New York in the Winter

(Central Park in the winter)

Though we had only been home (Boston) about 15 days, we headed back out to visit some friends in the NYC. We also had planned to check out an International Motorcycle convention that was taking place that week.

(Our future get away car)

(My future toy)

One of my favorite parts of this trip was spending the day outside in the snow in Central Park. We walked around for hours while it snowed and visited the carousel, the castle and finally ended up at the Natural History Museum. It was a great way to spend our last day in New York.

Don't forget the positives.

When I got home today from school I started telling James about my day and by the end up it I realized that he was looking kinda upset. I asked him what was wrong, and he half smiled and said that I had just rattled off a list of the day's bad spots. I realized that I had completely forgot to mention the part about hanging my artwork in a group show, which went really well.

Lately, I have been getting so stuck on the negatives. For this particular occasion I think I may be coming down with a cold, or at least fighting it off. That always leaves me a bit drained. So I'm doubling up on my vitamin C and taking my vitamins and going to give myself some extra care.

In general though, I think it's just so easy to get stuck on the bad stuff of life, so over the next week I'm going to be paying careful attention to this, and hopefully can kick the habit. In life I think it's all about what you do with the bad stuff that helps determine where your life goes and the quality of it. I for one would prefer to have a happy life, so I'm not going to get stuck on the low points, but instead try to transform those moments. That's my goal at least . Stay positive.

Artwork Up.

Today I installed a piece of artwork at school for a group art show. It feels good to be doing something so familiar and something I know very well. I chose to display a piece that I think I wrote about earlier, the bindle stick or "hobo bag". The reception for the show is next week, so I will take a picture then and post it up.

It feels good to be focused on something other than my feelings for a change. I'm really looking forward to the end of the semester.

Therapist, I am not.

While it's been a while since I've written here, it has mostly been because I have been in a bit of a mental debate. I have decided to take next semester off from school to reconsider whether I want to be a therapist or not. While I feel like I had consider this before, there is nothing like the experience to show one the opposite.

Over the last 2 months I have been working at Tewksbury State hospital, which I was really excited about, until I started. And it was probably after I learned of the severity of the patients problems that I started to realize that I do not want to be trying to heal these people. While I do want to make the world a better place, I am not sure I want to do it this way. I am a very sensitive and emotional person and doing this work leaves me drained and depressed.

So my plan is to get a job after I return from Florida and to work and make art. I'll be staying in Boston because there are still a lot more opportunities up here than in Florida. In addition, this will give me the option to continue the program if I realize that it is where I want to be. I've also been looking at another program at my school called "Community Arts" which is a masters in Education. It's a shorter program and would redirect my work back to the type of work that I had been doing. I think education is a better place for me.

I'll keep you updated on the process. Right now I'm feeling really good about this decision, and everyone at school has been really supportive too. It was difficult at first to not feel like I had failed, but the truth is that I'm glad I tried it and would have never really known otherwise.

Ticket Booked.

Well, I have my ticket booked to return home for the holidays. I'll be making my departure down there on Dec. 18 and my return is expected (although not yet bought) Jan 1, 2009. So i should have about 2 weeks to spend time with all the people I love and miss from the SoFla area. I have to say, I'm rather excited. I've actually always wanted to be able to come "home for the holidays" so its pretty exciting to me.

As it gets closer I'll start talking to everyone to see what the best dates are to see people. I do know that I'm probably spending Christmas Ev, Day and Post in Orlando. So other than those days I'm pretty free.

I look forward to seeing everyone in December!

Finally Starting

On Tuesday I finally began my internship site. And by that I mean I went to orientation. It's interesting working for such a huge facility. I've never worked somewhere so large. The site, Tewksbury State Hospital is a government funded facility for those that need specialized long term care, or for those that have no benefits. It's an interesting place and I can already tell that I am going to learn a lot. I'm a little nervous about working with adults, but it was the same thing when I started working with kids, and I loved that. One thing is for sure, I'll either love it, or I'll go back to working with kids. I'm so interested to see how its all going to unfold.

I'm most excited about the space we have. My site supervisor is really nice and encouraging and I look forward to working with her. Just today I started to get excited about all the possibilites of the space and the site.

There'll be more updates as I learn more.

Apple Picking

(Our Bounty)

I've heard in these parts that a big part of fall time is going apple picking. Today James and I had some free time to get out on the bike and go out and try this festive activity. We picked a small orchid, but it had numerous types of apples: Gala, McIntosh, Honey crisp, Red Delicious and many more. We took home a peck, which is 10 lbs. of apples, the smallest you can take. To get to where the apples are you park your car (or in our case the motorcycle) at the farm stand and then they give you a hay ride out to the orchid. The best part was trying different apples as we walked along. Neither of us knew much about apples, but we got a good lesson today. It felt like being in the garden of Eden; picking from such an abundant selection.

(James and I on the hay ride out)

(Trying to decide which apples I want)
(James carrying our peck of apples in the orchid)