The Return from Prescott

Prescott, AZ could be the place. It really could. Isn't that exciting? It's pretty exciting for me. We aren't making any definite decisions yet as wee need to sit with this for awhile, but it just felt as though everything fit into place somehow. I felt that I was a better person there- or rather, that the parts of me that are deeply connecting, warm, kind, open, and full of life were somehow more able to be expressed there. Do you know how that is? Sometimes I forget that I am a smart, fun, kind, funny person. It's nice to be in a place where my true self can come out a bit more.

Besides that general "sense" we had (not to mention the cool nights/early mornings and dry days- ah!), there were just a number of wonderful things that happened:

- We met with an acupuncturist who said good things about prospects in the area from that end. Besides that, we just really enjoyed her. She's "our kind" of person, which was a nice thing to discover.

- We met the one MT in town, who was very encouraging of my work in the area, and very open to hanging out together. This means of course that I wouldn't be the only MT in town, as I now am. Maybe alittle less isolating?

- We met up with a man who is an expert in permaculture in the area, and who has helped develop an area downtown where people are building sustainable homes. It was incredible. You wouldn't know it by driving by, but he gave us the tour and suddenly we discovered chickens, goats, gardens, yurts, etc.- right in the low-income housing area. It was VERY touching and beautiful to me. Inspiring.

- I went to THREE yarn stores. :) One of which had roving too! For a small city, Prescott has yarn galore! And, the one shop with roving gives classes in spinning- which might help me move onto a higher level. Cool.

- We drove through Sedona and had some interesting experiences (although we already knew we wouldn't want to live there), and stayed the night in Flagstaff (which we were interested in checking out as a possibility). We discovered that Flagstaff probably isn't a place we want to live. Good information. We might revisit sometime, but first impression was a no-go.

- The tarot reader we saw in Sedona was interesting, but I don't trust her. First of all, she thought we would LOVE Flagstaff from our first moment there. That didn't happen. The main other thing she said? One of the clearest things she said to us, with complete confidence: "You are having a baby. SOON!" AH! This was both exciting and scary. But, I'm not feeling pregnant yet, and that time of the month shall be coming soon, so I'm not buying it. We are both wanting a baby, but knowing it's time to wait. Our actions follow. She might have picked up on the "we want a baby" energy around us, but not picked up on the "we are waiting" part of it.

The parents with the in-laws went surprisingly well. There were the usual awkward moments and angered experiences, but in general, a good thing. They even said, "you look great!" What a winner. After all the cleaning they barely looked at the house, but maybe that says that the house met their standards. They seemed to like it.

I appreciated hearing Hashbrown's comment on her in laws. Thanks Hashbrown- it's nice to know I'm not the only one!

I'm pretty exhausted right now. After seeing clients today, I really had to force myself to work on my parent meeting notes tonight. I have the meeting in the morning, so I really couldn't put it off, but I'm just pretty burned out. Traveling is tiring, jetlag is tiring, in laws are tiring, starting schoolwork is tiring. But, hopefully I'll get some rest this weekend before my next adventure. (I really didn't think I traveled much before- but NOW look at me...sheesh!)

On Monday I leave for Philadelphia. I've already started coursework online and I have to tell you, this is pretty overwhelming. I hope I haven't signed up for too many courses. I'm signed up for the maximum. However, I'm enjoying the reading. I really didn't think "Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design" could be very interesting, but I'm enjoying it. I can't read a lot in one sitting, but it's thought provoking.

My courses this semester?

Qualitative Research in MT
Ethics in MT
Music in Medicine
Advanced Practicum and Clinical Training

Should be interesting, if I can keep my head above water. I just need to keep remembering why I'm doing this- for me, not for the grade.