A Planned Day Off

I took an unplanned personal day yesterday because I found that there was a leak in the upstairs that flooded my hallway. I spent yesterday navigating the world of wet/dry vacuuming and moving things around so the guy could come in for 3 minutes and say that there was water damage. At least this guy mentioned that he would arrange to have the damage fixed - the guy who supposedly "fixed" this issue 16 months ago never even came into the apartment to see the damage. We will see if the promised dry wall guys ever show up, but at least it was acknowledged that there was damage from something that I had no power over. Today, though, is a planned day off. It's on the calendar (for some strange reason we get a random day off in both October and April), so it is an official 3-day weekend for me!!

Of course, I have some plans. I have an online intern interview this afternoon and three videos to make and upload before the end of the day. So, what am I doing?? I am sitting in front of the computer, procrastinating yet again.

For the rest of the day, though, I do have some plans. I need to go grocery shopping for the go-alongs that will make what I already have in my cabinets something that I can actually cook and eat. I want to make a big meatloaf, so I need to get some tomatoes and celery (I know, sounds pretty bad if you don't like chunky meatloaf, but I like a bit of crunch in mine). I also want to make my favorite meal, so I need some specific cheese. I shouldn't need much more (except for toilet paper), so it should be a pretty quick and quiet trip to the store. They open up in about 25 minutes, so I'll be heading out about then.

I am also working through some SkillShare courses right now, so I will devote some time to the course I've chosen, "Make Creativity Your Career." I have two weeks to complete all of the coursework (which isn't all that difficult, but it is making me think a bit about what I want to do - again!), so I need to get going with the second of the three modules. I am finding that this course is a good way to challenge my thinking without too much of a time commitment. I thought that this course would be a good one to take while I am still a bit hampered by my broken fingers - it encourages creative thinking but isn't as manually focused as some of the other courses I want to take - like watercolor painting and making my own books - always my first creative outlets! Those will wait until I am released from my splints and can use my left hand again.

There is nothing better than planned time off. Time to change out of pajamas into real world pants so I can get to the store to shop. I have to find my list first so I actually get what I need rather than just wandering around hoping to find what I need...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear AMTA

Dear American Music Therapy Association: I am debating long and hard about remaining in this relationship. I have been in this relationship since college, and this is not a decision that I am taking lightly or without great cost.  I am not happy with what you are bringing to this relationship. Now, I have been a selfish partner over the past several years - mainly because I am not feeling like we share a common mission anymore. It is easy for me to place the blame on you, but I know that this is not all on me. I have tried to be invested in communication and support and understanding, but everyone comes to a time where enough is enough. I am trying very hard to decide if the benefits that you provide to me are worth the feelings that I have about where I think you and I are going. I am not sure that our destination is the same anymore, and this makes me sad. To be completely honest, I am only in this relationship these days for the music therapy interns. I don't think that is a hea...
Read more

Songwriting Sunday: Repetition

Image
One of the things that I find to be helpful with my client population (children, adolescents, and young adults with dual diagnoses) is repetition of phrases, lyrics, and music. As a result of 30+ years of working with this population in various iterations, I have found that my clients respond the most to songs with three repeated phrases to prime their responses with a different phrase to communicate the important part of the experience. DISCLAIMER: This is not a definite way to write music for clinical interactions. This is what seems to work well with my particular group of human beings. Don't go to your supervisors and tell them that I told you that this is the ONLY way to write music - It is NOT! You have to find what works for your clients and for their clinical goals. Since my clients respond well to this type of song, I tend to write songs in this format more than any other. What I have found is that my clients remember these songs more than the ones that I do in different f...
Read more

Being An Internship Director: On Hiatus

Image
It has been long enough since I have had an intern that I am seriously feeling like I have little to say on the subject. At the same time, I am currently writing Chapter 5 of my general internship handbook, so I am able to write about being an intern and what types of things to think about during this important time in our professional development. It is a strange place to be in, and it is one that is a bit challenging for me. Right now, I have had three vacant internship positions since the beginning of the calendar year. I will have a vacant position next month and that will be an entire year of rejected offers. In the past nine months, I have offered positions to three applicants who have declined. It is interesting how people complain that there aren't enough internship programs, but programs like mine are empty. I guess there aren't enough internship programs that pay large stipends (which mine cannot) out there. I get it. It is interesting to me how we have moved from an ...
Read more