Random catchup
Drizzly day here inhibiting anything outdoors, so thought I'd post some random catchup items.
I haven't been blogging as much because school and home have been keeping me busy, and one of my courses, Communication from the Heart, had a lot of journaling assigned. I chose to write all my thoughts out longhand, so I didn't do much typing. School does not tie me to the computer at all, a refreshing change of pace from everything related to software engineering work, and part of the change I was creating when I chose this new study direction.
I'll get to that in a bit, but let's recount the post-school weekend activities! On Saturday Katrina and I biked 16 miles around Eugene (route map) with my sister Cathy, my nephew David, and his girlfriend Amanda.
Our first stop was to meet up on the University campus at Ford Hall, the new Alumni Center, where David expounded on its architecture:
Then, we rode over to Saturday Market (here is a video of riding through town):
After a brief stroll we realized we were really hungry and followed up with a late lunch at Sushi Ya. Following that, we continued to the patio of Ninkasi Brewing's Tasting Room:
After beer, we looked for the local Prince Puckler's we found on Google Maps, but it turned out to be offices. We biked South past the Lane County Museum and stopped at Long's Meat Market (I got espresso across the street at Barry's), stopped briefly at Albertson's on 30th, and proceeded to Cathy's house. We consumed ice cream and fresh berries, and loved the chatting. On the twilight ride home we stopped in at a friend's house and tended their kitties (they are on vacation). Obviously, we didn't need any dinner that night!
Sunday was much mellower - Katrina and I stayed in getting the house clean and cooking in preparation for dinner with Lisa and Mike. The appetizer was Oregon Blue cheese from Rogue Creamery (amazing) and crackers with jasmine green tea. Katrina completed dinner: marinated pork loin medallions accompanying a salad made of cooked quinoa, which she accompanied with sauteed shallots, garlic, and peppers, chilled and added cucumber and served on lettuce fresh from the garden as a salad. Grilled veggies (well, broiled) filled out the mix, and we sipped apple-pomegranate sparkling juice. For dessert, Lisa brought homemade caramel brownies - heated slightly and graced with a scoop of ice cream, I tasted Nirvana. I really enjoyed chatting about nature, photography and a little about radio with Mike, and Lisa and Katrina had a great conversation about Astrology. I look forward to spending more time with them.
Now some of the school catchup:
I did very well in my classes: 1) Communication from the Heart was about understanding personal communication styles, applying self-analysis and self-care planning and measuring techniques to reduce the risk of burnout - and a very interactive class with lots of exercises. 2) Anatomy/Physiology and Pathology I was first of a four-part series, and covered homeostasis, a brief organization of layers of complexity in organisms (chemistry, cells, tissues, organs, systems, organism), the integumentary system (skin and other external membranes), and skin pathologies (communicable, noncommunicable, scars, wounds, and cancer). 3) Introduction to Palpation covered basic skills required in upcoming Massage and Kinesiology classes - privacy draping techniques, client comfort, and how to identify bony prominences and the origin, insertion and action of ~70 different major muscles - exams were hands-on.
Overall I feel prepared for the program after these introductory classes - I am confident that I'm comfortable giving and receiving therapeutic touch, I quickly absorb new material, and I am communicating from a place of honesty, insight, and self-care.
I would love to continue with my next quarter of classes, but this doesn't seem to be my best next step. I need to resolve the very expensive storage container I have in Colton which I have been largely ignoring the last two months. I figure taking the quarter off from school will give me a lot of opportunities on weekdays to make progress there, and I can still enjoy Summer weekends with Katrina. To that end I've already recompiled a new Gantt chart of steps to perform.
I've also felt like I can catch up with more of the move-in activity which has been delayed by having 4 days a week primarily devoted to school. Next up is some more yard and garden work, installing more media center components, setting up radios and antennas, and organizing the incoming flood of the rest of my personal belongings. I also need to catch up on routine dental, optical and medical appointments with new Eugene-based providers. It will be a busy summer!
I haven't been blogging as much because school and home have been keeping me busy, and one of my courses, Communication from the Heart, had a lot of journaling assigned. I chose to write all my thoughts out longhand, so I didn't do much typing. School does not tie me to the computer at all, a refreshing change of pace from everything related to software engineering work, and part of the change I was creating when I chose this new study direction.
I'll get to that in a bit, but let's recount the post-school weekend activities! On Saturday Katrina and I biked 16 miles around Eugene (route map) with my sister Cathy, my nephew David, and his girlfriend Amanda.
Our first stop was to meet up on the University campus at Ford Hall, the new Alumni Center, where David expounded on its architecture:
Then, we rode over to Saturday Market (here is a video of riding through town):
Click to viewAfter a brief stroll we realized we were really hungry and followed up with a late lunch at Sushi Ya. Following that, we continued to the patio of Ninkasi Brewing's Tasting Room:
After beer, we looked for the local Prince Puckler's we found on Google Maps, but it turned out to be offices. We biked South past the Lane County Museum and stopped at Long's Meat Market (I got espresso across the street at Barry's), stopped briefly at Albertson's on 30th, and proceeded to Cathy's house. We consumed ice cream and fresh berries, and loved the chatting. On the twilight ride home we stopped in at a friend's house and tended their kitties (they are on vacation). Obviously, we didn't need any dinner that night!
Sunday was much mellower - Katrina and I stayed in getting the house clean and cooking in preparation for dinner with Lisa and Mike. The appetizer was Oregon Blue cheese from Rogue Creamery (amazing) and crackers with jasmine green tea. Katrina completed dinner: marinated pork loin medallions accompanying a salad made of cooked quinoa, which she accompanied with sauteed shallots, garlic, and peppers, chilled and added cucumber and served on lettuce fresh from the garden as a salad. Grilled veggies (well, broiled) filled out the mix, and we sipped apple-pomegranate sparkling juice. For dessert, Lisa brought homemade caramel brownies - heated slightly and graced with a scoop of ice cream, I tasted Nirvana. I really enjoyed chatting about nature, photography and a little about radio with Mike, and Lisa and Katrina had a great conversation about Astrology. I look forward to spending more time with them.
Now some of the school catchup:
I did very well in my classes: 1) Communication from the Heart was about understanding personal communication styles, applying self-analysis and self-care planning and measuring techniques to reduce the risk of burnout - and a very interactive class with lots of exercises. 2) Anatomy/Physiology and Pathology I was first of a four-part series, and covered homeostasis, a brief organization of layers of complexity in organisms (chemistry, cells, tissues, organs, systems, organism), the integumentary system (skin and other external membranes), and skin pathologies (communicable, noncommunicable, scars, wounds, and cancer). 3) Introduction to Palpation covered basic skills required in upcoming Massage and Kinesiology classes - privacy draping techniques, client comfort, and how to identify bony prominences and the origin, insertion and action of ~70 different major muscles - exams were hands-on.
Overall I feel prepared for the program after these introductory classes - I am confident that I'm comfortable giving and receiving therapeutic touch, I quickly absorb new material, and I am communicating from a place of honesty, insight, and self-care.
I would love to continue with my next quarter of classes, but this doesn't seem to be my best next step. I need to resolve the very expensive storage container I have in Colton which I have been largely ignoring the last two months. I figure taking the quarter off from school will give me a lot of opportunities on weekdays to make progress there, and I can still enjoy Summer weekends with Katrina. To that end I've already recompiled a new Gantt chart of steps to perform.
I've also felt like I can catch up with more of the move-in activity which has been delayed by having 4 days a week primarily devoted to school. Next up is some more yard and garden work, installing more media center components, setting up radios and antennas, and organizing the incoming flood of the rest of my personal belongings. I also need to catch up on routine dental, optical and medical appointments with new Eugene-based providers. It will be a busy summer!