this week in review

I did art show #2 last week. Art for Hope is an annual fundraiser hosted by Hope House, a nonprofit that works with children with HIV/AIDS. The sells were slower than I anticipated, but that was true for everyone, so I'm pleased with my overall sells. I sold about 4 5x7s (turtles, dog, an uncle), 3 blank note cards (photo on cover), & 1 wallet (turtles). Cindi came to town to help me with this ordeal. Thank God for Cindi. She came down on Wednesday and we stayed up to 2am cutting pictures, signing pictures, etc. Here's a shot of me at the show:


Tammy dumped me again. Then we made up. Now we're exploring the Myers-Briggs together. I'm an INTJ; she's an ISFJ. I'm not sure what's gonna happen when I move to Jackson in January. I think she's considering a long-distance relationship but I can't say we're committed to it. At first, we said it wouldn't work because of her T-Sat work schedule vs my Mon-Fri schedule. Other people have helped me realize that it can.

Jackson-- did you notice that I said Jackson? VA Hospital is offering me a job in Jackson, TN as the HUD VASH Social Worker in that area. Yea for opportunities?

Saturday, I had a movie night at my place courtesy of James. It was fun. We watched Godfather, which isn't great imo, but I enjoyed having people over. It was only him, Tammy, & Cindi but it was me with a group of friends. yea! I don't look forward to loneliness in Jackson where I know no one :/.

enough for now. ciao!

joys and concerns

I am really angry this morning. I am here and listening to Christian worship music trying to shrug it off. I have been trying to work the anti-inflammatory diet for about 6 weeks now but have not received the relief I crave. I have not been great about working the plan. In the beginning, I'd give myself a B- on success. Lately, I've been better but I still haven't overcame the damage I did to my body during the east coast trip. It physically hurts me to walk from my apartment to the dumpster now. Every day, I wake up stiff and achy. I'm bent over from it all but straighten up as I walk. To top off the fibromyalgia, I'm having issues with my wrists and shoulders that my doctor thinks is due to carpel tunnel syndrome. Thank God I get to have a nerve conduction study done Monday to test that theory and move forward with the treatment piece. Since my work trip/vacation, Tammy has been complaining that I moan in my sleep throughout the night. Pain? I effin hurt and I'm tired of it. I'm not gonna lie and say I've been living with a level 8 pain these past 6 weeks but fucking with my ability to live my life (e.g., go to the dumpster) is what pisses me off the most about pain. My pelvis hurts. My legs just scream of pain from time to time, like when I lay in bed to go to sleep. Fuck you fibromyalgia. Fuck you capel tunnel syndrome. Fuck you body for working counter to science and not really caring about my changed diet or resumed slow and easy exercising, trying to build you back up. Oh how I want ability back..........

blah. I put it out there but don't feel much better for it. I took trammadol at 6:30am hoping to feel better when I really got up (9:30am)-- didn't work. Hold on-- going to add Tylenol to that formula.

A former roommate taught me how to know which oils are good for me and my issues according to someone she knows. Close your eyes and hold the bottle. If you sway forward, it's for you. If you fall backwards, it's not. Cool, huh? Well, I bought eucalyptus oil based on that premise and she won't mail it to me. That urks me too. Yes I left it but I offered to pay for her to send it to me; what else can I do? It's approaching 2 months of my gluten free cooking magazine (which would be quite helpful), my oil that I hope will relief some pain and is also said to help with sinus issues, my incense that I think smells divine, relaxing, Trammadol which is/was quite important to me, and clothing somehow missed have been trapped at her house. I know she's sick too but it's been long enough that I think it's etching past the patience thing. Plus, she ignored my first voicemail, e-mail, and text inquiring about the status of my things being mailed to me. urg. I was hopeful for them when I purchased those things. Now they are becoming a distant memory, something I won't have to help me in my journey. I do know of an overpriced coffee house that sells the incense and can probably get the oil at Whole Foods. I guess I can rebuild those hopes. * sigh * And yes, I know it's my fault for leaving them and yes, I'm grateful that she contacted me to let me know they were there as I had been searching my place for them.

The good in life? I interviewed for 2 different positions at VA hospital this past week and a half. I especially think the first one went well. My answers were strong at the second one but I wrote down the wrong interview time on my calendar and arrived 15 minutes later than really scheduled (15 min. earlier than what I thought). By this time next month I'm hoping to know whether or not I'm finally in. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. The committe for the home-based care was really warm; they seem like a good team to work with. I'm not as sure about the HUD VASH Social Workers. I like them; I'm just getting nervous. When I thought about accepting the home care position if offered both, my spirit told me that's not my passion. Yes, I can do it but it's not my passion. The HUD position will challenge me as my load will be people that are chronically homeless. That's a special load there, especially since they're looking at those that have been continuously homeless for 1 year or more. The other definition of chronically homeless is 5 or more episodes in 3 years. Okay. That's jacked up but they're showing some resilicency by being housed sometimes. lol. They're gonna set me up with addicts and unmedicated mentally ill people. I really don't know how I'll fare there. But I don't think I can back down. I entered my field dedicted to working with people that are homeless. I started with homeless singles, non-addicted, moved to homeless families, am working with homeless addicts; VASH will just take me up one notch. I have long said I need experience working with the various sub-populations within homelessness. Well here I go. In their homes once they get them. It'll be a cool position. I'll get to give Section 8 (HUD VASH) vouchers to veterans, help them get moved in, and follow them for case management. I'll be working in permanent housing, ya'll. Yea! We'll see.

Pictures from my work trip/vacation:

I got to be in the store for about 2 minutes but it was quite exciting. I bought a window cling. My co-workers waited outside.




Patti Labelle concert the last night of the Catholic Charities conference. Awesome. Wished she was on stage longer but she was great.

Yea for seeing Ingrid, a LaGrange College friend.

And yea for meeting newer family members. This is my cousin Rodesha's daughter. She's one awesome chick.

art/work

Here's a post that got stuck in draft. It's a little dated but true.

The MGLCC art show has given me a jump start into selling my photographs, my art. I'm still trying to work on thinking of myself as an "artist" and photographer. Artist comes easier of those two. Here's a picture of me at the show:




My next art project, I think, is Art for Hope, an event to benefit Hope House, a local nonprofit that works with kids infected with HIV or AIDS. My issue with that is it requires me to give them 40% of what I bring in. 40 percent! I signed up because what other experience do I have? It'll allow me to create a listing of people that want to be notified of my shows. Goal 1: 7 e-mail addresses. We'll see. Plus, I don't have to pay a register fee, booth fee, etc. Many festivals require that and I'm really not ready for that. I might be able to bring in more cash from that event that originally anticipated because Wal-mart offers some awesome photo packages that makes it cheap to print pictures. This won't work on the Untitled shot of my dad, my most popular shot thus far, because the machine associated with the deal alters the colors (automatically) when it prints. The concern outside of profit margin is the amount of money I'm going to have to put into this show in order to have things to sell while I'm there. I don't want to be negative $200 at the end of the day, ya know. I have about 2 months to prepare for this event, I think. They didn't confirm that I'm being accepted into the show, only that they have my application. There's no mentioning of it being a judged event but I'm not sure that it's first come, first serve either. I'll follow up next month to see how things are looking. Until that mid-Nov date, my art goals are:
1. Add 4 shots per month to my facebook album. That means I should have 25 photos posted by the end of November.
2. Print 100 pictures to sell, at least 15 different shots. This gives me a starting place, though I know that more diversity will be better for selling. I have to start somewhere. And, realistically, I'll probably print at least 2 of everything in the facebook album.
3. Include a variety of print sizes to sale: 11 x 14, 8 x 10, 5.5 x 7, framed 4 1/2 x 7 (I just bought 40 black or white frames from Target)

Last art update: My sold count is up to 4 prints, same person as before. My dad took 2 or 3 when I showed him what I prints while giving him the one he originally requested. My Valerie shot is the 2nd most popular; he got one of those.

Current Project: Get on with VA Memphis! I'm working on a job application as I type. I'm applying for 4 Social Work positions right now, including the one I really want with HUD VASH. It'll allow me to screen applicants for section 8 vouchers (vets only) My mom does that now which might be my biggest hindrance to getting the job. An opening in Jackson has formed as well as Memphis so I'm letting them I'm willing to move if need be. Apparently, I only have to sign a lease once every three years. Okay. Convenient for my job search, I tell ya. Maybe I'll put more effort into leaving Memphis early 2011, if not sooner, now that I know that.

moving on

Today,I mailed in my application to work at VA Hospital somewhere in middle TN. I didn't see KSOs (essay questions) with this application so I e-mailed then called the HR person for the positions for direction. She never replied. I'm sending positive energy that way.