All or Nothing

I seem to have only 2 speeds in my life. All or nothing. Right now i have jumped into the All phase. As in ALways busy All the time. He-he. I guess my boring summer did not teach me much about good time management. I think that is something i will always struggle with.
My college classes are going good. I am very nervous about my Interviewing and Counseling class. Last week we practiced meeting our "client" in the "waiting room" and how to introduce ourselves to him/her and what to say as we walk back to the office, and what our opening words should be. This is something i really never thought about, but it is so important because it sets the tone for the WHOLE session. The whole time i practiced with my partner, it just felt fake and unnatural. We are also learning about reflective listening, and it's a lot harder than it sounds. I always thought i was a good listener, but it turns out i talk too much, especially when i'm nervous. And i'm nervous. I need to tape my first 20 minute "session" within the next 2 weeks, and i feel totally unprepared. I have no idea what i'm doing and I feel very inadequate. I do not like group practice, but i see that it is necessary. My partner is also intimidated, so i tend to take on a mothering role with her to set her mind at ease--which is not a role that entails reflective listening. We are not to give advice, lecture, agree, disagree---just reflect what we hear the client say. It is a skill i will need to practice, but it is uncomfortable thing to practice unless i know i have it "right" which i won't do until I practice......and around it goes. It's just a comfort level thing that i'm sure will get better with time.
Ethics class is easier. Just a lot of reading right now. And a lot to think about. When a person is a counselor, she has a lot of responsibility for her client. It's like we as counselors hold the life, or at least mental life, of our clients in the palm of our hands. Big responsibility. It's not all about "listening" and their are many issues i had not even considered. It is all very enlightening.
Rachel's schooling is going pretty good. Her first day at Three M, the school she goes to once a week for Science and martial arts, went REALLY well. Thank God she loved it. She just loves being outside of the home and being around other people. The science work is really challenging, as the book was actually made for eight graders, but she is learning effective note taking and reading comprehension, which she will need in her future. Her attitude remains pretty good in general, and it has been a pleasure teaching her these last 2 weeks. One problem we are having with her is a problem she has been having in her legs. Her legs have been hurting a lot and the pain is only relieved if she walks on them. She says that they fell like they "have to move". This is a new problem for her, so i took her to the doctor, mostly because her dad has RLS (restless leg syndrome) and it is hereditary. She will need to get some blood test to rule out a few things, but i'm glad we are getting it checked out. I never know if the physical problems my kids have warrant a doctors office visit or not, but many times i am wrong. Either i take them and it was not a problem, or i don't take them and it really was a problem. Once, Erin had a broken wrist for almost a week until we went to a doctor, and on the other hand, once i rushed Rachel to the hospital for a glorified tummy ache (which, i should add, we are still paying for). I'm clueless.
Matthew has been experiencing knee pain since we were vacationing in Florida this summer. I have been telling him to ice it, take ibuprofen, rest it, etc. But, it started getting really, really bad in the past week or two and he went to the trainer at his school to have it looked at. The trainer told him it looked and sounded like a meniscus was torn in his knee-cap and that we should get it looked at by a professional. Which we did the other day. And, the doctor thinks it very well could be a tear than may require surgery. We just had an MRI done yesterday and will follow up with the doctor in a couple days. We are all anxious to find out what is going on, me because i want his knee to feel better, and Matt because he tried out for the fall play but he doesn't know if he will soon be on crutches or not, so he is not sure if he will actually be able to preform the part even if he gets it. Of course, if it does require surgery, it will need to be done soon because (according to Matt) he needs to be in tip-top shape for Basketball season, which starts in late fall/early winter. He has been practicing all summer, so it is pretty important to him to play on the team this year. As for me, I just feel bad that i did not get him into the doctor sooner so that we could have had this taken care of when we had nothing else to do. So, as you can see, i never know whether something should be checked out by a doctor or not, and since we have sooooo many medical bills already from all the times we went to the doctor unnecessarily, i was trying to cut back. I guess i guessed wrong about this one. Please pray for Matt.
On to Erin......I just ordered her senior pictures. As we went over the list of all the pictures we wanted, i started wondering if it would be illegal to order just a couple poses and than scan and print more for myself. That would be WAY less expensive, but would it be legal?? We weren't really sure, but Erin said it was not legal because we don't own the rights to the negatives. I really am not sure, but we decided to air on the side of caution and just order all the pictures we would need from the photographer. WOW. Expensive. It's gonna take me at least 2 months to pay off that balance!!! But, i must say, the pictures are gorgeous!! If you want to take a peak at them, e-mail me and i'll give you a link to the web-site of the photographer, they have her proofs online. Erin is paying her senior dues herself, thank God. 135 dollars for cap and gown and year book. I had originally told her i would pay for her yearbook, but i did not know how expensive everything else would be, so she's gonna do it. I'm sure between now and her graduation on June 10th of next year, there will be LOTS of things to pay for. Senior year is expensive. BUT......i'm so proud of my baby for sticking it out and graduating. There were many times she wanted to throw in the towel, but she didn't and now she's almost done. She has grown into a beautiful, sweet young lady, and i love her sooooooooo much.
Well, that's enough for tonight. I'm going to bed.
Tonight, i am thankful for:
1. Health insurance
2. My daughter's employment
3. The Great Physician, who always knows