Well folks, I realize that I said in my last blog that it would be a monthly thing, but that was back in November, and here it is the end of January. Oops. However, in my defense, after Thanksgiving, things were extremely insane. After several presentations at school, finals week, work, being in a wedding, Christmas, the family beach trip, and New Years, December was over before I barely had a chance to breathe. I probably had no brain to blogJ

 

At the end of my week-long vacation after Christmas, the idea of going back to work thoroughly depressed me, but the idea of going back to school was actually….wait for it…EXCITING!!! And that pretty much sums up where I am right now in all of this.

 

Work is…well, work. I do it because I am a big girl now and I have to pay bills and buy other stuff that I need. But school is what I love. Aside from the homework, it’s what I wish I could do all day. And the cool part is, someday I will! And believe me, I am getting more and more anxious for that. Last Thursday, I went to my first practicum session of the term. It’s not even with the population I think I want to work with someday, but I still could not have been happier. I know that I have so much to learn and may not be very good at it right now, but the challenge of learning and growing in the field is so attractive to me. I NEVER felt that as a vocal performance major. Granted, I am very glad I did it. It challenged me, allowed me to improve my skills, and gave me great experiences. But so many singers would talk to me about things like that “high” you get when and after you are performing, and I would think, “What high? I’m relieved that it’s OVER, is that a high?”

 

Well, now…I think I’m starting to understand the “high”. I got a little bit of it today when I led my first intervention in Music in Recreation and Special Education. I also felt it when I was singing to a woman with late stage dementia and helping her play a drum, and she looked at me gave me the most wonderful smile. It’s times like that when I think, “How can I NOT love this?” So if I am ever complaining about all the work, just smack me and remind me of thatJ

 

Well, thank you for reading all of my updates and ramblings! I promise that I will try and post and update more on this thing. I hope you are all having wonderful 2006’s so far!

 

Oh, and in conclusion, I have also started dating one of my best friends, and I couldn’t be happierJ

 

Ciao!

Good morning! So, why I'm up at 8:30am on a Saturday morning is beyond me. I guess my body clock knows what it wants, and I must say, it was VERY nice to wake up on my own for once instead of my brain being jarred by an alarm, which has been the case every day for the past few weeks. So needless to say, I am keeping very busy, but surviving. School did get a lot busier since I wrote last, and if I wasn't at work, at school, or sleeping, I was probably at the computer typing up some sort of something for some class, usually way past my bedtime. I think what makes is worth it, though, is knowing that I'm working toward something that I truly want to do. And really, I'm staying quite sane, the closest thing I feel to INsane is when my week and schedule start to blur. This usually happens in the early morning, and it usually entails me jerking awake, sitting straight up in bed, heart pounding, looking at the clock thinking, "Crap. What day is it? Am I late for work? Do I have a test? What's due? Etc. etc. etc." I even did that this morning. Oops.

On a different note, last Saturday evening was one of the biggest highlights of my year...going to the opera. What can I say, I've got to have my yearly fix Plus, the opera I saw, Tosca, has made my top 3 list, for sure. For anyone who thinks opera is boring or a waste of time, this opera is for you. It has everything; drama, suspense, lust, anger, revenge, murder, passion, and an ending that gave me chills, even though I knew it was coming. Plus, it's just fun to get dressed up once in awhile and have a truly elegant evening.

Well, my morning appetite is starting to kick in pretty quickly here, so I'm going to take care of that, as well as put my contacts in, because I just realized that I'm squinting at this screen as I type, probably not the healthiest thing in the world. Have a good weekend!

I was pondering something when I was driving home last night. All the time, I hear people say things like, "This DJ is really lame", or "They play really crappy music in that place", or even someone saying to someone else, "Man, you don't have any good CDs." These kind of statements have always kind of bugged me, not because I don't think people are entitled to their opinion, especially when it comes to music, but because they say those kind of things as if they were a universal fact. A lot of people may not care for the music they play in Bally Total Fitness, for example, but Joe Smith over there just might love it, therefore it does not suck. And hey, I'm sure if they played mix of famous operatic arias, or Pink Martini, or Rascal Flatts, a lot of people would be crying "LAME" but I sure as heck wouldn't be complaining. 

They always say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I truly believe the same thing about the listener. So let this be my encouragement of the day to all of you: Listen to what you love and to what makes you happy, even if others might call it "lame". And now that I've used the word "lame" at least 3 times in this blog, I am now pondering: What's with that word anyway? Doesn't it mean crippled? Hmm...

Over the last month, I have been pondering "moving" this blog over to my other blog on Myspace, but I am kinda getting the feeling that people like this site and want it to stay. So...it stays!

Ergo, the following entries are blogs that I created on my other site that I just transferred over to this site. Enjoy! Also, thanks for the support and encouragement, you guys rock!!!

Wow, long time no blog, sorry about that. After I finally returned from my house-sitting adventure, I had a little bit of virus trouble on this computer. Ok, not a little bit, my computer was pretty much incapacitated by some demonic virus that multiplied itself thousands of times on my computer (yes, thousands, not exaggerating, I can show you the report). BUT, my friend Norton fixed the problem, go Norton.

Let's see, what else. My life is about to get a little crazy in a few weeks. I will be taking 13 credits at Marylhurst, as well as working 24 hours a week in order to keep my benefits. Luckily, Marylhurst does a good job of keeping the proper classes grouped together, so it's looking like I may just have my school days and my work days separate, except for 1 night class after a work day, which is a huge praise, because making that drive back and forth would NOT be cool, especially with the gas prices these days.

Well, I am thinking I should head to bed right now. I am covering for the radiologists' secretarty tomorrow, and I need to have enough energy to put up with 12 spoiled doctors. Sweet dreams to all!

Ok, so growing up, we all learn important lessons and bits of wisdom that keep us going as alive and functioning human beings. We learn tantamount rules of survival such as looking both ways before crossing the street and not eating poinsonous substances. However, now that most of us are in our twenties, these things are second nature to us. But have you ever (and maybe this is just me) come across something maybe not as huge as not looking before crossing the street, but just something that would have been really nice to know that you somehow missed? Well, I did tonight, and unfortunately, I am still suffering from the experience.

Earlier this evening, I made a huge T-Bone steak with a killer rub, and I was quite pleased with how it turned out. But of course, nothing is EVER simple and normal in Megan-land. Along with cooking the steak, I was also chopping up some bell peppers, along with a couple jalapeno chili peppers for kicks. Those turned out fine as well, but LITTLE DID I KNOW that a "substance found in the skin of a chili pepper could cause irritation or burning on the skin". Let me just say that irritation is the biggest, fattest understatement of the century. Right now, my hands literally feel like they are on fire. I am not exaggerating. As I've been typing all this, I've had to get up three different times to run my hands under cold water, and about 20 seconds later, the burning is back. And I don't mean to whine, but it huuuuurts I am currently storing two wet washcloths in the freezer to wrap around my hands when I go to bed in a bit, or I'm telling you right now...I ain't sleepin'. I've also loaded up on Advil, and I guess time will have to heal the rest. But before I go, a strong word of advice: (although, like I was saying earlier, this could easily be one of those obvious "never do this" rules that I somehow missed) When working with hot peppers, use gloves, unless you want World War III on your hands. Thank you and goodnight.

So, you know what's really good? Frozen grapes. Seriously, just keep a bowl of grapes in the freezer, and they make a stinkin good snack. The right side of my tongue is numb as I type, it's quite fun.

Anyway, I am almost a week into my longest house-sitting job yet. These people are in Greece until August 27, leaving me in charge of the house and pets, and I must say, its a pretty good deal. I am making money, get a house to myself, and plus they have a big screen TV with surround sound and DirectTV or whatever it's called. This 500 something channel cable is something that I have never had before, but I must say, it's fun! Also, the wife of this family is pretty into interior decorating and stuff, so I kind of feel like I'm living in Potterybarn or something. Very chic. However, nothing is perfect and I learned that hard lesson the first night here when one of their two dogs literally freaked out. This is honestly a story that is a whole other blog in itself, but let's just say that my co-workers got a good laugh over it the next day. The two dogs are fine now though, and they also have two cats that I realized that I didn't even know their names, so I have affectionately named them "Cat" and "Other Cat".

Well, I actually need to go now, but I just wanted to say hey! I hope you are having an oh-so-stellar Monday!

I am honestly kind of a random thinker, but once I get fixated on a topic, I tend to spend a lot of time pondering it and digging quite deep mentally (sometimes to the point of total confusion and having to stop thinking about it for awhile). Well, lately I've been thinking a lot about extroverts and introverts. I know a lot of us have taken that Meyers/Briggs test, either in a psychology class or just online, and the very first part of the result displays whether you are more extroverted or introverted (E or I)

It has honestly been awhile since I’ve taken that test (I took it in Psych 101) but I do remember being an “I” and that I was about sixty something percent introverted. So I guess I am kind of a mixture of both, but I’m honestly kind of proud that the “I” won out. It’s weird, in my class, I was kind of getting the vibe that most people were wanting to be “E”s. I think there tends to be an assumption (and this is putting it bluntly) that extroverts are happy, carefree, fun people with active lives and tons of friends and that introverts are quiet, shy “thinkers” who just like to sit alone in their room all day.

Well, I think those of you that know me well probably wouldn’t use “quiet” as their adjective of choice to describe me, and from some of my closest friends, “nut” and “crazy” are some common ones I’ve heard used. BUT…a lot of people I know have told me that they thought I was so quiet and reserved when they first met me, and so when the silliness comes out, it totally catches them off guard. My boss even said this at a staff meeting the other day, and everyone around the table who interacts with me on a daily basis burst out laughing. But like I said before, I am quite proud of my introverted-ness, and I think that’s because it’s been with me much longer. When I was little and starting school, I was quite shy and timid, and I think the “E” in me has been ever-so-gradually added the older I have gotten.

Another conclusion I think I’ve come to is that our extrovert and introvert tendencies are greatly influenced by those around us, whether it be our friends or merely acquaintances. For example, one of my closest friends, Julie, is an obvious extrovert. If she and I were having a conversation with a total stranger, I’d bet you money that “John Doe” would later say that Julie was talkative and outgoing, and that Megan was shy and quiet. But if John were to have a conversation with me and someone who was more shy than myself, then I would most likely step up and carry on our end of the conversation more, which could lead John to later say, “Oh yeah, Megan is pretty outgoing and talkative.” If you think about it, it’s crazy how much we tend to tweak how we act depending on who else is around or who we’re talking to. I’m not even saying that’s bad, I guess it’s just us adapting to the “environment”, but it is still kind or a bummer to think that lots of people probably never see who we truly are.

Another constantly pondered issue is, “Who meshes with who?” For example, should an extrovert marry an introvert? Many would say yes, because they could balance each other out. Many others would say no way, each would drive the other one crazy. OK, so an extrovert should marry an extrovert. Oh wait, then they might talk each other crazy or burn each other out. What about an introvert and an introvert? Hmm, then would anybody talk at all? Ok, obviously I’m being a little silly, but it IS interesting to think about what compliments what, and what doesn’t. Same goes with friendships. We all have people that we click with instantly, people that we don’t click with at all, and still some people that it may take awhile to click with, but it still ends up being a great friendship. There’s even people that we may THINK we click with at first, but in the long run, we can’t stand them anymore. Anyway, this is obviously a way bigger issue than just extroverted versus introverted, but I still can’t help but wonder how big of a role it plays. If one person is extremely shy and another cannot STOP talking, it may just take just one tiny thing that could connect them and make them best friends, in spite of their contrasting personalities. And that just goes to show how intricate relationships are and how the Lord knows exactly what He is doing in how He created us and who He brings into our lives.

Anyway, I know this was long and I hope at least some of it made sense. I just thought it’d be fun to spill out some of the randomness of my brain. Thoughts and comments welcome! Auf  Wiedersehen!

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You can't even tell, but I'm wearing the Sobe arm band they gave me.

Later!