I Carry your heart with me...

Tonight I was catching up with one of my Sunday evening tv shows that was still on the dvr. At the end of the episode there was a wedding scene and Kitty (one of the character's in my show) was reading a poem for her brother. The poem was by E.E. Cummings and it just really spoke to me. I am sure other birthmothers will be able to relate to the poem I am about to share with you. The poem is popular with weddings, but I think any birthparent feels the same way for their child or children that are placed into foster or adoptive families. If I would have know about this poem before now, I would have this read at the reflection time after the signing of the relinquishment papers of Kaylee.

i carry your heart with me
i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Junior Social Work Placement Interview....

Today, I went for my Junior Social Work Field placement interview. My placement coordinator emailed me last Thursday about an agency located in Stamford, CT that worked with the special needs population. The placement sounded very interesting and so she encouraged me to call and set up a meeting with the supervisor. My interview was at ARI of Connecticut with a man named Carey. This agency helps the special needs population learn how to be independent with in their own community. They do job placements, training classes as well. The interview went pretty well. By talking to Carey, I learned what my duties would be as an intern at ARI. My biggest fear of an internship would be spending 8 hours a week filing papers, making coffee, and anything else that is not related to my field of a social worker. Carey explained that I will have many different things to do for my internship. 50% of my time I will be working with another supervisor down in the production department (a department where their clients work in a mail room by folding papers and placing them in envelopes and getting them ready for the mail), I will then also act as an observer in a field work area where some of the more skilled special needs clients are doing landscaping or cleaning jobs out in the community and bascially observing how this process works, another item I will be doing is taking on my own client case to work with, and lastly do some readings and training on the special needs population. I will also do some observing in the classrooms to see how their training classes are ran for the special needs clientele. I am excited for all of this, but freaked out at the same time. I now this is normal only because it is different and to think that I will have my own client is probably the most scary thing I can think of right now. I just do not feel prepared enough, but I guess I will learn fist hand. I will start in early January, though, where as most of my other classmates for junior placement will not start until Feb or early March. The reason why I will be starting early is because with working with the special needs population, it is hard for them to understand why a worker is coming in and then leaving so quickly. Which is to be expected. My field placement will consist of 4 hours two days a week, so basically 8 hours a week until the month of May. I only have to put in 100 hours for my junior placement, but where I will be starting earlier, I will probably have a little bit more than that.

Songs I have been listening to...

Since I got XM Radio last year for my birthday I have fallen in love with listening to the radio. I just love being able to listen to the radio and see the artist/or group and the song name. This is how I have been able to keep up with what songs are the ones that I like. Before I had XM, I would have to "Google" part of the lyrics to see what I came up with. Lately there are a few songs that I tend to turn up the radio, sing along, and then replay the song (another advantage of having XM).
Here is a list of the songs that I get excited about right now...
Train - "Hey Soul Sister"
This song is a bit quirky yes...but yet catchy once you listen to it a few times.
 Theory of a Deadman - "Wait For Me"
As a birthmother, I can relate to parts of this song...but I almost feel as this song is for anyone who is overseas and is talking to the loved ones back home here in the states.
Kelly Clarkson - "Already Gone"
I am typically not a big Kelly fan...but some of her songs really touch one's soul. I guess this song makes me think about how good I have it now with my marriage and where I could be if any of my past relationships would have ever worked.
and lastly...just a fun song to listen to when it is cold up here in Connecticut...
Zach Brown Band - "Toes"
This is just a fun song to listen to during the winter months to help you feel warm when it is freezing outside. It kind of has the Jimmy Buffett feel to it.

I know I should be writing about the different Christmas songs...but these just really stand out to me right now. Maybe later this month I will talk about my favorite Christmas songs.

Holiday Traditions

 

Every person has their own traditions that go along with each holiday that comes about through out the year. This time of year makes me think about what traditions I grew up with and which new ones I am creating with my own family.

Growing up some of the holiday traditions consisted of going to a holiday concert as a family, driving around looking at Christmas lights in different neighborhoods, going out to pick a real Christmas tree, and watching National Lamppon's Christmas Vacation. As a present, my mom would give my siblings and myself a new Christmas ornament each year to hang on the tree. I know looking back, that was always the highlight of the year to see which new ornament I would recieve and where I was going to hang it on the tree. Some of my friends from high school gave christmas ornaments as  gifts as well. Now that I am an adult, I look forward to hanging the old ornaments on the tree every year. I need to get to my mom's house to get my childhood ornaments that are still packed away in a box.

Now that I am married and live 3000 miles away from my parents, I have had to start some new traditions. Rob and I have started to decorate the house for the winter and Christmas season about a week or so before Thanksgiving. We both love the Christmas season and tend to buy several items on clearance after the season has passed and the stores want the holiday items off their shelves. It is always fun pulling the items out every year and seeing the house be transformed. We have four Christmas trees this year. Yes, I did say four.  Two on the main floor, one on the top floor, and one down in the basement where we spend most of our time. Our main Christmas tree on the main floor is themed with Purple, Green, and Silver ornaments. We have a miniature tree that sits on the vanity in our guest bedroom. I found mini musical instrument ornaments for that tree. The big tree upstairs on the top floor is the traditional decorated tree with all of the ornaments that I have been given over the past years. Finally the small three-foot tree in the basement is decorated with red and green bells. 

As a birth-mother, I started the tradition of giving Kaylee a Christmas ornament every year as well. I started it back when she was just a newborn and celebrating her first Christmas at 11 months old. What I also do is buy an identical ornament for my own tree. That way I can look back over the years and feel that she was somehow in my house for the holiday season as well.

Schumaker Holiday Letter 2009

Quite a few of my friends and family will be receiving their holiday cards from me very shortly. Inside the card is the annual letter that is becoming more common in most holiday cards. I thought I would post the letter here for people to see as well. That way, if you do not receive a holiday card from me...you will know what Rob and I have been up to this past year. I hope that everyone who reads this has a safe and happy holiday season!

Holiday Season 2009

Happy Holidays! It looks like I missed my personal deadline to get the cards and newsletter out before Thanksgiving this year. Rob and I have been pretty busy, so finding time to sit down and type something out has been sparse. Rob and I hope that you all had a wonderful year. Here is what Rob and I were up to this past year.

We spent most of January at home. Rob received a Sports Data Mining Book proposal with a deadline of November 2009. He is writing the book with his academic advisor from Arizona. I kept busy with work and school. We had quite a bit of snow in the month of January and counted down the days until Spring!

In February, I finished a difficult Winter Trimester at school. I could not wait to be done with Economics and a Developmental Psychology course. I am happy to say that I did pass both classes and excited that I do not have to take any more classes from the economics department at school.

March brought the Spring Trimester for me, which consisted of Math and 20th Century World History. Rob was invited to a conference in China during the month of June.

April was an interesting month for me at work. AMC decided that all of the administrative assistant’s theatre wide would be no more. I had the choice of either stepping down back to the basic Film Crew level or have no job. I opted in keeping a job at the movie theatre due to not wanting to change companies. Rob and I hosted a neighborhood party to help get the baseball season back in motion.

In May, Rob and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. We spent a quiet day at the house and just went to dinner. We planned to do a big celebration in June when we went to China.

June was the month of travel, travel, travel. The first weekend of June, I took a trip out to Oregon to help celebrate my grandparent’s 50 years of marriage. The following weekend, I turned 29 years old and Rob surprised me with a last minute birthday trip down to Eastern Tennessee. I had not yet been to TN and was very excited. We spent the weekend in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area of TN. A day spent at Dollywood was the favorite for me. Rob had fun showing me the sites and places that he had been to several times, which included a hike up to Clingman’s Dome. At the end of the trip, I concluded that I loved the Smokey Mountain area and could possibly live there. The end of June brought a ten-day trip to China. Rob was invited to present a paper at the China Summer Workshop of Information Management (CSWIM) Conference, which was held in Guangzhou, China. Guangzhou is southern China not too far from Hong Kong. We spent three days in Guangzhou for the conference and then flew up to Beijing exploring the city for the remainder of our trip. Since it was so hot, we did only a few things, but did experience the Forbidden City. We had hoped to get up to the Great Wall of China, but just ran out of time. Rob and I both agreed that we would like to go back to Beijing, and would go in early spring or fall when it is not so hot.

The first part of July, we spent re-cooperating from our China Trip. It took us about twelve days to get our sleeping pattern fully back to normal. This consisted of going to bed around 4pm, waking up around 1am and heading over to Denny’s for lunch since nothing was open. Near the end of July, Rob's sister, Carol, visited from Tucson for 9 days. I met Carol down in NYC the first couple of days of her trip. I showed her around the city by going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the first day and the second day was spent shopping at the world’s largest Macy’s down at Herald Square. During her visit, Rob took her up to Yankee Candle Village up in Massachusetts.

August brought an Ohio trip for Rob to help clean out his parent’s attic. August also brought one last trip for Paul and Sharon up to our house for the summer. Since Rob enjoyed the Yankee Candle Village so much, we took his parents up as well. The end of August school started again for both Rob and I. I am now a junior at Iona with just a year and a half left before I receive a bachelor’s in Social Work.

In September, Rob and I went up to The Big Exposition, which is located in Springfield, Massachusetts. One who does not live in the New England states may ask what the Big E is. Think of one large state fair for all of the New England states. Each New England state owns a state house and hosts local food vendors and exhibits. The fair lasts three weeks and thousands of people go every year. This year was the first year for us, and we will definitely be going back next year.

October brought a trip to San Antonio & Houston, Texas. We spent a weekend in San Antonio with my sister’s family and my parents. My nephew turned two this year and this was the first big birthday party for him with family and friends. While in San Antonio we went to the Riverwalk and also spent the morning over at the Alamo. Sadly enough, I was not able to find the basement of the Alamo. Part two of our trip was in Houston for the IIMA Conference. Rob and fellow Iona colleagues presented at this conference. As part of the conference, we spent about three hours over at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. That had to be one of the coolest things. Since there was a moon mission going on at the time, we were unable to view mission control. That would have been awesome to see, but we did have the opportunity to view the Saturn V Rocket. Halloween, Rob and I went to Ohio to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with his parents.

November is low key here at the Schumaker household. I am busy with working at the movie theatre, due to some of the larger holiday films out in theatres. Between work and school I do not have a lot going on. Rob’s book deadline is the end of this month. I know he is looking forward to being done with that for a month before it is handed back to him for any revisions that are needed. My Aunt Lori and two cousins stopped by for a visit this month. It was a great visit and I look forward to spending more time with her and the boys.

December will end the year with more work and school. Most colleges close for the month of December, but since I am on a trimester schedule, I will have class in December. Winter Trimester consists of another psychology course and then a required social work human behavior course. In December, I will also learn where my internship for the spring will be. Social Work majors spend fifty hours in two separate internships junior year in the spring.

I hope you have enjoyed catching up with the Schumaker family and that you have a very Happy New Year. Before you know it, we will be sitting down next year typing out the year events again. Estimated 2010 trips for us will consist of Oregon for my 30th birthday in June, Rob may possibly have a conference in Stockholm, Sweden also during the month of June. Mid October, we will be heading off to Amsterdam, Netherlands for the annual IIMA Conference.

Peace, Love, & Happiness,
Amy & Rob Schumaker

Teeth...

Naturally...I have had bad teeth ever since I was real little. I am prone to many cavities and it has never been a fun trip to the dentist twice a year. When I was in my early 20s I didn't have dental insurance due to the companies I worked for didn't offer it. Therefore, since going to the dentist is expensive I never really went. In the last couple of years, I have been more diligent in going to the dentist and just paying out of pocket. Yes, it is still expensive...but I figure if I try to take care of my teeth now, I will have some when I am in my elderly years (God willing). I have been though putting off getting some cavities taken care of due to time, scheduling, and any other excuse I could think of. Well this weekend, one of the cavities really started to hurt. I called my dentist on Monday to see what I should do. The hygienist said that it sounded like the tooth that needed to be pulled, so I should call the oral surgeon. *sigh* I called over to my oral surgeon and was able to get an appointment for yesterday morning around 8am. I was excited to finally get this tooth taken care of. I do not enjoy getting teeth pulled...and my dentist would have tried to fill the cavity...but it was on a far back molar which had no tooth under it and so it was longer than any of the other top teeth on the left side. By 830am I was walking out of the oral surgeon's office with one less tooth in my mouth and a prescription for hydrocodone. I had wanted to go to my sociology class yesterday, but since I was going to be doped up on meds I decided against driving.

I really hope that I do not have any more teeth issues until after the new year. That way any expenses I have can be put towards the medical reimbursment plan that Rob and I have through his work. Next year, I need to get my wisdom teeth taken out as they are causing problems and a few of them are compacted. yippee! lol

Papers coming out my ears!

I am feeling overwhelmed right now. I am sure I am not the only student currently feeling this way. Last week was the final week of Fall Trimester which would make this week the first week of the Winter Trimester. No biggie right? Well did I fail to mention that I am taking two semester classes as well? This is alot for me compared to normal. I had a term 9-10 paged paper due last week for my Social Work class, then this past week I had another 5 pg maxed paper due in my Sociology class. This last weekend I headed back down to campus for a weekend class on AIDS/HIV Awareness and yes there is yet another paper due for that class! I am about to have a Macaulay Culkin moment from his Home Alone series where he claps his cheeks and yells, "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

In addition to all of this, Winter Trimester is starting up which has two classes for me. One is another social work class and the other is a psychology class dealing with child learning disabilities. Just trying to get fully registered for Winter Trimester was a small adventure. Originally when I went to advisement Dr. Nadel and I had picked out an Eng. Lit class which is a hybrid class (which meets only a few times in class through out the term where the other part is done online) and would meet on Monday evenings. The social work class was on wednesday evenings. Great!! Easy as apple pie. When I tried to register for the social work class, I was unable to due to not taking all of the pre-reqs. I went and got permission from Dr. Nadel and come to find out the class had been moved to the same evening as the English Lit. class. Therefore, I had to drop the English class to get into the social work class and pick up another class to be considered full time for the trimester student. I chose an online psychology class, only for it to be canceled due to the professor not wanting to teach the class as an independent study. So I finally landed with the psychology class dealing with children learning disabilities. Both classes sound pretty interesting. I missed the first class for my psych class since I had to work the midnight showing of Twilight: New Moon at the theatre. Personally I would have rather been in class rather than driving home to change into a uniform and go to work. My social work class will be really interesting. The class is on Human Behavior & the Social Enviorment: Life Course. There are only two other students in the class. So pretty small but it should still be fun. I will get to more details on the class in a later post.

With all of these papers coming out of my ears, I realized that I had not typed out the annual holiday letter for the Christmas cards. I normally am the first one to get the cards out in the mail. Well, it looks like this year I will be a little bit slower on that. Hopefully by this coming week I will have the cards ready to be sent out in the mail. I typed up the letter last night and Rob made some revisions today. All I need to do now is get some paper to print it out on and get it in the cards!!

So much to do, so little time...but yet I will figure it out and make it work.