music, therapy, and me

I woke up very early this morning (about two and a half hours ago - it is now 4:30 am), and was unable to get back to sleep. I took myself into the world of social media and wasted about an hour and a half checking up on things. I am now sitting at the computer. writing this post, and watching the fourth Indiana Jones movie. This has been a long week. Fortunately, it hasn't been a hugely challenging week for my clients in music therapy, but it has been a long week nonetheless. I have had to physically intervene with aggressive clients even though I am on light duty and should not be doing any sort of physical intervention. Today is my plan/prep day, so I will have only two groups to be part of - one is just oversight and the other is mine to lead. After bus duty this afternoon, I have to get out of the town as quickly as possible so I can get to my Workers Comp doctor for a useless appointment where I will sit and wait for the doctor to say, "I don't know why the referral ...

I am reflecting on the week that was, and I'm finding that things went pretty well this week. Nothing to complain about except for having difficulty breathing and then being around people using scented products in all areas of my life which triggered additional breathing problems. Other than that, things went well. I mean, there was that one group where half of the students slept through music therapy, but the other half LOVED everything we did in the session. Perhaps I shouldn't pick too much at this idea that it was a good week...the illusion might shatter. That would not be good. ANYWAY...  I feel that this was a good week. I spent time medicated more than usual - I wonder if that had something to do with it all. My body was struggling for breath, but I was still able to do my job in a pretty good way. I tried things that I would not have tried without some inspiration from my intern - that was good.  I accepted intern #33 and that person accepted the position right back. #...

This week ended well - with a sigh rather than a storm or a whimper. While I was exhausted when I got home last night, it was a good type of exhausted; the type where you feel like the day was spent in good things. I fell asleep early and then woke up early (around 1am-ish). While I am still tired and would LOVE to be back in bed, that is not going to happen, so I am sitting here at 6:06am watching the sun start to lighten the sky. It was stormy this morning, but it seems to have quieted down significantly. There are (officially) 10 more work days until the end of the regular school year. That number does not include weekend days, but I do, so there are actually 13 days left until the school year is finished, and I start my first summer break. I will have another one in July, and that will be the break where I "vacation." This break is for decluttering and organizing and being creative in my home. I am looking forward to it all the more because I am planning to go to be with ...

It is currently 5:19 am, and I am watching YouTube videos while planning my later morning and trying to figure out how to do some things with my Instagram channel - something I am perplexed about on a regular basis. One of my personal goals for this next quarter is to be a bit more purposeful about posting things on my music therapy Instagram channel - musictherapyworkslandaker - so that I can continue to share the things that I have to offer the music therapy world out there. Today's post was a link to the blog post from yesterday, so readers here already know what's in my April box!! Whoo-hoo! Yesterday was a long day, but a good one. Clients did what I asked, we made some fun music together, I finished some of my goals for the day and found some satisfaction in finishing things that have long gone unfinished. Back to quarterly goals again - I have decided that I want to use my work hours more productively, so I am going to work on TME development, visual aid completion, and ...

This was a very strange week. Someone that I have worked closely with has had a positive COVID-19 test, my Dad is now receiving hospice services, and I am not as organized as I would like to be at this point in the week, month, year. I made some good decisions for myself this week, especially about getting more texts about music therapy (Barcelona has a GREAT sale - I took advantage - it only goes until Monday), about making reading an active part of my professional development next year, and about some personal things that I want to do this next year - things like trying to cook different things and continuing to declutter. I sent gifts to my family members yesterday. This was finished up two days before my self-imposed goal for this task, and I only missed one gift! I think I will wait to send it until a birthday - that gives me until next October, so I've got some time. I am sitting down this morning with my bullet journal at my computer. I need to update my budget pages to refl...

I am going to California in late February and early March to present two topics at the Western region conference in Ontario. I received the emails this morning and sent back my signed agreements pretty much immediately. I am excited about region-hopping this Spring. I don't usually attempt to present in regions other than my own, but this conference is happening about 20 minutes away from my parents' house and about 3 minutes away from my sister's job, so I have lodging, car, and a chance to see my family all at the same time!! I took advantage of the convenience of the Western region to combine a trip to a music therapy conference with a chance to be at home for a bit. I will be presenting two times on Saturday, March 3rd. The first presentation is about writing clinical goals (the same topic I'm presenting in St. Louis in a bit more than a week). The second presentation is a Make and Take session for making a session choice board. I am very excited about this one!...

There are days when the blinking cursor at the top of my blog screen challenges me. What can I write about? What am I thinking about? Will any of this actually make sense? That's where I've been for most of the last week - trying to put together some thoughts to share. I blame some of my block on being tired. The Online Conference for Music Therapy was last week, and I am still recovering from screen fatigue, but that's not all that is going on. I have officially settled into my room. I have a routine place to park on the north side of the building, and I am getting used to my new office neighbors (all administration staff rather than education staff). I really don't see many of my education staff colleagues any more since I am at the farthest north point of the building and am firmly ensconced in office-land. I have my own office (what a luxury!) that is still messy, but starting to come together. I want to move some bookshelves from home to work, but I have to come ...