Monday, February 8, 2010
P1: I am currently about halfway through my first course - Biological Developmental and Scientific Basis of Behaviour - of the MACP (Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology). It's an online program, which is a new experience for me. It took some getting used to at first, but now I am really enjoying it. The program is 20 months of course work plus a minimum of 4 month practicum at the end. My challenge right now is finding some volunteer work to give me some counselling experience before my practicum, as well as some paid work, to start in the spring when my mat leave with Little A ends. It's more difficult to find volunteer work than I had hoped! Fortunately, I have a meeting with someone from an organization called "Circle of Care" tomorrow, to discuss starting to work for them as a "Phone Pal". This involves calling isolated seniors at home and giving them an opportunity to talk to someone. I figure this is a good first step. On Friday, I have a phone meeting set up with my ob/gyn to discuss working with her to counsel women at Mount Sinai who have experienced pregnancy loss (she is a high risk pregnancy specialist). I am very excited about this, but realize that it might not be possible to start this position right away, or even to arrange my practicum there, as the hospital has many restrictions on who is qualified to work with patients, even on a volunteer basis. Fingers crossed as this is exactly the area of counselling I want to be in!! Finding part-time work for the spring isn't looking very hopeful either. When you have a Phd, you are overqualified for everything while being qualified for nothing. I think my best option is to pick up more work in the fitness industry. Before the kids, I was teaching fitness classes and/or training pretty much every day. Now I only teach one spinning class a week, on Sunday mornings. We'll see if I can get some more teaching and training opportunities...
P2: Today was one of those mornings when Big A's behaviour is so abismal, that I wonder where I have gone wrong as a parent. I managed to get her dressed and sitting with a bowl of cereal in front of Treehouse before Little A woke up. But when I sat down beside her on the couch to breastfeed little A, she started kicking us both, saying we were making her uncomfortable and she refused to stop kicking us or move to the other end of the couch where there was plenty of space. She also rudely ordered me around all morning, for example, yelling "Hungry, hungry" at me when she was finished her cereal and wanted more food and refusing to ask me for more food in a polite way. Fortunately, Little A had a great morning. She was happy and ate a good breakfast. She is a super picky eater, so any time we have a good meal I am relieved. She ate half a piece of spelt bread with almond butter, some blueberries, some banana and part of one of my sneaky muffins I made her (chock full of pureed fruit and vegetables she refuses to eat). And she didn't throw anything on the floor or mush it into her hair!
F1: Last night's dinner turned out great: Whole wheat fusilli with a spicy tomato sauce and hot turkey sausage, rapini, portobello mushrooms and red onion. Tonight's dinner: spicy Moroccan chickpea wraps (chickpeas, onion and zucchini in a spicy tomato sauce with garlic, ginger, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne, wrapped in whole wheat tortillas).
F2: Mondays are physically tough: I'm sore from my Sunday gym workout, involving 40 minutes of weight training and my spinning class, I do my usual cardio workout before the girls get up (55 mins of hill walking/lateral training intervals on our treadmill) and I have mom and baby aquafit with Little A. The aquafit isn't very taxing, but it's the getting myself and Little A changed before and after the class that is exhausting and stressful. Nevertheless, I always feel better after being in the water. It's a warm, saltwater pool and it seems to be just what my muscles need. I get to see my sister-in-law and her baby, who is the same age as Little A, and do the class with us, so that's nice too!
P1: I am currently about halfway through my first course - Biological Developmental and Scientific Basis of Behaviour - of the MACP (Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology). It's an online program, which is a new experience for me. It took some getting used to at first, but now I am really enjoying it. The program is 20 months of course work plus a minimum of 4 month practicum at the end. My challenge right now is finding some volunteer work to give me some counselling experience before my practicum, as well as some paid work, to start in the spring when my mat leave with Little A ends. It's more difficult to find volunteer work than I had hoped! Fortunately, I have a meeting with someone from an organization called "Circle of Care" tomorrow, to discuss starting to work for them as a "Phone Pal". This involves calling isolated seniors at home and giving them an opportunity to talk to someone. I figure this is a good first step. On Friday, I have a phone meeting set up with my ob/gyn to discuss working with her to counsel women at Mount Sinai who have experienced pregnancy loss (she is a high risk pregnancy specialist). I am very excited about this, but realize that it might not be possible to start this position right away, or even to arrange my practicum there, as the hospital has many restrictions on who is qualified to work with patients, even on a volunteer basis. Fingers crossed as this is exactly the area of counselling I want to be in!! Finding part-time work for the spring isn't looking very hopeful either. When you have a Phd, you are overqualified for everything while being qualified for nothing. I think my best option is to pick up more work in the fitness industry. Before the kids, I was teaching fitness classes and/or training pretty much every day. Now I only teach one spinning class a week, on Sunday mornings. We'll see if I can get some more teaching and training opportunities...
P2: Today was one of those mornings when Big A's behaviour is so abismal, that I wonder where I have gone wrong as a parent. I managed to get her dressed and sitting with a bowl of cereal in front of Treehouse before Little A woke up. But when I sat down beside her on the couch to breastfeed little A, she started kicking us both, saying we were making her uncomfortable and she refused to stop kicking us or move to the other end of the couch where there was plenty of space. She also rudely ordered me around all morning, for example, yelling "Hungry, hungry" at me when she was finished her cereal and wanted more food and refusing to ask me for more food in a polite way. Fortunately, Little A had a great morning. She was happy and ate a good breakfast. She is a super picky eater, so any time we have a good meal I am relieved. She ate half a piece of spelt bread with almond butter, some blueberries, some banana and part of one of my sneaky muffins I made her (chock full of pureed fruit and vegetables she refuses to eat). And she didn't throw anything on the floor or mush it into her hair!
F1: Last night's dinner turned out great: Whole wheat fusilli with a spicy tomato sauce and hot turkey sausage, rapini, portobello mushrooms and red onion. Tonight's dinner: spicy Moroccan chickpea wraps (chickpeas, onion and zucchini in a spicy tomato sauce with garlic, ginger, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne, wrapped in whole wheat tortillas).
F2: Mondays are physically tough: I'm sore from my Sunday gym workout, involving 40 minutes of weight training and my spinning class, I do my usual cardio workout before the girls get up (55 mins of hill walking/lateral training intervals on our treadmill) and I have mom and baby aquafit with Little A. The aquafit isn't very taxing, but it's the getting myself and Little A changed before and after the class that is exhausting and stressful. Nevertheless, I always feel better after being in the water. It's a warm, saltwater pool and it seems to be just what my muscles need. I get to see my sister-in-law and her baby, who is the same age as Little A, and do the class with us, so that's nice too!
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