Slowing conquering the mountain

There are gains being made, slow but hopefully sure and steady.

Literally holding my breathe a bit, and chewing on a thumbnail, riddled with trepidation I decided to look at my evaluation on the Research course. The professor marked as not satisfactory but excellent in several categories such as:
- Breadth of coverage
- Creativity in approach
- Connected self reflection in course material
- Organization and development of ideas
and, Sunny will be SO pleased
- Grammar and punctuation

Not so surprisingly I did not do quite so well on APA style issues and in his assessment of my comprehension of quantitative research - I agree! He wrote some other nice things that definitely gave me a boost. This is just the thing I needed to keep me focused on school because let's face it, I need all the help and bolstering I can get to make progress on my highly ambitious goals there.

Next up, on Wednesday I got a call from The Agency saying they had two referrals for clients for me to choose from. A 13 year boy in a nearby (relatively speaking) location or a 15 year old distinctly further away. I asked my contact person who she would choose and she replied "the girl". So I said okay. Nervous anxiety floated to the surface immediately. One, can I be even close to successful again. Two, what will she be like, will I connect with her and her guardian (her grandmother). Three, how will I adjust my schedule to add in all the freaking writing this will require in addition to my outrageous academic goals? Scheduling? Ha. Less web time? I can feel the withdrawal already and am not sure I can do it without klonopin.

Yesterday was my phone interview with House o' Sperm. It went okay, though I was less than pleased with parts of my performance but apparently the Executive Director felt otherwise because she informed me that she would like to proceed on to the next round. My interview time, tentatively is in three weeks. Yes, three weeks, November 30th. After that I would have a meeting with the peer group and either that day or another I would sit in for a bit to see what the job is really like. So, even if everything in the world works out and it's all a mutual love fest, I would not begin working there until the middle of December. Good thing The Agency has a client for me.

Later that day, really right after the phone interview I went to The Agency for a staff meeting and group supervision. I was assured that my client and I are a really good match. Going over cases was really good, and I got to exercise some brain muscles in a much more real way than school work provides - always a good thing. Afterwards was the best however. I reviewed the referral file and I do feel good about my new client. But. But. But. It gets better, oh so much better. I got a check, which I promptly slipped into my bag. After we broke up our groups, my supervisor, a Jewish Santa Claus of a guy - such a sweetie - told me to open the envelope up. I had just figured it was my replacement check for the first two weeks of August pay that disappeared into the void that is that office. Given the fiscal situation at Casa de Cedar I was grateful for anything at all. It seemed a small thing and most of the other staff had left, so I opened it. My eyes FLEW open at the amount. Jewish Santa explained that they had followed up on my question about getting paid at a lower hourly amount than I had expected. Apparently I had been underpaid for at least some of my months there and I knew they were seeing how much retroactive pay they could procure. Seriously I hadn't thought it would amount to much at all. This check will take my checking account out of the red and put it firmly in the almost black. I hugged Jewish Santa and am amazed I didn't burst into tears because given the situation, moneywise right now, it would have been totally appropriate.

In other news TGF went to an info meeting about a job and felt really good about and was told in hushed tones that it was a no-brainer that she would get hired. However this too is a long process in terms of hiring. So in the meantime she has reworked her ad to go back on craigslist as the magnificent computer tech of your dreams.

We are also getting excited by the prospect of Greg and Janet coming to act as our house guests over the Thanksgiving holiday. I am really excited for them to meet our newest additions, Saana and Marcel. Since Greg's eyes glaze over when I write about knitting, I am thinking of making him sit though an L-O-N-G interview with my yarn stash and knitting magazines. Yep, I'm evil and he knows it, loves me anyway.

To quote various pop culture, that's all the news from Casa de Cedar. At least what's printable :-)