Week 2 pt.1

I've only had two days this week, and it's already been amazing!! Today I had the gift of being able to visit three hospice patients in their homes with Dawn. I really saw the gamut of hospice patients from alert and tapping her foot to actively dying. What was really a gift was seeing how wonderfully the hospice team treats each individual patient. All the staff I've seen are patient, kind, and go out of their way to meet the needs of not only the patient, but the whole family. All three patients we saw today had multiple loving and supporting family members with them, it was a great experience.

The last patient we saw held my hand and told me that music therapy had made a huge difference in his life.


I'd like to end with a beautiful piece we're recording tomorrow night in the Basilica of St. Mary! www.mary.org

One week down

I have complete one whole week!! AHHHH it feels so great!

Monday morning I had to report to "New Employee Orientation" at 7:30AM (even though I'm not actually an employee) and got to meet my co-intern Julie. She's so sweet and I think we're going to do really well working together! We got a whole lot of general info on the hospitals and clinics, and had our Mantoux tests done. Tuesday we did basically the same thing, except with more time sitting in the hall when the real employees learned about benefits and 401Ks.

Wednesday was our very first day actually with the MTs! In the morning we went to hospice rounds, then I observed a few home hospice visits with Gretchen. I got to meet TWO ladies who were over 100 and still kickin! One even held my hand for awhile! I felt really good about how quickly I could get back into "MT mode". Julie and I met up for lunch with our wonderful senior interns, Erin and Jen. We spent the afternoon with Dawn talking schedules and responsibilities. I left that day feeling approximately 100x better than I had felt Tuesday. I've been thinking and preparing and imagining for so long.... and now I know. It's a huge relief.

Yesterday Julie and I spent the whole day at Struthers Parkinsons Center with Sandi. The highlight of the day was a really lovely emotional moment between two clients during a group session. I am really going to have to start controlling my emotions more effectively! Almost cried a few times haha! The other highlight was just playing through songs with Julie during some down time. We both had guitars and a bunch of clients sitting around- we just played and harmonized with each other.

Today none of the MTs were around so Julie and I had a breakfast/coffee date with Erin and Jen, then worked on orientation packets and reading all day. I'm really really happy about the people I'll be working with. Sandi, Dawn, and Gretchen are all so supportive and easy to talk to. And from our intern date this morning I think we're all going to be really close!

Just SO HAPPY to have finally started and know what I got myself into!

Catch-22

I have somewhat given up on Ulysses. I feel like a failure. I will try to keep pushing.... and keep reading.... once I get some motivation.

So now I've started Catch-22! And it's SO MUCH EASIER TO READ! And actually makes me laugh, along with confusing me parts of the time. I think a lot of the time when I'm confused it's because Heller is satirizing things about the military that I'm unfamiliar with. Or maybe I'm being too narrow and he's just using the military to satirize the US during WWII. I often feel with certain older books that maybe because I'm so removed from the time period there are things I just won't catch. But I guess maybe I'll try the Cliff Notes for this one too! Just to make sure I get the most out of it.

Last week I had a lovely visit with my Dad! Here are some picture highlights.

ONE WEEK

On Monday I finally start internship. I've been out of classes for five months, so it's about time. The first two days are general hospital orientation, and then I with the music therapist next Wednesday, one week from today!


I'm really excited, it has definitely snuck up on me!

Tonight I'm working on some songs from my incredibly long song list, this is one of them! LOVE the video.

And all of a sudden, it's fall

This weekend I was lucky enough to see a lot of people I hadn't seen in ages!! I spent Thursday in Friday in Downers Grove relaxing with my parents and hanging with some high school friends, and Saturday I went to Iowa City for a wedding and saw some college friends! It was a much needed trip.

My SAI sister and former co-worker at the Arc, Kait Skaggs (!!) got married Saturday at the Riverside Fesitval Stage, a round theater in City Park used mostly for Shakespeare. The weather held out until almost immediately when the reception line finished! The ceremony was beautiful, and it was so clear how in love Kait and Ed are, it was really beautiful.

The reception following was at the Sheraton where I used to work- so it was really nice to see the other side! After the reception we all went out and I got to see even more old friends, it was lovely! 

Sunday I drove back up to Minneapolis. It was a rough drive, and I figured out when I got home that it had been so rough because I had a fever! Too little sleep! I killed it pretty quickly with a liter of Pellegrino and a nap and a Stella, who was SO happy to see me.

Since I've been gone for four days, it became fall! The ivy on my 1920s building is turning red, there are leaves on the ground, and an yellow tree right outside my kitchen window. It's still 70 degrees, but that's okay with me.

I haven't gotten any further on my book list, probably because I've been watching DAMAGES! I'm obsessed. Luckily there are only two more episodes for me to watch on Netflix, then I can get back to reading. Seriously, great show.

A lack of pages.

I have not been reading Ulysses. I have not been reading at all (except two National Geographics I got in the mail!) I've finally been getting some good hours at my new job! Which I really enjoy. Who knew that I could get a part time job that's actually a lot of fun??

The website is nothing compared with actually being in the store, but it's worth a quick peek!

www.patinastores.com

Today at work I organized (tried on) jewelry, helped a man buy $380 worth of jewelry for his wedding anniversary tomorrow, and straightened things that people had touched. And got to hang out with the wonderful people who work there too! Loving it. Our sale section went from 50% off to 70% off today, so I got a clock for the kitchen, and a decorative vintage thermos from India for a grand total of $15. Felt like a successful day.

Today I also took a wonderful video of Stella jumping. Girl's got hops.

Gnossienne no.1

Love this piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v26IKQu08po