Mental hospital hotline

Fortunately, the horror that was Hurricane Rita has passed and left Texas relatively unscathed. But poor Louisiana just can't catch a break... I've studied all weekend - stayed in my PJs and didn't set foot out of the house until late this afternoon - but I feel pretty good about the comps with only 2 weeks remaining. And on the subject of mental health, I got this forward this week, and thought it was too funny not to share:

Hello, and welcome to the mental hospital hotline.......

If you are obsessive-compulsive, press 1 repeatedly.

If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you.

If you have multiple personalities, press 3, 4, 5, and 6.

If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want. Stay on the line so we can trace your call.

If you are delusional, press 7 and your call will be transferred to the mother ship.

If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a small voice will tell you which number to press.

If you are a manic-depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press, no one will answer.

If you are dyslexic, press 969696969696969696.

If you have a nervous disorder, please fidget with the pound key until a representative comes on the line.

If you have amnesia, press 8 and state your name, address, telephone number and mothers maiden name.

If you have post-traumatic stress disorder, s-l-o-w-l-y & c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y press 000.

If you have bi-polar disorder, please leave a message after the beep or before the beep or after the beep. Please wait for the beep.

If you have short term memory loss, press 9. If you have short term memory loss, press 9. If you have short term memory loss, press 9.

If you have low self-esteem, please hang up. All operators are too busy to talk to YOU.

If you are menopausal, hang up, turn on the fan, lie down & cry. You won't be crazy forever.

If you are blonde don't press any buttons, you'll just mess it up.

Back off Rita!

Texas doesn't want you, Rita!

Evidently these storm pics that have been flying around the internet post-Katrina were neither taken in Mississippi, nor are they even pics of a hurricane. Nonetheless they are pretty scary. This Hurricane Rita is one bitch of a storm also, and it appears she is going to wreck havoc on the Lone Star state. All I can say is that at least people are taking preparations seriously after Katrina - not only are well do to evacuees getting out of town, but it appears that public transportation is also being provided for those who don't have cars etc. Our old AFB has been set up to house 800 evacuees from the coast.

I emailed some old friends from high school (I graduated in Corpus) and college that live on the coast and let them know they have a friend in Lubbock if they need shelter, etc. Although I'd hate to hear from them due to any tragedy in their own lives, it would be good to see them.

I went to a fantastic domestic violence seminar on Tue/Wed. I'll share some of that info later this week. Today I'm back at work and trying to get caught up after missing two days of phone calls and emails. Back to work...

Scrum recipe ahead

TBF was sick this week, so instead of traditional (i.e. boring and bland) chicken soup, I decided to try something new - a spicy alternative (you can tell *I* wasn't the sick one!). It was scrumalicious! Using canned veggies and pre-cooked chicken, you can be from kitchen to dinner table in 20-25 mins. Easy! Serves 4. Here's the recipe (as adapted from FoodTV.com - I can never make a recipe exactly, just gotta make some changes)...

Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 T vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 chipotle in adobo sauce, minced *
1 T chili powder
1 T garlic powder (or use the real thing, I was out)
2 t kosher salt
6 c low sodium chicken broth (3 cans) - I used the broth w/ roasted garlic
1 c corn kernels - use fresh if you've got it, I used canned, I'm lazy that way
1 can Rotel tomatoes - again fresh tom if you wanna, I live for Rotel though
2 c cooked chicken - I used pre-cooked grilled "fajita style" from the freezer section
1/2 c fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 c freshly squeezed lime juice
About 2 dozen corn tortilla chips, broken
1 small avocado, sliced (optional)
lime wedges (optional)

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, chipotle, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt and cook until the onions become translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat slightly, and simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes.

Add the corn and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the tomato, chicken, cilantro, and lime juice just before serving. Divide the tortilla chips among 4 warmed bowls, ladle the soup on top, and serve with lime wedges and avocado slices if desired.

Yum YUM! This was just as good re-heated the 2nd day, but if you plan to serve leftovers, I'd hold off on the cilantro until just before serving so it doesn't get wilted.

* WARNING: this means one chipotle pepper, not one can of chipotles!! These puppies are hot! Add more to your liking, but 1 pepper and an extra dab of the sauce was plenty for us, and I like spice!

** Fajita, Chipotle, and Tortilla are not in blogger's spelling check. Stupid.

18 days

Between work, class, and my internship site, I've been spending all my "free" time with this guy: Howard Rosenthal and his Encyclopedia of Counseling. I have studied (learned?) 742 of the 1000 multiple choice questions (w/ explanations), and have listened to 7 of the 18 review CDs. My comprehensive exam is now 18 days away. If you are the praying type, add my name to your list! At least 75% correct = turning that tassle and walking across the stage in December!

And speaking of praying, most of the computer models are predicting that stupid Rita is headed towards Texas. Ugh.

More nano news

Last Saturday I had a ton of things on my to-do list. I didn't complete hardly any of them (stupid hangover), but on a whim TBF and I stopped by CompUSA to check out the newest iPod nano that all the cool kids were buzzing about.

The sales guy initially said they wouldn't get any in until Monday or Tuesday, and I was a little disappointed because I really wanted to see how small it was. But he came out with his manager a couple minutes later with 4 little black boxes in his hand. My guess is other employees had these on hold until payday or something, but his conscious got the best of him, and he decided to share with us piddling customers.

So he took the nano out of the box, and OMG, it was so freaking tiny and delicate. I treated it like a newborn - I was almost afraid to take the little nano baby from him. But I did. And I hate to admit I'm such an easy sale, but the moment I held it, I was hooked. I told him I'd have to think about it, and handed it back over the sales guy, but within about 2.7 minutes I decided that it was going to be mine!

They only had the white ones in stock, and I decided to go for the cheaper 2 gig (I still have my massive 20 gig for all the tunes, documents, and pics I can stand). And it is fabulous.

The charger for the old iPod (w/ dock) works, but none of the rest of the accessories do. Namely, the AirPlay which allowed me to listed to my iPod over the radio frequency at work. But no biggie, I'm sure it won't be more than a month until there are loads of accessories available.

It's tiny, but tough. Same great click wheel (although is a little sensitive at times). The color screen is fantastic - I love having my fave pics with me to show off to friends. I added pics of the artist or playlist theme to all my playlists (instead of trying to find the art from each individual album, who has the time?!). Still using my old Sony headphones which are a million times better than the crappy ear buds that are still sold with the iPod products. I found the perfect carrying case by Moshi - this super soft drawstring pouch made for the iPod mini is just the right size for the nano and has an outside pocket to carry headphones (or room for DL and credit card for trips to the gym, etc).

My recommendation? If you already have loads of songs on your iTunes (I have about 2800 songs now), it's kinda hard to narrow down which playlists and podcasts to put on the 2 gig nano, but if you plan to use the nano just for the gym or going to class or on a flight or while studying ... oh wait ... no matter what you do, it is freaking sweet. Almost too cool for words. Get it. Or add it on your Christmas list. Fabulous.

Nano nano

absurdly tiny.
ridiculously slim.
unbearably sexy.
and it's entirely mine.


i just knew that one last semester in grad school was going to have its advantages! :)

Hot air balloon festival

Our own little Lubbock sponsored the South Plains Balloon Roundup this weekend. It wasn't on the same scale as the festival in Albuquerque, but is was pretty wonderful nonetheless. It was a cool and calm morning - unusual for Lubbock - but we enjoyed a lovely sunrise, light winds, and about two dozen colorful balloons from around the area.

If you haven't ever been to a balloon fest, I'd highly recommend the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta this fall. It is absolutely mind blowing. You'll need to plan to show up before 6am for the Dawn Patrol (about a dozen balloons take off and fly until it gets light enough to find a landing spot), the Mass Ascention (literally hundreds of colorful balloon from around the globe - incredible), and if you can afford it, spring for a ride for you and your loved one. We haven't been up yet, but that is on my as yet unpublished top 50 things I want to do before I die. One more recommendation: check out Zinc wine bar in Albuquerque - now that is a dining experience. We've been raving about it for a year and can't wait to go back.

Here - enjoy a few pics from yesterday. My favorite is the last one - Tech's red & black double-T balloon.

Friday night

First of all, is this not one of the coolest pics ever?

1) I am drunk at 3:14am. Listening to the Boogie Nights Soundtrack. LOVE.IT. Currently: Beach Boys, God Only Knows. Sweeeeeett.

2) TBF is on the horn with his best friend in Dallas who is going through some bull shit with his wife. I mean, I thought we had some probs, but it is nothing like what they are going through. I love these guys, but really, I can't imagine dealing with the shit they are going through 24 hours a day for the next 70 years. Man. I love me some counseling...

3) Okay, why did I pick this pic and start writing tonight (besides the Sierra Vevada Pale Ale in my lap, the Cuervo shots, and the nth bourbon and diets in my tummy) is the thought of one of my newest offenders: a sweet-faced, pale-headed kid who told me that his drug of choice is OTC drugs. Upon further exploration I discovered that he loved him some Dramamine. He admitted that he kept upping his, uh, dosage to get high, but at his height, he swallowed TEN bottles of Dramamine (12 pills per bottle) in one night. He said he had some absolutely incredible hallucinations, which I'm sure he did ... up until he had a heart attack. At 22 years old. Holy shit. He said he hasn't used (except weed) since then. I hope that he can stay on my caseload, stay sober, work his recovery, avoid any more ODs, and if anything, get back to the pot to hold onto his shit once he gets off probation.

Funny, hearing this from me - the drunk one - talking about recovery, eh? Tommorow's plan (after changing the UA color at 7am - bleh) is to "sleep in" til 9, get my new car stereo installed at 10, go the Cowboy Symposium luncheon at noon (chuckwagon biscuits and gravy!), see any movie that serves popcorn with extra butter (my current recomendation is The Exorcism of Emily Rose - anyone seen it?), take a fat nap, eat some mega-mexian food (Rosas or Casa Ole) for dinner, do some internship hours at the shelter in the evening ... and just to completely rock my world, head out to the shelter where the Katrina survivors are staying for a big kick in the butt to get my priorities straight!

Well, quite a day ahead. Hope you are all doing well. Hugs! - (drunken) TB

Internship

Okay. So I'm graduating in December with my MA in counseling. I've completed almost all of my classes and coursework. I only have a couple of itsy bitsy little requirements remaining: my last 3-hour class, 300 hours of internship at the local women's shelter, and my "comps" - a comprehensive exam that covers the past two years of study. All this in addition to my regular 40-hour work week, the class I'm teaching for the drug court participants, couples counseling for us, and some hope for a social life!

In an effort to inform TBF and my parents when they might get a chance to see or talk to me during the next four months, this is what I came up with (*).

*Update: I had the dreadful details of my daily schedule listed here, but last night I had some stupid dream about a stalker, and thought, hmmm, maybe I don't need to tell the locals (my probationers?!) exactly where I'll be every hour of the day. So let's suffice it to say that I'll be out and about at work, school, and my internship site from 8am to 9pm almost every day of the week! Whew!

Bueller?

Welp, I'm officially a teacher now ... a "facilitator" to be more exact. I went to a 4-day training in Austin several months ago. The training was a little rough - I'm not really one for skits and role-play, of which we did loads. But I got certified. We finally got off our tushes and decided on class dates and got a full class of 10 registered. The first session was last Thursday. I was actually surprised (and hugely relieved!) at how well it went. I was fortunate enough to already know all of the participants, which made me a little more comfortable in front of the group. I'll be facilitating with a co-worker on Thursdays and with the director of the department on Sundays! As if I wasn't nervous enough already! So we'll be meeting twice a week for the next 11 weeks, and in the mean time I'll be getting about 60 internship hours out of the way. My last internship... ugh... a whole new story for tomorrow.

I just heard that the bussing from the Superdome to the Astrodome was suspended this morning because some dummass was shooting at one of the rescue helicopters! C'mon people! The baby above is only 4 days old. Can you imagine not only being homeless, having no transportation, very little food and water, perhaps no husband or family, and now a newborn with no diapers or formula?!! The conditions are just shocking. I can't even begin to imagine their despair.

I made my Red Cross donation this morning. And hopefully if I can get off work early tomorrow I'll be donating my loverly blood at UBS.

I'm up early this morning - 5:45! - as I will be every Mon-Fri in September. I'm the lucky winner of the month who gets to update the "UA* color line". Never heard of such a thing? Well a small percentage of the folks who are on felony probation - generally for drug and alcohol offenses or relapses after treastment - are supervised on a specialized caseload in which they have to submit random UAs (generally between once and three times per month). Each morning before 6am, an officer changes the pre-selected color on a voice mail. The offenders then call the color line at 6am, and if it's their assigned color, they have to report that morning between 8-8:30am for a UA. And walla - random drug testing!

At least being up super-early has some advantages. Today, blogging. Perhaps tomorrow, treatmill?

*UA = urinalysis = pee in a cup and we'll test it to see if you have any drugs or alcohol in your system.