Happy Belated November

Well it's more than a few days in November and things are cooling down at UMiami. We finally finished the Norway presentation and we have our fingers crossed for a successful reception at the conference. Mike is leaving on Monday and won't be back until the 16th.
Which also means that my physical time at the UMiami is quickly coming to an end. I've really enjoyed my time at the office and will be sad to leave. I've turned in my resume and CV to Mike, who has handed it off to Vivi....so hopefully I might get a position there. I've got my fingers crossed. It also looks like I'll be working on some things for Mike while I'm back at home. For instance, the Social Injustice paper that we started on before working on the Norway stuff.
I've been working more diligently on looking for graduate schools and the GRE. I'm in contact with The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Marymount Univ, Univ of North Dakota, Univ of South Carolina, and Argosy Univ. I still have more on my list that I haven't contacted yet.
Hopefully tonight, Mike will remember to call and give me some further direction while he is gone.

Get a job woman

I've been horribly lax when it comes to this side of my blog. I'll be sure to give myself 40 lashes with a wet noodle - might not get to 40 because I'll have eaten the noodle before that point. I haven't been doing too much that deemed worthy of noting. I officially hate...strike that; hate is a strong word and I don't care too much for it, so corrected - I officially despise literary searches. They are so mundane. Mike has been gone too for quite some time, he practically had back to back trips to Sweden and just recently returned from Chile.

Actually, Monday at the office and Tuesday at home I was counterproductive. While slowly taking notes for the social injustice assignment, I was designing in the paint program what my future home will hopefully look like. :) It has a nice eclectic style to it; there are Spanish elements, thanks to working at Market to Market in St. Augustine, as well as my own heritage, and traditional Japanese features due to my fascination with the culture. However, some of design seems predominately Japanese, especially in the doors. This is fine though I wanted a more Spanish look to the front door. Oh well, I have plenty of time to tweak the design.Ideally, I would like to build the house in the Florida panhandle. My parents own a plot of land in the Compass Lakes area (off of I-10 near Alford and Cottondale. I'm hopeful that the land will be passed to me and they won't sell it off beforehand. We used to go up there just about every summer when my brother and I were younger, but now that we're older I seemingly have to beg to get them to even consider travel there. While they rather travel places like Costa Rica and New York and all those exotic places, I find myself drawn to the calm and simple life of Compass Lakes. I've never been one for large crowds of people, especially for extended periods of time. I just love it there; there aren't a ton of people, the air is so clean and crisp you can taste it, the area isn't built up, not all the roads are paved so you're driving on red dirt roads most of the time, and the trees go on for miles and that isn't an exaggeration. Where our land is located is great because its just down the road from McCormick Lake perfect for swimming and get togethers. Its like being on vacation in your own private corner of the world. :)

Its kind of ironic really. This place is so peaceful and our little plot is located on Battleground Ave.

This whole thing of me drawing up plans and designs are attempts to further my parents decision in eventually handing the land over to me. I had brought up idea to them over the weekend while I was home and my mom wasn't too keen on letting me have it and building on it - saying that they were thinking of retiring there, which I assume meant building a house. To which I replied that would be fine but if they could retire in the house I want to build. My dad especially is always going on about them moving in with me when they get older. Kind of like payback. Any who, my mom doesn't want a two-story or a large home that she'll have to end up cleaning. If I can find away to incorporate an elevator (I saw a perfect example of one in an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) because they'll be too old to get up and down stairs, maybe she'll settle and meet me halfway. I'll even put their bedroom on the bottom floor. Which means they would be getting the main master bedroom. The second and third bedrooms would be upstairs - one of those would also be a master suite but not nearly as large.

I've got to do my best to sell this idea to them - especially mom. By the time it comes to building this, all the kinks and design flaws will have been weeded out. Let's knock on wood!

It's important to look again

Worked with Mike this morning on the presentation and it was fruitful. We got a lot done. I'm working on it a little more tonight before handing it off to him to fill in some holes. Then tomorrow I'll get a chance to look at the finished product before it heads off to Sweden on Monday. I'm feeling good about this.
I went back down to Nancy's office yesterday to get the mess the school made of getting an ID badge. I wasn't able to get it on Monday because of some mess up....I thought Flagler was the only place where no one knew what was going on? Am I still in that Twilight Zone??? Ugh. It goes without saying that I was frustrated. So my badge is on hold until they get that figured out. Well I sent an email to both Dan and Mike about the problem on Tuesday. Dan was pretty quick about it as he sent a copy to Nancy who worked her magic and sent a reply back to me...which I didn't see until I was on the phone with Mike talking about the problem. She had said they mixed up on some forms and for me to come back in on Wednesday. So that's what I did yesterday only to find out I had refill out a Volunteer Background Check form I had already filled out over 2 weeks ago. It was after 10:30AM by the time I got out of her office. I could have filled it out then and there and headed to the Security Office (I'd probably have my badge by now if I did) but there were some spaces that I couldn't remember what I had filled in before. I should have brought the copies with me. So I took it back home, thinking I could bring it back by the time the Security Office closed (they're only open until noon - bogus). Well by the time I got back to my aunt's house it was well after 11AM. I just made plans to drive down early today and do it, but plans with Mike kind of messed that up. I'd go tomorrow but I think they're only open Monday through Thursday - again another bogus. And of course Monday is Labor Day, so it's a good chance they won't be open then either. Tuesday is when I'll do it, bright and early. I tell you, what an inconvenient adventure. And if not Tuesday, then someday. =)

Mood: Working
Thoughts: I miss Punk'd
Watching: Punk'd - Salma Hayek just got punk'd by Penelope Cruz
Drinking: Ginger ale and Apple Juice

Sweden is quickly approaching

Du gamla, Du fria
Thou ancient, Thou free

I'm working strong, hard, and long on this presentation. I realize how wrong that sounds now that I've written it out. But I am working on the team's presentation for next Monday in Sweden. Things are moving along...far from smoothly. Thursday and Friday Mike will be working with me on the slides perhaps the last times I'll work on them before they fly out. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. Excited that I get to be working on something so prestigious. This presentation is going to be presented to over 50 individuals from around the world - Denmark, Ghana, the Netherlands to name a few. So far I've worked on this and an article (which I'll hopefully be getting money for). The best part is that I'll be getting my name on them.
How great is that? A post graduate college student getting her name on presentations and publications. I'll also be working on publications of my own, they'll have focuses in the Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice realm. This is really is an enriching opportunity for me, regardless of what my mom and aunt say about it being too cushy of an internship. It would feel really wonderful to get published. I would love to get my fiction published (and of course finished) first, but this would almost be better. These articles would possibly be published in Criminal Journals or something like that - at least that's what I'm hoping.
It is depressing to know that Mike will be leaving for Oregon soon. Yesterday was his last official day at college. He'll still be assisting the Family Center on certain things. I'll then be working under Dan and Vivi. I still have yet to meet Vivi. She's still on maternity leave; she had a baby girl. Well I should try getting back to work.
Do you think if I drive a black SUV, people will think I'm part of the FBI?

Mood: Working! Working! Working!
Thoughts: I hope I can get this presentation done before Monday (Sept 7), and that its good
Watching: Criminal Minds season 2 - Gideon is writing his farewell letter for Reid to find, suspenseful
Drinking: Oceanspray Cranberry juice
Wish I Was: Outside in the pool soaking up some sun and my daily dosage of Vitamin D

Forensic Psychology...I think its what I want to do

Found this site while I'm supposed to be doing some editorial work while at my internship. I'm editing a chapter for a book publication on Functional-Family Therapy. It is interesting considering I have never edited anything to this level importance (the most I've done was in a short-story writing class in college). I can't really write too much about it now. I might have to be leaving early unexpectedly, but I'll report more on it later when I get back home.

Mood: Busy bee in slacks and heels, and slightly hungry
Reading: FFT article
Drinking: Water
Wish I Was: Napping or swimming in the pool =[

Internship Update!!

I've been busy since the last post including the start of my packing. But I come bearing good news!! I recieved an email on Saturday the 18th from Mike asking for my resume -- which I still haven't sent him yet but I'm working on it. He sent me a description of exactly what I'll be doing.

Person's name: Marie E. G.
Name of department sponsor: D. Feaster, V. Horigian
U.S. citizen or permanent resident (if not, specify status): Yes
Educational Status: Bachelors Degree
MARIE: What is this person's current position and institution:
MARIE How many months and hours per week will the person be here
MARIE Why does the person want to volunteer

What will the person be doing as a volunteer: She will be working under the direction of Drs. Feaster and Horigian. She will also work with Dr. M. Robbins, who will be coordinating ongoing research studies with the team at the Center for Family Studies. Her primary responsibilities will include assisting with the development, write-up, and submission of research manuscripts and scientific presentations. She will conduct literature searches, assist with assembling documents, run basic statistical analyses, and attend regular research team meetings. She will also attend weekly clinical supervision meetings to gain exposure to the core components of an empirically-based intervention. This later experience will faciltate her understanding of the challenges inherenet in implementing an intervention and monitoring fidelity in a clinical trial.

Will this person have patient contact: No

Where is this person going to be located on campus (research lab, clinic, etc.): Sieron Building, Research Lab

So I'll be a researcher's grunt. No biggie...but I'm hoping if it is an unpaid volunteer position, it won't stay that way for long. I'm looking to hopefully put in my time there for 4 months working up to 4 days a week, with 6-8 hour days.
The email has been sent with my resume and got a call from Mike yesterday as a confirmation!!

Internship News

Ended up emailing Robbins the other night confirming that I was thoroughly interested in taking the internship offer.

I can create the position for you. Again, it will be a very informal internship opportunity. In essence, you will be a non-paid volunteer functioning as a research assistant (Robbins, January 2009).

That was the basic information that I had to go a few months ago. After emailing him a few more times he gave me a better picture as what I could be expecting.

At any point, I can bring you on as an unpaid volunteer to "intern" on our large, multi-site clinical trial study. It will be a very rich experience, including exposure to research methods, clinical practice (family therapy), data analysis, and preparation of articles for publication (Robbins, April 2009).

I'm a little bummed that its going to be an unpaid position for the time being but there is some hope!

I will contact our administration staff ... to get any paperwork, forms, etc. that we may need to complete for you. Also, although I do not have a paid position at present, there is a reasonable chance that we are going to get a lot of research dollars in the next couple of months. If that occurs, we can try to figure out if any of these positions could get you some funding (Robbins, June 2009).

Only thing now is that I have to let him know how many hours I would like to work and for how long. I'm really starting to get excited about this offer. I still don't want to leave St. Augustine but I do realize that this will be a great opportunity for me and to put on my resume. I'm hoping that I'll be able to meet the expectations of this position especially since it was offered to me.

*Please forgive my APA citation there. I'm in the middle of writing a paper for my Deviant Behavior class.