Adopting in Ashburn

I have retreated. Just now. Less than five minutes ago. I am in this place - but it is like Terabithia after the death of the queen, lonely and somehow lacking the full magic. The Old In my Terabithia, imagination runs wild. Dreams of the future combine with fantasy and ideal notions to create seredipitous prospects for the days to come. Everything has feelings, the air is charged with a motivational energy. Nothing is impossible. Clouds pass to create cool moments of shade during sunny days. The night is like tonight, with a detailed moon the color of old parchment poised against a faded midnight blue sky. To the west is the wishing star; a single prayer can make dreams come true. The Now Overgrown are the acres of flower fields, as long grass pops up among the periwinkle, daffodils, daisies, and strawberries. Trees are covered in a barely green moss that hangs like twisted feathers to dust the shoulders of passersby. There is a presence. Giants once walked here, elves dan...

When I was an undergrad, I lived in on-campus housing. One of the fire safety rules included a prohibition of toasters. No toasters in our rooms meant no toast, no frozen waffles, no toasted sandwiches ... you get the idea. When I moved to France, there was no way I was going to buy a toaster to fit in the French outlet system. I did have a conventional oven there, that made due, especially for the sandwiches (I used that thing to bake, broil, fry, rotisserie ... you name it!). As I moved in to my first real apartment, I was thrilled at the prospect of having a real toaster. I use it so frequently it doesn't even have a place in the cabinet, it just stays on the counter for easy access. Now, as I am considering my options for the future, I have come to regard another cooking device as ideal. For my next apartment, I am going to actively seek a grill of some kind. It will be glorious to not have to broil or sautee all of my fish, to not have to bake or fry the chicken, to make ...

Bascially my whole life I have been preparing for this moment. This piece of time when something is going to happen ... it will be a turn for the real world ... a whole new stage. I have been preparing for my job. I know this sounds silly, but realistically, it's true. Elementary prepares for middle, middle for high, and high school for college. College is certainly prep for a job, but if you are too scared, or too unprepared at that point there is always grad school. I was so burnt out preparing for this moment before grad school I had to take a break and get a temporary job! Now, as grad school wraps itself up, I have finally arrived. The job market is out there. My future job is waiting. And all of a sudden 18 years of school and a year teaching overseas doesn't seem like enough. People keep saying that it doesn't matter too much what I choose because my first job is not likely to be my last. I understand that, I do. But at the same time, my degree leaves the f...

1. Being caught up on school work is a fantastic feeling. Enjoying all the reading is an even better one. 2. Fostering unhappy feelings (basically keeping ideas of an unpleasant nature completely to oneself) isn't really good for a person; avoid this at all costs. 3. Time flies when you are having fun, when you aren't, and when deadlines are approaching. Basically, time is flying all the time. I don't think those are the actual three things that prompted this posting, but they were the first three things out on the keyboard. As I head off to do some grocery shopping, I am thinking about one particular subject that just this week started needing a plan for a solution. For all the lessons in school about campaign planning and strategic planning, I don't ever feel prepared to make outlined plans for my own life. I'm going to pretend it is because I have a naturally free and adventurous spirit. Hope you are all having a fun day! ~Heather

So, since I wrote over two weeks ago... I had a birthday, took my finals, finished my practicum, completed my thesis and had it printed about a bijillion times (apparently landscape, double sided, book-style bound, 53 page bundles take a minimum of five prints for the UPS store to print). My family came up for my graduation celebration, we celebrated Mother's Day at a cute french restaurant, I started summer school (6 hours until the completion of my Masters!), Derek and Janis came to visit and we went to the Udar-Hazy Air & Space Museum and I got to stand next to the mock-up of the space shuttle used in atmosphere tests. This past weekend was spent at HOBY at Christopher Newport University. I had an amazing team and the other facilitators and staff, were, as usual, outstanding. Now, I am back, working hard at my physical therapy and starting my summer work hours studying opinion leaders. Today, my aunt and uncle and my two youngest cousins came to visit. I had a blast takin...

That is the music that best represents the next few days for me. I am still working on my thesis, because, I am ridiculous. Basically, I have almost five case studies now, I have at least four long stories, tons of examples, and that is just the "extra stuff." There are five literature reviews: science communication (17 pages), organizational branding (1.5), framing (1.5), political communication (2.5), and crisis communication (2.5). Also, I did a review of general communication principles .... it is getting longer every minute. Tomorrow is the last day I am letting myself add any new text. After that, it is all revisions. Speaking of "just revisions" I finished writing my first keynote speech. Then I revised it, and now I am waiting to get notes back from my Dad and a friend/classmate who will hopefully have some ideas in case there are any mistakes. But for only the third time this semester, I feel like I hit this speech out of the park. The fist time, the ...

My thesis is coming along rather nicely. I've had some timing setbacks with it and a few of my other class assignments that are due next week, but in general things seem to be going well. If anyone is kind enough to offer their copy-editing services (this may or may not be a masochistic gesture) I'd love the help. In case I haven't told you, my thesis is about science communication and how scientists can use communication principles to improve the public's understanding of science. This is explained through the case studies of NASA. I think it's really fun and exciting (for a topic). Then again, I am a well established geek. Off to sleep. Speeches, revisions, papers, exam prep, and oh yeah, my thesis to finish by Wednesday. Sleep is as necessary as air at this point - my brain needs to shut down and reboot or I'd never be able to concentrate. Hope all is well with you! Love always, ~Heather