Emuzines

Hi!  Lately, I have been more buried than usual in work and school stuff.  I have a genetics midterm on Monday, which I decided to devote all weekend to getting ready for, so I’ve had to do a lot of work for my other class ahead of time, to clear out the weekend (for fun and excitement, like MAOA, tetO, housekeeping genes, and stuff like that).  Well, this was designed as a post to talk about exciting things, and that was quite sarcastic (although I admit I really do enjoy the genetics of autism), so here are some things I’m excited about:

Nik found this for me: http://www.scrapncube.com/  I doubt I’ll go with that company for a scrapbook area, as it’s really expensive, but I thought it was so sweet that he found it for me!  Once we get a house, my scrapbook stuff will have a home besides shoved into closets and on high shelves out of reach.

CHICAGO!  I wanted to go to IMFAR, an autism conference, but I also really wanted to spend Mother’s Day weekend with…well…my mom!  It happened to fall on that weekend, so I invited my mom along.  We’re extended it into a nice little trip and we already have lots of really, really exciting plans.  We’re going to see Mary Poppins, eat at great restaurants, go to Navy Pier, and go on a dinner cruise.  I am beyond excited.  And I keep forgetting about IMFAR, which is also something that really makes me happy.  Sally says I’ll be presenting there next year, so I better get ready!

LAS VEGAS!  This is coming up really, really soon.  I am going to meet my mom, Aunt Debbie, Memere, and Pepere there, like we have been doing every year for…3 years now?  Nik isn’t going this year, so it’ll be a girl + Pepere week.  Great food, a show, the spa, and Vegasy stuff.  As you can tell, food and good company make me very happy.

HOME!  I am going home in 2 weeks!  It’ll be a very, very short trip, but I’m happy about it.  Mark and I are going to take Noah to the park to feed ducks, I’m going to go out to dinner and a hopefully girly movie/illegal sweets with Gaby, and have breakfast with Melissa.  Should be a nice, quick trip.

VALENTINE’S DAY!  Nik and I cooked in last year, so we’re going out this year.  We wanted to try something new (although, most things are new up here for us, still).  We have reservations at Ruth’s Chris.

DENVER!  This is happening in April.  The primary reason for the trip is another conference, but I’m going with David, Abby, and April.  We’re going to have a lot of fun together!!  I am more than lucky in meeting these friends.

Finally…relaxation…I’m giving myself the night off.  So off I go to eat lasagne and watch a movie!

I’ve written a lot of posts in my head, both during my week home and since we’ve been back here in Davis.  When I was home, I was too busy with fun to want to sit down and post, and in Davis, I don’t have internet except for the time I want to spend in the apartment Club House using their slow and oft-breaking wireless (in which case, I’m frustrated trying to send out work- and school-related e-mails, looking into LCSW licensure, trying to save web pages I need to print onto my desktop so I can come home and print them later…).  In other words, life without internet is sort of a pain.  Now, I’ve organized a free afternoon, and am using the time before our dining table gets delivered to write a post in Word, and I’ll somehow post it later.

As I usually say, things here are good.  They really are.  I haven’t started school yet, but I’ve been to some orientation activities (optional, how great is that?…hence my free afternoon…), had some TB testing, physical stuff at the UC Davis Medical Center (Employee Health Services, which makes me feel special), and yesterday I went to meet with my mentor at the MIND.  She introduced me around to everybody, showed me my office (!), and told me a bit about what I’ll be doing, or what my options are.  I talked to her about gaining hours to get my LCSW (clinical license as a social worker), and she’s really excited about making it happen for me.  She has no doubt it’ll work there.  So basically, I’m an employee at the MIND, getting paid to work there, getting my LCSW hours, getting course credit, earning my Ph.D., working on projects and papers and chapters (I can’t wait until I’m published) with some incredible people, and looooooooving it there.  I am so honored and so excited.  They do such great work and have really positive far-reaching impact on the autism field.  I love, love, love it.

School is there in my mind, too, but almost as a backdrop.  I’ll only be taking two courses this quarter and getting the rest of my credits through research at the MIND.  I begin classes next Thursday, late-night classes.  Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve been going to some orientation activities, the ones that I think would be helpful for me.  They really have been, for the most part.  And on the first day, I found myself lost in a building on campus, trying to navigate its twists and turns to find the correct lecture hall.  I saw another lost person out of the corner of my eye, turned around, and realized it was one of the two girls I already know.  Since this week of orientation is for all graduate students, masters and Ph.D., in all fields, to find her right away was pretty lucky.  She’s been my buddy all this week and that feels nice.

Last night Nik and I headed to downtown Sacramento to go to dinner at the Melting Pot.  We had tons of food in the fridge at home, because we haven’t quite figured out yet how to shop and cook for just the two of us.  Anyway, we still went, and it was delicious as always.  We missed our Melting Pot double date partners, though!

Something else that is still on my mind is my week of fun back in LA.  My aunt Sharon came to visit and we took her to Santa Monica and Pasadena…where we got stuck, literally, in the middle of a fight between an Apple Store security guard/police officer and a thief.  It was a long struggle and eventually a failed arrest (unless they caught his getaway car later), but we were really stuck in the middle of it.  We actually had to flee down the sidewalk, being at most 5 feet from the struggle, and run into another store to avoid getting held as hostage or shot or stabbed.  We decided to watch the fight play out from the store windows, risking the gun thing, when the police officer threw the assailant against the window right into our faces!  It was quite entertaining but pretty scary.  This all came right after Sharon was talking about how, despite its reputation, she didn’t really think LA was too crime-ridden.

Also last week, Mandi had a lot of really fun birthday celebrations.  I had sooo much fun at them and I hope she did, too.  Happy birthday! 

Time to wrap it up.  Just a side note to praise JoJo, who is being quite exceptional in good behavior in her new home.  I don’t know what to make of it.  She’s being so good.  She’s learned all the new rules (stay OFF the bed, stay OUT of the kitchen when Mommy and Daddy are in it, potty on the leash, be QUIET when Mommy and/or Daddy leave, NO trash, etc.).  She’s calm and she listens and she hangs out or plays quietly.  Maybe she’s growing up, or maybe all the walks every day are good for her.  In any case, I’m so proud of her.  Such a good girl.

…is a big one!  We’re moving on Thursday.  I have been slowly getting ready (physically and emotionally, I guess) for awhile, so I’m pretty prepared.  Although…I have to admit I’m still half in denial, and half excited.  I think I listed random things that I’m excited about in another post…it’s the little things that get me happy.  I am also pretty hopeful about fall being a pretty season up there, and Nik said that he’d instruct JoJo to bring Mommy some pretty fall leaves home from her walks.  I want to do lots of fall-y things, not only because the fall scrapbook supplies are so cute (…), but because I loooove all things fall.  I already picked my pumpkin soup recipe.  So…I’m excited about a lot of things.  I’m actively ignoring the things I am scared about…and focusing on happy things and on planning things to look forward to.  We’ve arranged the move so that I get to come and see my Aunt Sharon next week, before out second trip up to Davis.  She’s always a ton of fun (i.e. human pyramids, rolling on pool tables, Scooby Snacks, and Twister) and will be in LA for just a little while for her friend’s wedding.  Hopefully, I’ll also be able to fit in some more birthday celebrations for Mandi (Disneyland!) and as much more fun as possible.

So here’s our adorable new front door.  I don’t know what it is that I like so much about it.  Maybe the turquoise frame (which sounds terribly tacky until you see it).  The apartment complex is beautiful and in a great area, and…it has a washer and dryer in unit–my greatest selling point which Nik was pretty neutral about.  I like to wash one shirt at a time…they’re delicate…  We’re within walking distance of downtown Davis and lots of restaurants, but far enough away that it’s very quiet and secluded.  We’re also a short jump on the freeway away from downtown Sacramento, where I’ll be working and which I fell in love with on my first trip up there.  It’s a really cool downtown.

Speaking of which, with all of the preoccupation regarding the move, I’ve barely thought about or prepared for what this is all about…getting my Ph.D.  When I think about that I am extremely excited, especially about where I’ll be researching, at the MIND Institute (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders–http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/MINDInstitute/).  This place is the reason that I chose UC Davis.  It is the top-notch research institute for autism in the world, and I can’t believe how lucky I am to be able to work there from day one!  My Memere says that they’re lucky to have ME…but seriously, this place is incredible.  I can’t wait to start there and to find a cure for autism.  That is what this is all about…