My cup is empty...but full of air

This is my first painting from my community college painting class. It is a cup. It still needs some touch-ups actually so there's still a little more work to do, but I'm quite ready to move on to my next painting, a photograph of my dad.

Back to a week of training after a brief interlude to Seattle for Thanksgiving. It was chilly despite the sun. I think the weather too made me look at Seattle differently. It looks like a shipping city with narrow red-roofed houses and tall trees. I can see why people in that city hang out in coffee shops all day and read books all the time. Cold!

so this is how people die of smoke inhalation

tonight i cooked myself some beef with bok choy. nicely braised meat with onions, garlic, and greens. then i sat down to eat and was catching the end half of an episode of jeopardy. ah, nice evening, right? so before i can watch the final jeopardy question the smoke detector goes off.

beeeooooo beeeoooo beeeooooooooo beeeeeooooooooo

gah, this is not the first time this has happened. so opened all the windows and fanned like crazy and the the thing finally shut off. and i was about to head out the door for a walk with some friends, when...

beeeooooo beeeoooo beeeooooooooo beeeeeooooooooo

again! so i go fan crazy and open all the windows again. the more i listen to the alarm the more muted it began to sound. hmm. anyway, so i left a little window fan on in the kitchen to blow out some of the smoke and headed out.

an hour later i get back and the alarm is still going! my neighbors must hate me. so now i'm sitting in my apartment chilled by the night air as it de-smokes my living space. i could be sitting in a room full of smoke and not even know it. great, i could just take a nap and never get up. geez.

A grain a day keeps the brain dissolution at bay

Hmm, so interms of mini-mental health update.

sad--sad--sad--very sad--things looking up

So I'm entering an update during an upswing of current emotion.

Training is tedious and ten weeks long. This is week three. Learning about case planning. Ugh, I don't even really want recount what we're learning. It is useful stuff and I wish I had gotten some of it while an intern in child welfare. Who knew you could tweak case plans to actually fit the families you're working with?

But I was really more excited about posting this site that my friend sent me. Altruism and vocabulary aggrandizement together! Genius! And so much fun. Enjoy!