While I sit here in my living room trying to clear out old emails and crap I don't need, I realize that I haven't posted in forever. 0.o It's a good thing I've decided to discontinue my paid membership when it expires in June. I've been wasting money. Heh.

Well then, since I don't have any idea on how to use Twitter, or a data plan for my cell to utilize it, here's an update the old-fashioned way:

• The Hubby and I are still going strong. Though we still drive each other bonkers sometimes with the socialization aspect (or his lackthereof), it's nice to know that he's there when it really counts (not hiding from my family anymore).
• I like the work that I do, and the people with whom I work, but I'm beginning to dislike my job. I'm stressing out about not being "on-top" of all of my paperwork, which used to be my forte. The necessary "chaos" of the job is really getting to me, keeping me from doing this. It's not helpful either when my boss is hardly around to give me guidance on how to manage all of this. =? I would look for another job, but there are still some factors keeping me there right now. Besides, the stressors aren't painful enough for me to definitely leave yet.
• Because of the stressors at work, I've been craving a vacation. The Hubby and I are planning to pick up his grandmother in LA in a couple of months, and since I've never been, I'm really excited. We're also planning to go back to Vegas and the Comic-Con in July. I can't wait!
• I miss my family a lot. My sis is away at Tracker School, and my bro's out a lot. The Hubby and I had a nice impromptu lunch with my parents yesterday, but I have the feeling that they wished we came over more often. I think I'm definitely going to make more of an effort to do that.
• Tim and I are motivated to do another renovation in the house. We've purged quite a few things again, and are looking for some new furniture for the living room. I'm hoping we'll be more successful this year in doing a proper spring cleaning. Maybe we'll actually paint the bedroom this year. Lol.
• In efforts to better ourselves, I ditched my old gym, and we joined a local gym, right around the corner from our place. The goal is to go there at least 3x's a week, if not more. I think as long as I go straight from work to the gym, I'll be okay. This week will be our first time. I'm looking forward to it. I need to de-stress myself.
• I've been cooking and baking a lot. Muffins (tried a low-fat one, I might keep it), pizza, lasagna, soups, stews...You name it, I might've made it or tried tweaking it. I want to bake more muffins, but The Hubby's afraid it's all going to his butt. =0P
• I'm hanging out more with friends and coworkers, which makes me happy. I'm also trying to make more of an effort to socialize, too.

Wow. I had a lot more to say than I thought. I hope the weather forecast holds true for tonight/tomorrow. I really would love a snow day. I'm burnt.

It seems like I never have any time to post entries or in any forums anymore. I blame work and the fact that I'm too lazy tired to go online anymore. Well, I can't really blame it all on work. I guess I've just delved into other things.

May is always busy with birthdays and such, so I'm always MIA then. We celebrated birthday after birthday, in addition to my commencement exercises and a cousin's beach wedding. All very lovely, but my wallet's tired. =P

At the end of last month, I also went on my Europe vacation with The Hubby and my fam. It was great! We went to London, Paris, and Rome, going everywhere. While in Paris, I put my minimal french-speaking skills to use. I think my French teachers would've been somewhat proud. =D Hear are some teaser pictures:


Platform 9 3/4 | Eiffel Tower | Trevi Fountain

More on the trip and some more pics to come.

Workwise, a couple of good news tidbits. My licensing application was reviewed last month, and I was approved. Yay! I sent them my licensing fee last week. Hopefully, I get my license in the next month or so. I'm finally seeing a light at the end of a long tunnel. Moreover, I've been interviewing inter-agency for other positions. There's another position in which I'm interested, but not as much as this other one. The supervisor already offered me the position, without me having to interview! That part was awesome, but I'm still waiting to hear from the other. After some initial trepidations about driving everywhere for work, I'm really hoping I get this one position. It sounds like the kind of experience I need to really push me into the height of my potential.

It's really gorgeous outside: sunny with a nice, cool breeze. I think I may enjoy a bit of reading outside before picking up The Hubby for lunch.

I'm going to Europe! Woo! The Hubby and I booked our tour and airline tickets to visit London, Paris, and Rome. =D We're going with my family, so I'm super-excited! What a great way to spend the end of May Madness. =P

I'm not sure if I'll have lots of time to meet up with anyone, but if I can, I'll be in the London area between May 30 and June 1/2. I have no idea where we're staying yet, so that news will come at a later date. I'm so excited! Woo!

Yeah. Middle of the week made me think of Opy and Anthony, and their special acronym: W.O.W. I've never been a big fan of it, but it entertains me when I think of it sometimes...

Anyway, I got my take home midterm today for SupCon, and I have a week to complete it. Guidelines: no more than 8 pages total, and cite references properly, if needed. 0.o Pages?? References? *falls over* 

I think it'll be okay, but the guidelines still make it very daunting. =P

In other news, I'll be going to Dallas. Woo! The Hubby's definitely going for that comp training thing, and asked if I'd like to hang out for a weekend. Of course, I jumped at the chance because it won't mean not seeing him for 2 straight weeks. =D I'm not exactly sure which weekend, but it'll be near the end of March. I'm going to do some research on things to do there, so we're not completely bored. =)

Oh, and a random observation: the office in which I'm sitting has a Sigmund Freud action figure tacked up to the bulletin board. 0.o

I went to a meeting on campus, explaining all the hoopla surrounding the licensing exam I'll have to take next fall. I was shocked to find out how expensive everything is. There's an application fee, there's the fee to take the license test, then there's the fingerprinting fee, and finally the're's the fee for the actual license itself. 0.0 It was enough to make my head spin, though at least I was able to clarify which fee is for what, and when I can do each step. Hopefully by this time next year, I will be a fully-licensed social worker with a job. *keeps fingers crossed*

After the meeting, I headed straight for my internship, where I made a lot of phone contacts and had my social skills group. I made one fruitful contact, with whom I'll be meeting next week for an assessment. My kids did really well with the group topic today about feelings and understanding social cues. One of them really opened up, which made me feel really happy and excited.

I talked with The Hubby, and we won't be able to do our cross-country trip because of my proposed class schedule and our finances. However, he did say we could try to do a mini-vacation to a closer location, like 8-10 hours drive. My desired class would be on Mondays and Wednesdays, so we could potentially leave on a Thursday morning, and maybe even push it to returning early on a Monday afternoon (the class would start at 6pm). He told me to think about places I'd like to go, which I said I'd do. Right now, the only place I can think of is VA. Any suggestions?

I've been anxious to look at the summer class schedule because The Hubby and I wanted to start planning our next vacation. We've been going back and forth on the idea of doing a cross-country trip to CA for 2 weeks. I really like the idea, and I really want to go. The Hubby mentioned that there's a Comic Con or some other con in CA around the end of July that he'd like to attend, and I told him I'm all for it. The plans hinge on when the summer classes, in which I'm interested, are offered. I checked this morning, and the prelim schedule's already up! Hooray!

After looking at all the class offerings, I discovered that most of the classes I want to take are offered in the July-August summer session. =? I really want to go on the trip, but I'm also not sure if I want to push off the class for next semester. I'll need to start preparing for my licensing exam around then. Hm. I'll have to discuss these things with The Hubby.

*goes off to ponder and listen to prof*

The moment you've all been waiting for: W-Day.



A great end to a fun weekend.

I had so much fun! And now, without further ado:

 

"...Some dance to forget. Some don't remember dancing." -Taken from a sorority formal tshirt souvenir

( Thursday night )

More about the rest of our vacation when I get back.

While in the mall exchanging a pair of shoes I bought, I got a call from the social service agency I was told to contact about a field placement for next year. I talked to the field coordinator at the agency for a bit, and then met with her 30 minutes later! Despite the fact that I was not in interview-attire, the meeting went well such that she is highly recommending me to the field supervisor for placement. Yay!

When I got home, I was able to finish 4 loads of laundry, pack everything for my vacation, and watch some t.v. with The Hubby. All I have left to do is clean up the kitchen and tidy up the office/bathroom space. I may just stay up through to the time we board, so I can zonk out on the plane. Maybe I'll try to dye my hair again. Or give myself a pedicure.

*goes off to clean and ponder*

"Have a nice trip...a great time!"

My friend was sweet enough to send me a "bon voyage"-type ecard, since I'll be leaving in a couple of days for Calgary, Canada to visit relatives with The Hubby and my family. I thankfully replied with an ecard depicting a turtle thanking a ladybug (fitting, for her chosen email name).

( Details of the trip and ramblings )

I don't know if it was because the kids were feeding off of each other's anxiety about my co-worker calling out (the oldest staff by seniority), or because it was too beautiful out to work, but today was too much. I had to use my glee club voice (which is really, really loud and I hate to use it for yelling) to get the kids to shut up and listen. On top of all that, the day dragged on and 2 kids had meltdowns. I felt like banging some of their heads together. *sigh*

The day ended with some quality time with my sis, her boy, and The Hubby. We had a good time licking BBQ sauce off of our fingers, as we talked about random stuff.

Random pre-bedtime thought: I won't see the little monsters for about a month because of my upcoming vacation and then Memorial Day weekend. Woo! I can't wait!

I never went anywhere for spring break as an undergrad, and it looks like the tradition will continue. =P No big plans this week except for spending some time with my siblings. The weather's been pretty nice, so maybe I'll go out for some walks. Other plans for the week are spring cleaning and prepping for next week's midterm. I will definitely have to get started on a new LJ theme to celebrate the spring.

I've been on an anime-watching/reading binge lately. The 2 I've been focusing on are Tsubasa: RESERVoir Chronicles and .hack//Sign. Really great anime/manga. I would've finished .hack//Sign sooner, except I'm waiting for my hubby to "be in the mood" to watch it. I don't think he's as into it as he thought he'd be. Oh well. I have other anime series I can watch without him. =)

Hrm. It's almost 11am. I think it's time for my mid-morning merienda and some laundry-folding.