Ok, I think for now I'm done with Blogger. Not because of anything Blogger did or didn't do, really. I like how I can view other people's journals all on the same page in Livejournal, and I've been co-posting things here and there for awhile, and since Liz took down her webserver, I have no pictures on my blog, etc...

So unless I tell you otherwise, go to http://www.livejournal.com/~colleenanne to read my blog and stuff..

At the request of several different people, I will now blog.

I've been bad about it lately. It's like playing a musical instrument: once you put it down, it's hard to pick back up, no matter how much you liked it.

Ok, so my summer was cool. I loved loved LOVED my practicum. I had the opportunity to work with people going through detox, people with bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, etc. Anyhow, it solidified that yes, I'm doing the right thing with my life, and I do like to work with people with mental illnesses.

School has started again. I am taking 11 hours. I'm taking Research II, Administration and Supervision, Substance misuse, violence, and risk management, and Adult Assessment and Treatment. So far, they all seem ok. We built fake modes of transportation in supervision yesterday, and then got to eat Oreos. It was a lot like kindergarten, actually.

Hmm... what else happened this summer? My sister and her husband joined a carnival. There's rumor that the law and/or drug dealers or the like are after them. Surprise, surprise. There was a brief period of time (about two or three weeks) where my sister and brother-in-law were living with my brother, sister-in-law, and niece. In a trailer. What fun! My niece came down for a visit in August, which was fun, if not extremely tiring. The kid is energy, non-stop. I love her so... but it reinforces that I never want children. I just don't have the long-term patience for it. They take so much attention. Unlike cats. You can leave cats alone at home and no one calls child protective services.

Anyhow, we took Autumn to the NEwport Aquarium, which was neat. All sorts of fishies and sharks. And Jay got pooped on by a bird. There's an aviary where the birds fly free (really pretty birds, lorakeets, I think). THey'll land on the people, expecting treats of nectar, which we did not have, as they cost money. This one bird decided Jay was his friend, and walked all over his back. When we stepped out, I saw that his back was covered with his new friend's special present.

Ilya came up for a visit in early August. We went to King's Island with my cousin and her latest boyfriend. That was fun, even if it did rain in the beginning of the day. We rode all of the major coasters, but Face Off was closed, which saddens me. I love Face Off. Ilya and I went to the Woodford Reserve distillery one day, which was really cool. I learned how super-premium whiskey is made. And Ilya learned that all whiskey is not as icky as Jack Daniel's. Anyhow, seeing the big huge containers full of mash was neat. IT was bubbling on its own, in a crazy way. And it smelled like bread. I was convinced I could get drunk off the smell in the area where they keep the barrels, but nobody else seems to think that's true.

Jay's been working at Perot Systems all summer long, and has carried that job over into the fall. He works with Shawn. He's back in class, as well, and resenting every moment he has to sit through an astronomy class. He got glasses this weekend (he loses them like I lose chapstick), so now he can get his learner's and learn to drive!

Aimee and I saw They Might Be Giants in late July, at a really cool outdoor venue in Louisville during Lebowskifest. It was on the river, and set up ampitheater style more or less. In the middle of Ana Ng (I think) random fireworks started in downtown Louisville. It was trippy. There were these guys next to us that used to follow Phish around, but for obvious reasons, can't do that any longer. So they decided to come to Lebowskifest, instead. Which was fine, they were nice enough. But their pseudo-hippie Phish dancing made me laugh so hard. It was very very amusing. THe belly dancers annoyed the hell out of me, as they often do at concerts. Ok, I realize you belly dance, great for you. But do you really need to try to do it during "Fingertips"? It looked like a cross between a random sexual act and vomiting. It made me realize I've never met a belly dancer that I like. And then I felt bad, because the next week we had 2 belly dancers as patients in the hospital. Something else that I came to the conclusion about over the summer: most strippers seem to have bipolar disorder. Hmm. Although I've recently learned in class that the plural of anecdote is not evidence.

Ok, that's enough for now. For all of you I haven't talked to in awhile, please comment! Encourage me to blog more often! :)

Ok, I plan to write a real entry sometime in the near future, but until then I must share with you the funniest thing I think I've ever seen.

Spamusement.

Jay and I both read it at the same time in different rooms. I laughed until I cried. Again. And again.

OK, promised end-of-semester, long-overdue, highly-hyphenated update:

1) Semester is over! Year One down! Although, not entirely. I still have to do my (unpaid) practicum this summer, which most people (who do not work) in my class did this spring. I am looking forward to it, however, even though it's unpaid. I think I'm going to opt for the acute behavioral health care ward in one of the hospitals in town. I interviewed with the lady today. It was awkward (she'd never interviewed a practicum student before), but it was a neat environment. It's very short-term: a few days until crisis is averted, and then they're released into longer-term care or outpatient care.

2) Going back a few months: Jay and I went to Myrtle Beach for break, and met Ilya down there. We hung out for a few days. It was very nice. I hadn't seen him in years, and we had a lot of fun. Ilya and Jay got along pretty well, too, which is always good. We played mini-golf (I kicked their butts, surpringly. I'm bad at mini-golf), we went to the arcade (Jay won a switch-blade comb. Ilya won.. hmm.. he wanted the eyeball ring, but I forget what he ended up getting.) We went to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant, which I really enjoyed, after one strong Bahama Mama, but they thought was overly cheesy. I sang along with the song Margaritaville, and chanted "salt" in all the right places. Oh, no. I realized that Scott is probably reading this, and thinking he's converted me over the years. No! You haven't! I just liked Margaritaville. Although I must admit that my Cheeseburger in Paradise was really more like a Cheeseburger in OK-ville.

3) Jay has a real job! An internship that's 40 hours a week over the summer, at Perot Systems (where my friend Shawn works.) Yes, he'll be working for H. Ross Perot's empire. Making real money, though. He's done so well with his classes, I'm so proud of him. He was inducted into the hoity-toity Phi Beta Kappa honor society earlier this semester. He's going to be so embarassed when he reads this, but that's ok. hehe. As a result of him getting a good job, I will get a new computer later this month (as a birthday present.) That's good, because this one is sucking the life out of me. It needs Help.

4) I still like my research assistant job alot. The people are great, and I'm really getting to do some researchy stuff. Not really social work related, but that's ok. I'd much whether work in an environment where I like all the people, who all have a sense of humor, than work in a humorless social worky environment.

5) My dad had his gall bladder out the week before last. At the end of February, he made an emergency trip to the hospital because he thought he was having chest pains (a bad thing for a man that has had a sextuple bypass.) Luckily, after doing all the necessary tests, they decided his heart was fine (yay!) but his gall bladder needed to come out. It's a right of passage for those in my family, I think. Both of my grandmas have had theirs out, my cousin Blair (who's only 20), and now Dad.

6) I think I got all As in my classes. I did really bad on a paper (a 71%. I don't think I've ever scored so low on a paper in my life) at the beginning of the semester in psychopathology. I was looking at the syllabus for the requirements, rather than the grading sheet he gave us. However, I rallied with a 107% average on all our quizzes, good class participation, and a good group paper. We'll find out soon enough how I really did, as I obsessively check the webUK stuff where they post the grades.

7) I saw TMBG in early April, in Danville. It really kicked ass. Aimee was supposed to go with us, but she had some flu-like malady, so her ticket went to my friend Michelle. It was a pretty small show. Corn Mo opened, and wow, was he weird. But in a good way. Check him out. He's opened for TMBG a bunch of times on national tours, but it turns out he was born and bred in the great state of Kentucky. hehe. Which gave the show a local flavor. Anyhow, the TMBG show was fun, and the confetti cannon was not in James K. Polk, but rather another song! *gasp* I was very confused. hehe. This was around the time of mine and Jay's 5th anniversary, and our relationship originally came to exist because of people we knew from our mutual love of the Johns. Aww. Full circle.

8) I have planted basil, sage, and rosemary in pots on the deck outside, along with various wildflowers. I've been trying to do some real yardwork on a weekly basis, for both exercise and house beautification. I'd like to plant some tomatoes in a few weeks. Mmm. Tomatoes. Friend Bill is planting some heirloom varieties, so hopefully he'll share some of his bounty.

9) My social work posse and I went bowling the other night. I'm a pretty decent bowler, when I'm practiced (which I wasn't, the other night.) I was all afraid that Michelle, the athletically gifted one among us, was going to kick our collective asses. However, surprisingly, she consistently scored the lowest, and our diminuitive Tawainese friend kicked our butts. Turned out she took a bowling class in college. It was great.

10) I feel like I should add a 10th item, but I'm not sure what it should be. Um... the house has been in various states of disarray because of our lack of time (and motivation) to clean, due to finals. I fully cleaned the office today (including dusting!) It's now nice and calming to sit in, not cluttered with various journal articles, textbooks, and library books. And on an unrelated note, everyone go read the new Sarah Vowell book Assassination Vacation.

I saw Nathan do this, so I thought I'd do it too.

A - Age you got your first kiss: 14
B - Band listening to right now: The sound of Jay taking a shower. They haven't sold many albums.
C - Chore you hate: Cleaning the cat litter.
D - Dad's name: Michael
E - Easiset person to talk to: Emily, and then Jay.
F - Favorite bands at the moment: TMBG, I guess. Most everyone else are solo artists.
G - Gummy worms or gummy bears?: Worms
H - Home state: Originally WV. Now Kentucky.
I - Instruments: Clarinet, flute, piccolo, piano, saxophone, xylophone.
J - Job: Research Assistant and graduate student
K - Kids: Zip. Let's keep it that way.
L - Longest car ride ever: From Florida to West Virginia, with a long stretch of "Wow, we're really lost" thrown in for good measure. In 90+ degree weather in a car with no AC.
M - Mom's name: Diana
N - Nicknames: None.
O - Overnight hospital stays: None.
P - Phobia: Snakes.
Q - Quote: "If you can't trust, you can't be trusted." --Ben Folds
R - Religious affiliation: Atheist/Agnostic
S - Siblings: One younger sister and one older brother.
T - Time you woke up today: About 11:20 AM.
U - Underwear: Yes? No thongs. Those are ouchy.
V - Vegetable you refuse to eat: Any bean that isn't green beans. I don't like squash, either.
W - Worst habit: Compulsive computer solitaire playing.
X - X-rays you've had: Dental X rays, head x rays when I was little (I fell), lots of leg x rays when I broke both my legs within two years, x rays of my ankle for the sprained ankle, and a couple of my feet when I've broken toes.
Y - Yummy foods you make: Chicken scampi, stuffed peppers, chicken cacciatore, meatloaf.
Z - Zodiac sign: Gemini.

To those who have expressed concern, yes, I am still alive.

Just very busy. Will try to post a real post soon. Send me good vibes and stuff.

I'm posting on the new wee computer that Jay and I bought yesterday. It's a sweet little notebook computer. It runs well, so far, after we got some networking issues taken care of. So now, I can blog from the living room! Does life get any lazier?

Nothing else is going on, lately. I've been working on a really stupid paper all weekend long, on psychotherapy and dementia. I have a bunch of reading to do that I have as of yet neglected. I am not watching the Superbowl, as I don't care at all.

I have been sick for the past week. The Thursday before last I had a horrible headache,which turned into a nasty cough and some icky thing called costochrondritis. That meant that the stuff connecting my ribs to my breastbone were inflamed, making breathing not comfortable. That was all viral, but then I got an infection on top of it, and was miserable. A round of antibiotics cleared that up, so now I'm just left with the tail end of run of the mill bronchitis. Coughing is fun!

Emily visited last weekend. WE had fun, even though I was sick. She got a job in Columbus (where she is currently living) with as a youth advocate (basically, a caseworker for kids in potentially dangerous situations.) I think she'll be good at it. I'm not sure if she's started yet, I should call and find out.

I don't have anything else to say, and I should go finish my stupid paper. Leave me comments of inspiration. hehe,