pretty well. This week also included my 'supervision' meeting which I found out I have to do weekly with my boss until I've been there for a year, everyone else does once a month. It's kind of nice though because it gives us an opportunity to discuss particular clients or issues we're having and bounce ideas off of each other and I'll be seeing a mix of different people every week. The work week ended with an invite to drinks with two of my coworkers at a bar that included free cover for ladies (another perk of having a vagina) and free drinks until 11. I spent zero dollars which was awesome. The coworker that invited me brought his girlfriend, who is randomly from Grand Rapids and another one of his dude friends. I quickly realized that everyone I work with is dating, married, engaged or pregnant. SWEET! It was still a good time and we all got to know each other a little better. I'm feeling a little more hopeful about this whole making friends thing. Oddly though it made me feel kind of homesick and really wanting to see my friends from the mitten. Soon enough I suppose.
This week's class was also pretty cool. We jumped into the content very quickly and I was on the ball. The gist of the lecture was genetics and how during development (in the womb and after birth) is effected by the environment. They've linked nuturing to changes in your genetics (epigenesis). There is no good way to explain it without going way into depth and I'm just too fucking lazy for that right now. Look it up. Moral of the story is I spoke up with my opinion and asked questions, those of which came with the mention from my prof of being 'excellent questions' so I'll take it. No class next week which is kind of a bummer.
I did some extensive apartment hunting online and went to 2 different apartments to check out. One is in Antioch (its kind of in the scrotum in relation to Nashville if we're speaking in genital terms, which i often do) and the other was supposedly in the West End, if by 'west end' they meant ghetto. Antioch was nice, good price and seemingly safe. 'West End' was everything else. So it seems I will be choosing the 'smart' choice even though I'd much rather be in the west end area where all the hipster and Vanderbilt kids live. I found a puppy when I went to visit the antioch apartments and I almost took him home, he was a tiny French bulldog and I loved him immediately after I got done cussing at him for running out in front of my car. He came up and licked my hand and basically said 'I love you take me home' but alas I was  getting honked at for pulling off onto the side of the road so I set him down away from the road in someone's yard. I may or may not have driven by later on to see if he was still there....just to make sure he was safe.
Today I went to the Frist Museum to see an exhibit on 'The Golden Age of Couture' showcasing high fashion from the 1940's and 50's. I LOVED it. I fell in love with a Christian Dior dress...and wanted to steal it..and go shopping immediately after. Who knows what next week will bring.    

One week in.

So I'm one week in to living in Nashville. So far I have learned most of the ropes at the new job, survived rainstorms and driving with my fellow Tennesseans during said rainstorms, found a replacement coffee shop for Biggbys (its called CoCo's) and attended my first masters' class. Not too bad for a week. I'm really trying not to overwhelm myself with everything that I need to get done; GRE, apartment finding, moving, classes, continuing to learn the job, etc. I've gotten a bit better at navigating myself around the city and learning some of the areas, mostly West End which I seem to favor. My garmin has saved my ass several times.
I miss my friends terribly and I've been texting and facebooking tons. I'm considering making a trip up for Labor Day already, ahh, we'll see.
I saw an excellent mullet today at Home Depot and have been on the lookout for many since I've been here. Mostly things are pretty similar to Michigan except for the fact that No ONE ever uses a turn signal around here and it drives me effin crazy. The traffic is way worse but the people seem to be nicer. I've yet to meet anyone outside of work that I'd even consider befriending. It is nice being able to see my sister everyday and hanging out with her puppy, even if she is insane.
I'm making an effort not to allow myself to be sad or mopey, I'm rarely at home unless I'm sleeping or reading.
One of the kids at work told me I sound like I'm from Boston. Ha, I asked him if its because I don't have an accent and then realized that, yes, I do in fact have an accent compared to everyone else.
Adventures of the week: navigating home without a GPS, avoiding getting picked up at a gas station, going to a music Showcase, looking for hangouts and people watching all over downtown.
Next week will involve tons of reading for school and trying to not screw up at work. Onward!

Rock stars and social workers

Today was pretty fantastic.
I'm a casemanager at a high school that specifically works with kids with behavioral issues and I got my first caseload. For me it just feels like I'm finally being recognized as responsible, which is also kind of scary. I'm beginning to really enjoy my job and feel relatively confident. Plus I love working with teenagers as crazy as that sounds.
And...my day got more interesting and sweet when I went to my first class. The professor is really cool and no nonsense and is really open to discussion. I spoke up early and often through much of the class which is my intention throughout the entire semester so I can get a good reference letter and stay on top of the readings and assignments. We all introduced ourselves and I found out there was a fellow Spartan in the class and also the ex-bassist for Ben Folds whom I promptly made friends with, cos we got paired up. I realized also that I need to tone down my sick sense of humor around people I don't know. Some laugh and some look horrified. However my supervisor uses the word 'fuck' more than I do.
I've also recently learned that if its raining in Nashville then people automatically lose all driving abilities and freak the fuck out. I almost said 'ya'll' today and promptly bit my tongue. It seems like if you're constantly surrounded by it you just can't help it. Yikes.
So far I'm really liking things just missing my friends like crazy. I'm trying to keep busy to think less about it. This weekend I may be going to the Frist to check out an exhibit on 40's and 50's vintage couture, then I may just go shopping, heh.