Awesome.

Guess how I spent this morning? In a tiny room in close quarters with a kid who is sick with the flu. I didn't think much of it, until we got to work and I realized he was still wearing the wristband from being admitted to the hospital after testing positive for H1N1 (he was released on Sunday night).

Now I generally think that the media has instilled a lot more hysteria in this Swine Flu business because someone behind the scenes has ulterior motives (which is not to say that I wouldn't immunize our children if we had children). But I personally know about five people who have contracted H1N1, took a few days off, and bounced back within a week or so. I just really, really, REALLY cannot afford to get sick right now.

Immune system, don't fail me now!!!!!

Please send your healthy vibes my way. That is all.

::healthy thoughts, healthy thoughts, healthy thoughts::

I'm supposed to be writing a paper...

...but I need a little break.

I ran across a verse the other day that really resonates with me. In fact, I printed a copy of it that is hung at my desk at work. It's a verse from the Bible, and it represents a way of interacting with others that provides an alternative to the way our culture (and government specifically) has historically treated certain groups of people.

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend your lives on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday."
~Isaiah 58:9-10

This represents something really powerful to me. In fact, it almost brings me to tears to think about how things could change for the better if we all chose to live by these words.

Grad school has required me to do a lot of self-reflection, looking inward to examine myself and how my beliefs and actions could influence my professional practice. I'm not going to lie, it has been a difficult process. It is tough when you come to terms with the fact that you've acted in ways that have oppressed the very people that you could one day be serving. There's an intrinsic sense of guilt that is pushed to the forefront, and it's hard to get past thoughts and behaviors of the past to move to a place of acceptance and self-forgiveness. In fact, I don't know that I will ever reach this place.

It makes me sad to think that not everyone is forced to engage in this same level of self-examination. Being forced to challenge the beliefs you've internalized over the course of a lifetime is HARD work! But it's also empowering and motivating. Some of my opinions have changed drastically. And some have been reinforced. And many others will continue to evolve over the course of my lifetime.

My schooling has challenged me in ways I never thought possible, and it's still only the first semester! But I can't wait for what lies ahead. Life is nothing if not exciting and unpredictable.

I love this man

Right after I posted about my, ahem, flabbiness, I had Pat read what I had posted. And as I was bopping about the house, doing dishes and finishing laundry, he proceeded to tell me how crazy I am for writing what I wrote. This is why I married this man, people! I ♥ my husband. That is all.

The Next Time You See Me...

This post is to serve as a warning to all family and friends that the next time you see me, I may not be the same Randi you all know and love. Well, I will be in spirit, but probably not in body. Allow me to further explain.

This is what my typical schedule looks like:
Monday-work all day, homework in the evening
Tuesday-work in the morning, then classes 3-9:20
Wednesday-work all day, class 6:30-9:00
Thursday-internship all day, homework in the evening
Friday-internship all day, homework in the evening
Saturday-varies, usually consists of at least a few hours of homework and some quality time with my hubbs, and I have class all day one Saturday per month
Sunday-housework day! chores, cooking for the week, laundry, and, yep, you guessed it, more homework

What I am trying to say is that any activity or hobby I may have had pre-GS (grad school) no longer exists. In the interest of time management, I've been forced to trim the fat (pardon the pun), and cut out anything in my life that takes time and is not absolutely necessary. That includes working out. Thus the change in my physical appearance that you may notice the next time you see me in person. I know I was never the most toned person to begin with (and these Rockafellow bat wings seem to only add insult to injury), but please do not be alarmed when you see the old Randi + a few extra pounds. I want to keep up with my workout routine, I really do. But at the end of a long day, if I have time for myself (which is rare these days), I just want to cuddle with my husband and relax, DANG IT! I think I deserve that, no??

So to all the friends we will be meeting in Vegas in about a month (::SQUEEEEEEE!!!!), to my dear mother-in-law Lori who is coming to visit in 2 weeks, and to my family, who we will be seeing over Thanksgiving: please go easy on me (I know you all will).

Until next time,

This will make you smile.

I regret to inform my loyal readers that I don't really have anything new and exciting to report this week. Here's what my schedule looks like:
Work/Internship, Class, Workout (if I feel up to it), Read/Homework, Sleep, Repeat
Pretty boring, huh?

I do, however, feel compelled to share my new tv obsession with y'all. I came home last night to find my husband watching a show on Fox called "Glee". After giving him a hard time for a few minutes about watching a musical-comedy tv show, I found myself getting drawn in. And by the time the episode ended, I was howling with laughter (much like my mother is known to do).

Please, I'm begging you, watch this clip!!! You will not regret it. There are few things funnier in this world than the sight of a high school football team performing a choreographed dance routine to Beyonce's "Single Ladies". You'll have to FF to about 2:30 to get to the dance routine. If you watch the beginning without having watched the whole episode, it probably won't make much sense.



That's all for now.

A Castle Fit for a King & A Dream Fulfilled

Usually I would try to come up with some witty lead-in. But as I wipe the sleep from my eyes, I realize that I am just.too.tired. Please prepare yourselves for the randomness that is this blog post. Ordinarily, I would have the time to post about all of these things separately, but since my time is not my own anymore, I'm going to jumble them all into one post. Bear with me, folks.

First things first, I thought my parents might appreciate a picture of my first day of grad school.

With the first two weeks of school under my belt, I'm feeling pretty good.

We decided to head south for Labor Day Weekend. I still spent a good chunk of the weekend getting my reading done for school, but we were able to take one day to visit the Hearst Castle in San Simeon. Just to give you a brief history, during their heyday in the early 1900's, the Hearst family owned approximately one fifth of all newspapers in the United States, plus 8 radio stations, movie studios, and a magazine publishing company (which the family still owns and includes such magazines as Good Housekeeping, Town & Country, and Cosmopolitan). William Randolph Hearst inherited over 250,000 acres of land when his mother passed away, and he decided to build a 60,000+ square foot castle into the mountainside. Ever seen the movie Citizen Kane? That movie is said to portray Hearst's eccentric personality. Anyway, when he passed away in 1951, the family donated the property to the state of California. Actually, they still own the property itself, but they allow the state to use the castle as a historical monument. (Only in California can your house turn into a historical monument simply because of the fact that you inherited a large fortune that was built primarily by your predecessors. But I digress.) This place is truly something to see!

Although this looks like a church, this is actually the front entrance of the house.

Here is the view of the ocean from the house. My lens was dirty, so pardon the smudge.

Here is the dining room. Interesting story behind this: Hearst sat in the very center, with new guests sitting next to and across from him. When Hearst would extend invitations for weekend visits, guests were expected to move one chair further away each time they came. When they reached the end of the table, they had overstayed their welcome and were not invited back.

The Roman Bath House. A portion of these tiles (the yellow ones) were actually made of 24-karat gold, and this entire room is covered in tile from the bottom of the pool, to the walls, to the ceiling.

Here we are by the outdoor pool. This was my favorite part! It's hard to capture the beauty of this pool with a camera.

Ok, onto other things. Last night we attended a concert that I have been looking forward to for months! One of my favorite bands since middle school broke up a few years back and then decided to get back together and do a reunion tour. I know most of you who read this are not huge punk fans, so I'll keep it short. We got to see Taking Back Sunday, Weezer, and, ::drumroll please:: Blink-182!!! The concert lived up to all my expectations. Here's a pic of Pat & I on the lawn. (I just realized that Pat is wearing the same shirt in the Hearst Castle pics as he is in the concert picture below. He does own other shirts, I swear. He just happens to really like that one.)

Alright, I think that's it for updates. It's hard to believe that we've crammed so much into the last few weeks.

To quote one of my favorite songs, "I'm alive and well," and life is very good right now. Peace out.

Ho-ly Crap.

Well I can officially say that the duties and responsibilities of my new life as a worker/grad student/intern hit me smack dab in the face this week. Hard. Like a knock-the-wind-out-of-you and then blow-your-socks-off hard.

Each of my classes require at least 3 hours of reading each week. Multiply that by 4 classes, and that's 12 hours of reading!!!!! In fact, in the last 24 hours alone, I have read a whole book, start to finish. (It's called The Working Poor by David K. Shipler, and it's a must-read for every American who desires to more fully understand the way that the economy affects the lowest wage earners in this country.)

Although this feeling of being overwhelmed and anxiety-ridden is sure to stick around for the next two years, I truly feel blessed to be involved in such an esteemed, competitive program.

And now, dear friends and family, I must log off so that I may attend to the 300+ pages of reading that has staged a hostile takeover of my so-called "holiday weekend".