I get four extra letters after my name (plus the three I got after grad school)!!! I passed my boards to receive my license for social work (LCSW). I can legally say I’m a social worker now 
Not that I wasn’t before…but in this state, I can now offical do so and practice. No more studying for a looonng time! I could go for my LICSW (second license exam) but that can wait for now. I don’t plan to open my own practice anytime soon or supervise a graduate-level social worker. Whew! 170 questions and 4 hours taken out of my life–I can cointinue on with my lifeI Like join a gym (I’ll actually have time!), read for fun, clean the house…take baby out more and travel. Now I wait for my offical papers to arrive in two weeks… Whoo hoo to job security! And is that raise I hear….? I am now: Lena _______, MSW, LCSW. At least that how’s I have to sign my professional name on legal documents. (Don’t worry, I’ll get off this high soon and hate writing stupid lengthy letters for my signature.)
May 29th,2009
Work |
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Happy Mother’s Day! Enjoy–as I’ll enjoy mine, too
We finally have good weather–in New England! To embrace the heat wave, we took our daughter to a park a co-worker recommended. The water park section wasn’t open yet but it was just so…beautiful. It’s so nice to have a CLEAN park so close by to enjoy. The parks in town are meh…this one was in a neighboring town. At first we avoided others by letting Nadia run around the grass shasing her soccer ball, but it got so hot that when she caught it, she would just sit down. LOL! It was so sunny it was difficult to find any shade in the wide expanse of grass–did I tell you the park was GREEN?? Heck, there were trees swaying in the warm breeze. I’m getting poetic. I felt transported to a surreal place. Our parks have trash and run down equipment. (Don’t I sound snotty? LOL).
Sorry, I was distracted by all the greenery and cleanliness. So we hit the playground section and I got a kick out observing (sociology classes paid off!)
- any child Nadia’s age, plus or minus an age, had a parent litterally following their every move–it was comical! Not that we didn’t do that with our 1 1/2 year old!
- school-age children’s parents preferred to sit some where close by and shout things out: “Don’t do that” “Be careful” “That’s NOT how you gdown a slide!” LOL
- some parents just became a playground Nazi and barked at their kid for every little thing before dragging them out of the park by the hand! (do NOT let me be that one)
- Loved LOVED how Nadia interacted with babies her age and how they’re react back–staring intently at each other or touching each other’s clothes like they were alien
Nadia seemed to enjoy watching the kids play more than playing herself. You could tell the kids who went there were playgournd pros–climbing everything and anything…while Nadia watched. I was impressed by their athleticism. I wasn’t feeling well so Martin was her shadow while I sat down and watched. I had to smile whenever Nadia met a new friend, the parent of that child felt compelled to talk to Martin, too. You could easily tell that each parent was inspecting your child (due to same age) and comparing her to theirs, especially when they asked how old she was. Hidden meaning? Your child is 17 months…and she can do…while mine can do… Is this what happens when you become a parent?
Hilarious quote of the day: “Don’t run, Lill! It’s just not my thing!” A young, tanned mother panted as her dolled up one year old ran ahead of her. I chuckled at the thought of Young Lilly turning into a tomboy at the horror of her glitzy mother. Tee hee!
OBAMA! President Obama that is! I was sad that not only did we NOT have cable to watch the historic event, but that I would be WORKING at the time he would be swearing in. Luckily, I got to watch the swearing in of both Vice Prez Joe Biden and Prez Obama with my residents before I attended yet another meeting. I’m sure I can now YouTube the whole thing–but at least I’ll know the whats, wheres, and whens at the time it happened. Even little Nadia got to witness it–though she won’t remember it. Her babysitter had it on while watching it.
I digress, but speaking of cable, we will get back on the 31st! Martin misses it more than I do–he can’t watch his football or follow stocks. Eh. I stream all “my shows” to avoid long commercials. Hee! (Thanks Abc.com and NBC.com). My only downfall is Lost. TOMORROW! I’ll watch that live, but for now I’ll have to wait until Thursday… 
We used to get Comcast for free from our apartment complex, but now they’ve upped the rent and cut free cable to ring in the new year with…so we’re getting Direct TV. Hopefully, they’re good–anyone heard any different?
A big storm on Friday and another one today! Another one predicted before Christmas day… Oh my! We are so not snow people, but the weather is determined to bury us underneath it. So please pray for people who lost power (and still don’t have power) and are trying to survive through these Northeasters and storms. We were the lucky ones that didn’t loose power yet…
December 21st,2008
Life,
Musings |
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I judged. I thought it a little strange but not strange strange that a co-worker of mine dreamed of a resident’s death. I guess it was a little freaky, or from a social work/mental health perspective–time to take a break from work! You know it’s getting to you if you start dreaming about work…or worse, when you bring it home!!! Thank goodness I don’t have to do that for this current job.
So what do I wake up to this morning? A feeling of dread because I dreamt of another resident’s death!!! This is not even my assigned resident and I don’t even know how he looks like because he’s been ill and has a private room… In the dream, I knew that he had died because there were family members and medical staff surrounding his bed as the machines went off. I knew it was him because someone mentioned his name. Eee!!! And I don’t mean an Obama “eeee!!”. This is a freaky eeeeee! Since that, I’ve felt like a dark cloud was hanging over me…like I was waiting to hear if the resident did pass, or the other sick resident whom my co-worker dreamed about. I was into dream interpretation/predictions back in high school but that was then…
Is it too early to take a vacation if you haven’t worked the 3 month probation period? And I’m not even burnt out. In fact, I like this place!
November 18th,2008
Life,
Work |
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Nadia celebrated her big First Birthday yesterday!!! We can’t believe our little one is actually 1 years old! Was she really born that short while ago? I feel like it wasn’t too long ago that I was rubbing my belly when baby moved or feel a freakish foot jut out of my belly when she kicked. (That was a really freakish experience the first time and the ones following that!) Or maybe I’m confused because…I still have my belly! I saw footage that my dad shot of her birthday and it wasn’t pretty on the huge tv screen! So unflattering. They should home video viewing illegal on big screens. No wonder why 99,5% of Hollywood is anorexic or have eating disorders. (I gave them a .5% credit, didn’t I?) :) So we’ll definately have to invest in a gym membership or people will start thinking we’re working on Number Two!
Overall, we stuck to a nice budget for a baby birthday party with just family and close friends. My parents ended up inviting their friends anyway! What the heck? At least they left early (after my parents got them drunk!) Nadia cried when we all sang “Happy Birthday”–it was just too overwhelming for her. I told my parents that WHY we wanted a small gathering. Next party will be at our place–where we will control the guest list. But she recovered. I was a little disappointed that she didn’t mash her personal cake like a baby would do… I swiped her fingers across the frosting and she looked at her sticky fingers with a “What the heck, Mom???” face. I guess she is a little princess. She didn’t want to ruin her dress and hair! 
Maybe for the terrible twos or threes she’ll be more rumbuncious.
Thanks to everyone who came and she loves the gifts. Thanks to everyone who couldn’t attend but still thought of her in spirt. She’s a much loved little girl. I can see why she’s so needy after she comes home, because it’s just Mom and Dad and not plus Grandpa, Grandma, uncles, aunties and other people seeking her attention. As for us, we get to enjoy the quiet.
Eeeeeeeeeee!!! Congrats to our new president, President Barak Obama!!! Martin and I popped open sparkling cider to celebrate. We’re not drinkers, but if I had to hear Palin speak for the next four years, we would have brought out the heavier stuff!!!
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! No words can express what I feel right now. We were really nervous that people would like Barak, want to vote for him but then get to the poll booths and change their minds because the thought of a black president further outweighed the issues. Faith, Lena, faith. Eee! (Last one!)
