the first week of school

The beginning of a new semester always throws me off. Especially since my professors have started emailing the class before the semester has actually started, with homework and readings to complete before our first class. Who knew that having email could bring such negative responsibilities with it! Of course, I never do the pre-semester homework, and so I feel slightly overwhelmed and behind from day 1.

Professionally, a lot of things are happening in the coming year for me. The one foremost on my mind is my interpreting certification. My Level 1 Certification will lapse in October 2009. This means I now have one year remaining to pass my test. Since my boss at the University asked me to learn a new interpreting system last year and I started graduate school at the same time, my focus has been somewhat spread out, and unfortunately diverted from this priority (the Level 2 Certification). Over the summer, I met with several mentors to work on professional development and getting closer to passing my test. I will continue working with those mentors. I also told my coordinator at the University that I couldn't do much work in the new signing system this semester, because I want interpreting to be my top priority right now. Happily, I got a lot of hours, and the vast majority are classes which require me to interpret (I'm only doing one cueing class every other week). I feel confident and excited about taking the test this year.

So, although I am still taking classes toward my graduate degree, I feel that my focus is shifted away from that, and so I am only taking 13.5 credit hours this semester. hee hee. I realize that I say only 13.5 graduate credits, but this really does seem like a light load--especially compared to my 18 credits per semester last year. The classes I am taking are interesting and my professors seem great so far, so I am excited about proceeding on with them.

We haven't had a lot of time to chat about it, but as far as I can tell, Brett is enjoying his classes as well. He's getting a bit stressed and overwhelmed because he feels behind already, but I think he'll do really well and enjoy his classes a lot. He's trying to figure out if he can fit an ASL class into his schedule for his non-technical credits. I really hope he can do it.

Because this blog has been pretty information intensive, I'll leave you with some kitty photos to make it a little more interesting.

school

I've officially started my final year of graduate school. Because last year went by so quickly, this summer during the rare times that I actually thought about school, my thoughts were "I'm totally already done. Last year went by so fast, this year is going to be over before I know it. It's so over, I'm done." A small voice is telling me that I'm in for a rude awakening next week when classes start.

I went to "Second Year Orientation" today. Mostly I'm just glad it was only one day, unlike "First Year Orientation" which lasted a week and included manual labor. Today was mostly several hours of them telling us how bad the market is right now and that if we didn't started our job search yesterday, we're past all hope and we'll be waiting tables for the rest of our lives. Well, I already have a job, several jobs, in fact--how do you like that?

I took Joel's First Day of School picture from his blog because I think this is one of the best I've seen. His expression is perfect; it shows precisely what we all are feeling in anticipation for the upcoming semester. Good luck to everyone!

new york

Well, we went on our last trip of the summer, out to New York. My brother, Dave, and his wife, Devon, live there. So does our friend Jake. (All the pictures of Jake were out of focus. Sometimes my camera drives me crazy.) Dave and Devon are moving to Philadelphia at the end of this month, so we decided to make a trip while we could still hang out with them.

We went to NYC about three years ago, and it was my first time really going to New York. I went with my family when I was 12, but that trip was a whirlwind. We drove, with all seven of us in our minivan from Utah to the East Coast, stopping at all the great sites along the way. It was only a two-week long trip, so I think we spent about 2 hours in New York (that is only a slight exaggeration). So, when Brett and I went three years ago, I had my tourist list out and ready. I was checking things off right and left, seeing everything we could fit in. I remember loving the city and trying to convince Brett and we wanted to live there.

This time, we were much more relaxed. My goal was to get up every day and do whatever came to mind. We stayed with Jake from Friday to Monday and with Dave & Devon from Monday to Friday.

On Saturday, we went to Governor's Island with a few of Dave and Devon's friends. The island is just past the southern tip of Manhattan. It doesn't really seem to be a place anyone really goes, whether they are tourists or New Yorkers, and so we decided to see what it was about. There were great views of the city from the island.

Brett even found WALL-E!
An African festival was set up on one side of the island, while a Civil War reenactment was on the other side.
They shot off a canon and everything! All in all, it was pretty weird.



On Sunday, we wandered around Central Park with Jake. The pointy building behind Brett's head is the hotel where John Lennon got shot, I believe. We took a blanket with us and sat on the grass for a while, until it started to rain.Then we went to see the largest Synagogue in the world. It was very beautiful and very large.

After the Synagogue, we headed over to St. Patrick's Cathedral, with a short stop in the Apple Store on the way. Apple bought the plaza and built a small atrium in it, where the entrance is, but then you go down the stairs into the store underground. So the plaza is still there, with benches and tables and whatnot. It was pretty cool looking and very crowded.
St Patrick's was beautiful. Mass was just about starting when we got there, so they were playing the organ. I took a video of the organ and the beautiful stained glass, but I felt guilty doing it, because I'm not sure I was supposed to. So I'm not posting it either. I love cathedrals.
We ate dinner at a magical place called The Eatery and I got Macaroni and Cheese. It was so yummy, and I took a picture of it, but the picture made it look gross. When we were ordering, we saw a waiter walk by with the yummiest looking dessert I've ever seen, so we got one of those after we had stuffed ourselves on the meal. Then we met Dave at the movies and watched Hellboy 2. We went back to Jake's apartment in Harlem and played Mario Kart on the Wii.

On Monday, we took our bags over to Dave and Devon's place in Brooklyn, and then we wandered around. We walked through Times Square on our way to the guitar shops Brett wanted to see.

We spent about 2 hours in the guitar shops (Sam Ash and Manny's). Here is Brett with an 8-string guitar (most guitars have 6).
We headed over to the New York Public Library, which we missed last time because they were making a movie and it was closed. We missed it again this time, because they had closed for the day 15 minutes before we got there.

The next day we went to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. I had just watched Karate Kid for the first time a few weeks before, so that added a little extra fun to the Banzai trees.
The rest of the gardens were very nice, it was relaxing to wander around slowly.
We tried to go to Grimaldi's Pizza for dinner, which is pretty much the best pizza I've ever tasted. When we got there, the line was extra long to get in so we decided to head over to DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) to find something faster. In Dave's words, the night was one debacle after another. We wandered around near the river for a while, where there were no restaurants. Once we got to the restaurants, Brett had to use the bathroom so badly he wasn't thinking straight, I was so tired I wasn't thinking straight, and Dave was being flexible and indecisive and so we wandered from place to place without going in anywhere. Finally, Dave decided we'd go into a place Devon had been before and we all ordered tacos. When the tacos came out, we found ourselves in yet another debacle. The tacos were about 3 inches in diameter (very tiny). They were delicious, but not sufficient to curb our hunger. So after we ate the tacos, we headed across the street to get ice cream, cookies, and gummy bears at the market. We went back to the apartment with our food and played Rockband the rest of the night.

And the next day, Brett and I went to Grimaldi's for lunch. It was all I wanted it to be and more. I even got a table before the woman in line that had the annoying dog-voice (meaning she talked to dogs in a range much higher than anyone should) and who I hated the moment I saw her. I can't really tell you why, but I just hated her. Because we were a table for 2 and she was a table for 3, we got in first. hee hee.

After the pizza, we walked down to a park at the edge of the river. In this picture, you can see the Brooklyn Bridge up close, then the Manhattan beyond it. You can even see the Empire State building off to the left in the distance. There is a waterfall under the bridge, which is one of seven (or so) that someone built as public art.
We went to see Ground Zero.
And we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is taken from the Rooftop Garden. Very cool. A storm was coming in, and we sat on a bench waiting for it to rain, because I wanted to see everyone start screaming and pushing each other to get inside when the rain started. Unhappily, I didn't get to see anything of the kind, because the museum guards started yelling at us to go inside sooner than there was any real danger.
Several times throughout the week, we went shopping on Broadway, to the H&M and the Uniqlo. We shopped at the H&M in London when we lived there, and I'm happy they are starting to build them over here now. I think they might even build one here in Salt Lake, maybe in 15 more years. Ha. We also stopped for frozen yogurt several times. This is something else on which I'm going to start focusing my positive affirmations. I need a store near me. The frozen yogurt didn't taste like regular frozen yogurt. It actually tasted like vanilla yogurt that was frozen, and then you added fruit or candy toppings. Oh my goodness. On the same level as the caramel apples. And, we played Rockband with Dave and Devon at their apartment several times during the week. Great fun.

The plan was to go to Coney Island on Friday, before we had to catch our plane. But it was supposed to thunderstorm all day, so we ended up wandering around Brooklyn instead. We stopped at a nice little park on the River, which had a good view of Manhattan.
Dave said he hadn't ever been in the water on this side of the river, so he had to go down and get a little wet, before they move.
I remembered to take pictures of Dave and Devon's place this time (although I forgot to take any pictures of Jake's apartment). This is the street they live on.
This is the Brownstone they live in, on the third floor.
This is inside their apartment. It was very nice.
After what felt like a super long day already, we headed to the airport. There was a storm at JFK and so they closed the runway. They kept taunting us, telling us we would leave soon. They even put us on a shuttle and drove us out to the plane, where we sat in the lightning storm for an hour before they sent us back to the terminal. The pilot said he didn't want any of us on the plane in the storm. I guess he didn't mind us sitting in the shuttle during that storm, though. We finally got onto the plane and then we sat there, not moving for another hour or two. They told us at one time that the airport had stopped all westbound air traffic, but that we were 20th in line, so we should be off right away. We finally were off, and we made it home at about 3am Friday night. I went to bed and slept until Sunday afternoon.

After this trip, I've decided that I like Salt Lake. I like the pace of the world here, no one pushes me if I'm moving too slowly. I like having a car, and being able to ride my motorcycle. I like how clean the city is and that I have a yard. I don't even feel like moving to Chicago anymore.

another quote

I've only been cleaning and reading for the past few days, so I've been avoiding the blogging. Here's another interesting thought I found in another book I read:

A man arrives at the gates of heaven. St. Peter asks, "Religion?"

The man says, "Methodist." St. Peter looks down his list, and says, "Go to room twenty-eight, but be very quiet as you pass room eight."

Another man arrives at the gates of heaven. "Religion?" "Baptist."

"Go to room eighteen, but be very quiet as you pass room eight."

A third man arrives at the gates. "Religion?"

"Jewish."

"Go to room eleven, but be very quiet as you pass room eight."

The man says, "I can understand there being different rooms for different religions, but why must I be quiet when I pass room eight?"

St Peter says, "The Mormons are in room eight, and they think they're the only ones here."

(from "Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes")

my sister

Today, I went out with my sister. I drove down to Lindon on my motorcycle and we went to Kneaders for all you can eat french toast. Oh my, it was delicious. I was too busy eating to remember to take a picture. So much for all you can eat, however, because I didn't even finish my first portion.

After breakfast, we went back home and looked at pictures online of an apartment she is hoping to rent. (Positive affirmations, everyone: "I'm so grateful that Amy got that apartment she wants so badly.") She showed me the pictures while I sat in her mother-in-law's massage chair. That was just plain wonderful. It had the massaging ottoman, the kind where you put your feet into these slits and the chair grabs them in a vise-like grip and then massages your legs up to your knees. Meanwhile, the seat of the chair was pounding on my hamstrings and backside (which were sore today from practicing yoga).

Once I had my massage and had seen the pictures, we went on a short hike. That is something I love about living here; we drove a block or two away from her house to a trail head for a hike going up some random small canyon. It was very steep, so we didn't get far (after that french toast breakfast, I don't know who could). And after the hike, we got Jamba Juice and went back to the house to meet the nieces and nephew.

My sister is moving to Chicago in two weeks. She's heading out to start graduate school at the Art Institute of Chicago. I'm going to miss her so much. She's a wonderful friend and support. When we were small, she had wild blonde hair that tangled around her head. My mom said it looked like a halo and always called her an angel. She has always been the peacemaker in our family, constantly hugging and apologizing and working to make everyone content. (Needless to say, I never got the angel title. My title was more like "the boss" or "the liar".)

It is sad to see our family spreading out all over the place, but I know that because of my parents and grandparents, we have developed ties that will keep us close no matter where we live. (This includes a tie called "love of travel", which will ensure that we all visit each other often.)