Long Overdue Update

Nik has been working on updating emuzines, and it helped motivate me to begin posting again. I always begin with the hope to keep it up, and to keep it up regularly…but I end up slipping. I think, “I missed a post on that really fun weekend, so I don’t want to post on this event that’s happened since…until I go back and talk about the prior event…” I think I just need to abandon my hope of perfection and covering every minute detail of my life, and be a little more flexible with myself! So here goes another attempt at posting, and at flexibility.

A lot has happened since my last post, but I’ll begin by documenting this past weekend. My mom drove up with Logan to visit us for the weekend. I always look forward to these visits so much. We had a great time. We went out to lunch a couple of times, had lattes in the rain, cooked up a storm, went to a fall festival, and went on a major shopping spree. It was scheduled to rain all weekend, but the weather worked perfectly with us, beginning to rain only after we made it to the car! Logan and JoJo had a blast, playing tug-of-war and ripping toys to shreds. I can’t wait until their next visit!!

Everything with school and work is going really well. A lot has happened since I posted last. I finished up my pre-dissertation research project and had it approved and signed off on. This happened much more quickly than I expected, so I’ve set myself pretty well ahead of schedule. I next need to present on my pre-dissertation research project, which I’m scheduled to do in early December. After that (well, anytime now) I can begin writing my qualifying papers, which, if I continue to post regularly, I’m sure I’ll write about a lot!

I have also, since I last posted…BEEN PUBLISHED! I had a journal article accepted to the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. This is very prestigious and I am very proud of myself!

In the realm of “work work,” which is hard to distinguish from school, and research…I have become a team lead for our kids getting therapy. I have been doing a lot of training of therapists, program development and assessments, and begun parent training. I’m also really proud of this, and love the new roles I’ve taken on.

On the home front, Nik and I have begun daily evening walks with JoJo. We go every evening right after Nik gets home from work, usually on the trail that runs behind the neighborhood, between some horse stables and a farm. It’s a beautiful scene at a beautiful time of day, and I’ve really been enjoying watching the season change to fall and chilly, experiencing it getting dark earlier, crunching leaves under our feet. I love the time to catch up with Nik, connecting and talking about our days. And JoJo, needless to say, is thrilled with the new plan. She hops around after bunnies, squirrels, prairie dogs, and cats, and marvels at the horses.

I’ll wrap up for now. Looking forward to heading to LA this weekend for a Halloween party, Christmas shopping with my mom, and the LA Cancer Challenge with Nik and his family. After that, Mandi is coming up to visit and we are hosting First Saturday, still going strong! Hopefully, I’ll update again soon. Keep on checking!