scoooorebooooard!

Kira and I went to the USC game this Saturday. They were playing Oregon. So, I assume in a Southern CA blog I don't need to say it , but they won (44-10!). Anyway, on with the story.

People never cease to amaze me with how stupid they can be. We were sitting directly next to three female Oregon fans. I think they had actually driven down from Oregon to watch the game. A few rows behind us were a few USC fans; they looked to be of college age.

I am hoping that they had been drinking at least a little because they were really obnoxious and had picked out my neighbors to annoy throughout the game. To one of them in particular the most outspoken of the group had been directing comments related to something about how much chest hair she had, how it was more than his dad had, whatever.

Oregon started the game strong, scoring the game's first touchdown, holding USC to a field goal on its first possession, and added a field goal of their own. Then, USC mounted a brief, effective drive for a touchdown. The score was tied at that point, 10-10. USC was ranked 9th nationally, Oregon 23rd or something. We were supposed to cream them.

At this juncture in the game, our mildly enebriated friend decided it was a good time to begin yelling "SCOOOOREBOOOARD...SCOOOOREBOOOARD". Needless to say, I felt a little less intelligent as a USC fan. The Oregon gal next to me yelled back something about "shouldn't you be winning before you gloat about the score?" (Kira leans over and says to me, "What is this, Kindergarden?) .The guy's friend continued his not-so-interesting comments about the other woman's chest hair, and I turned my attention back to the game.

Not the finest moment in the land of Troy. At least we won the game. The guy changed seats before the game was over anyway. I guess there weren't enough jackasses in the other parts of the stands.

it's been awhile!

So gosh, it feels like forever since I made a post! I do believe I have a good reason though. (BTW, I've already had to correct my spelling six (seven) times during (eight) this message (nine) and will now be leaving in the mistakes(ten) to save time.) So the excuse for leaving the blogosphere for three ish weeks: i'm applying for internship positions for next year and it is seriously kicking my butt. I think I can finally relate to all you new parents and sleeping quite sparingly. I have slept (not including my 3 hour nap today) about 12 hours since Sunday.

It's been rough getting all the information together for my letter writere and director of clinical trainign at rosemead. I'm still pooped, but it's over for the time being and now i can relax for a couple days before tackling the task of tringf to sell myself to 18 training directors so I can finally end my marathon career in school ans move on to the rela world of only having one job, no school, and actually getting paid what I'm worth for all the work that I do .

So, i'll stop complaining now, but if I seem to be a bit glossy-eyed next time you see me, no, I'm not high, no, you're not that boring :), and no, I have not caught up yet since last sunday night...but I',m getting there. Hugs and sugar are always appreciated. I've unfortunately learned that caffeine does nothing for me.

For those of you who care, I thought I'd throw in the list of the 18, possibly soon to be 19, places I'm applying:

1) VA Loma Linda, 2) VA LA, 3) VA West LA, 4) CSULB counseling center, 5) USC Student Counseling Services, 6) City of Hope National Medical Center, 7) CHOC, 8) CHLA, 9) UC Riverside Counseling Center, 10) Kaiser Permanente (Los Angeles), 11) Kaiser Permanente (Vista), 12) Pacific Clinics, 13) Patton State Hospital, 14) San Bernardino County Dept. of Behavioral Health, 15) Santa Ana College Psychological Services, 16) Switzer learning Center, 17) The Guidance Center (Long Beach), 18) UCI Counseling Center, 19)University of San Diego Counseling Center fun stuff!!!

USC football is here!!!

I'm with the banner: "LEAVE NO DOUBT!"

I'm tired of my team just barely missing the mark. I believe it's time for another national championship. None of this Rose Bowl stuff anymore. I want  some hardware going on a shelf in Heritage Hall next January! Who's with me????

USC @ Virginia, 12:30 pm Saturday!

camp with cancer kids:



Teen Impact, the program at CHLA that I'm working for this year is amazing! I just spent three days in Lake Arrowhead having a great time with some great teens! We watched movies, shared meals, and shared fun activities, like swimming at the pool (complete with waterslides), horseback riding, boating in kayaks and canoes on a small lake, and climbing the indoor rock wall! Somehow in there we also managed to develop stronger bonds and do some therapeutic psychosocial activities (like painting sticks to represent good and bad parts of ourselves and then burning the bad sticks).

It was an interesting weekend of pushing therapeutic boundaries that I have grown accustomed to at my school. I shared my goofiness, my serious side, and sometimes just listened to the stories of teens who have seen way too much of the horrible side of life way too early.

I think my favorite part of the whole weekend was having dinner with a group of guys, all of whom had no hair except for one, and he had just recently begun to grow his back following the completion of his chemotherapy. It was so neat to be let into their world and see how something so small as losing your hair could be one of the hardest parts of having childhood cancer. It really makes me appreciate what I do have and makes the little things not seem to matter as much in perspective.

sucks!

commuting es no bueno!

I have decided that in my 1.5 hour commute each way to/from Hollywood three days a week I will try to be productive. I have borrowed Spanish CDs from my sister (April). The progress so far: Quiero comer a hora porque tango hambre. Muy hambre.    ( I want to eat now because I'm hungry. Very hungry) At least they're teaching me things that apply to most minutes of my day. I spend most of it either eating or thinking about how I can get my hands on the next meal/snack. Muy hambre. Muy.   

Good advice for us all.

Last man standing

So I had my first day of orientation at CHLA yesterday and it turns out I'm the only male among the 9 interns/externs this year. Last year at the VA I was one of three men out of 12 interns/externs. What is the world coming to? Where have all the men gone! We men seem to be a rare breed in the world of psychology. What do you think ladies, do men need to get more in touch with their feelings? Maybe if they did, I wouldn't keep running into this issue at practicum sites! I don't know, maybe it's best that way. It gives me a chance this year to continue getting in touch with my feminine side, as well as the kid within, and we all know how much I need that (riiiiiight!).

Speaking of which, I leave this Friday for a trip to Lake Arrowhead with 20 of the kids from the HOPE program at CHLA. IT's going to be 3 days of Adventure Therapy, which seems to be church camp without the church part. We replace the churchy stuff with social skills groups and psychosocial activities. No awesome band and speaker, just me, 20 kids, and the womenfolk. I'll let you know if I survive...

I'm officially a scientist

So I'm officially a scientist now. I accompanied Kira to her lab after church today and she had me help out. I labeled some plastic tray things and used a pipette (long suction tubey thing that looks like a menorah) to put "media" (bacteria food) in the tray things. Super fun! Ok, at least different. It's nice to have a view into the life of Kira. Saving the world one experiment at a time. It was a  proud day in the Pate household.